Osaka 2007 - Gay takes 100m gold in Osaka
Eurosport - Sun, 26 Aug 16:47:00 2007
American Tyson Gay won the 100-metre gold medal in 9.85 seconds from Derrick Atkins and Asafa Powell at the World Championships in Osaka.

Jamaican Powell led towards the end of the race, but lost pace rapidly in the last 15 metres or so. He claimed afterwards that he lost out because his legs clashed early in the contest.

"When I started, I made a big mistake," he told French TV. "I stumbled and couldn't get the rhythm I wanted but I'm still content with bronze."

Gay sped past to record a time one hundredth-of-a-second outside his world-leading personal best 9.84 and even Bahamas athlete Atkins was able to slip ahead of Powell.

"It just feels so good," Gay said. "It was important for me to beat the world record holder: I was real nervous.

"Powell had an excellent start but when it got to 60m I thought I could catch him.

"I'm looking forward to racing him again and I think there will be a great rivalry in the future.

"I believe I can get the world record another day, but for now this is a stepping-stone and I want to stay focused on [the] Beijing [Olympics]."

Briton Marlon Devonish finished in sixth with a time of 10.14 behind Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles.

The race was contested into a 0.5m/s headwind, which was also the case when Gay set the season's fastest time in the USA Track and Field Championships in June.

That was the second-fastest run into a wind after Maurice 9.82 effort into a lesser breeze of 0.2m/s, leaving the present world championship run third quickest.

Powell will now struggle to shed a reputation as an athlete that does not perform on the biggest stage after repeated failures in major championships.

He was disqualified for a false start in the 2003 Worlds in Paris and came a disappointing fifth after promising to challenge for gold in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. He missed out on Helsinki 2005 because of injury.

He insisted that there is nothing wrong with his big-event temperament, but admitted that he panicked late on.

"I'm disappointed as I was the favourite to win but I lost the race," he continued. "I felt Gay coming on my shoulder and that's when I panicked. It slowed me down.

"I made a big mistake and things like that do happen. I wouldn't say I cannot shine at the big occasions - it was just an unfortunate incident."

Devonish was not happy with his own performance on Sunday. "It was always going to be a tall order to get on the podium, but I'm gutted," he told the BBC.

"I'm better than that. I felt comfortable in the rounds but just didn't come through at the end. I didn't panic, but maybe it was one race too many."

Osaka 2007 - View from the track
Eurosport - Sun, 26 Aug 16:40:00 2007
Read the best reaction from athletes at the World Championships in Osaka on day three!


Golden girl Kluft reigns supreme

American Tyson Gay on winning gold in the 100 metres: "It just feels so good. This has to be the happiest moment in my life. My mother told me that this was pre-ordained... that the reason I didn't get a medal in 2005 was that I needed to mature. My mother told me to make myself a believer. That was something I wasn't doing. I want to race everyone in the world. It was important for me to beat the world record holder: I was real nervous. Powell had an excellent start but when it got to 60m I thought I could catch him. I'm looking forward to racing him again and I think there will be a great rivalry in the future. I believe I can get the world record another day, but for now this is a stepping stone and I want to stay focused on [the] Beijing [Olympics]."

Jamaican Asafa Powell on throwing away his lead and taking only bronze behind Derrick Atkins: "When I started, I made a big mistake. I stumbled and couldn't get the rhythm I wanted, but I'm still content with bronze. I'm disappointed as I was the favourite to win, but I lost the race. I felt Gay coming on my shoulder and that's when I panicked: it slowed me down, I just tightened up. I was running well in the rounds. I made a big mistake and things like that do happen. I wouldn't say I cannot shine at the big occasions - it was just an unfortunate incident."

Briton Marlon Devonish on his sixth-place finish: "It was always going to be a tall order to get on the podium, but I'm gutted. I'm better than that. I felt comfortable in the rounds but just didn't come through at the end. I didn't panic, but maybe it was one race too many."

Swede Carolina Kluft on breaking the European record in winning heptathlon gold: "I broke my personal best and I feel so good. It's been a big pressure on me and I vowed to keep it all together - and now I have my third world title. There's no end of happiness: I'm just thrilled with the victory. To achieve a PB was my biggest motivation and to get the European record is a great bonus. Now I'm just going to be happy and relax - at least for a week."

Britain's Kelly Sotherton on taking bronze in the multi-event: "I wanted the medal so much, especially after such a poor start to the year, and put in a lot of hard graft. After six events I thought here we go again, but fortunately I had one event left. The only person I was going to lose to [in the 800m] was Jess. I was pushed all the way by her. She's not far off taking Kluft's mantle in the next few years. She's the future, so everyone had better watch out."

Another Briton, Jessica Ennis, on her fourth position overall: "This is my first Worlds and to come fourth is fantastic. It's amazing to compete in front of this crowd. I can't imagine what it's like to win a medal but I want to be there in future."

Ecuadorean Jefferson Perez on becoming the first man to win three successive World Championship 20km walking titles: "Today my strategy was to challenge my spirit. I knew I could collapse during the race: you could say it was kind of a suicide strategy."

New Zealander Valerie Vili on her lifetime-best shot put to win gold: "To be able to come from a small country in Oceania and do something like this is awesome. It won't change me. I'll just be the same happy chappie, little Val - it's all good."

Football| La Liga Home Team Score Away Team

Valencia 0 - 3 Villarreal
Espanyol 0 - 1 Valladolid

FOOTBALL SERIE A

Internazionale 1 - 1 Udinese
Napoli 0 - 2 Cagliari
Reggina 1 - 1 Atalanta
Siena 1 - 2 Sampdoria
Palermo 0 - 2 Roma

Football| Ligue 1 Home Team Score Away Team

Lyon 1 - 0 Saint-Etienne

Osaka 2007 - View from the track
Eurosport - Mon, 27 Aug 16:40:00 2007
All the reaction from the track after the fourth day of the World Championships in Osaka.


Kenenisa Bekele on winning the men's 10,000m

"It is very special... a very special moment. I am very pleased to have had this chance. It is not easy to win for a third time in a world championships."

100m champion Veronica Campbell on waiting on the result of the photo finish.

"It was one of my longest moments, it was a very close I wasn't sure with all the names going back and forth (on thescoreboard) but I was happy to win. I was confident, positive, my start wasn't the greatest but I knew I had finished well."

Silver medallist Lauryn Williams on waiting for the same result.

"I did a lot of praying, I was really hoping God would shine down on me and I would be a gold medallist again. When they started switching around, I thought there's hope for me yet."

Carmelita Jeter on taking bronze ahead of pre-race favourite Tori Edwards.

"I can't describe how I feel. This evening and this day is mine and very special."

Ivan Tikhon of Belarus on winning the hammer event with his last throw.

"It was a big fight, very tough and very emotional for me," Before my last throw I said to myself I could do it. As you saw, everything is possible."

Russia's Yekaterina Volkova who stormed to the title in the women's 3,000 metres.

"I knew 600 metres before the finish I will win. This victory is for my three-year-old son Daniel. He is already trying to call me now for sure."

BRITISH VIEW

Nicola Sanders on winning her 400m semi-final in a personal best time of 49.77 seconds

"I could not have asked for better. I had a pretty tough heat, there are two girls who have faster PB's than me so I was glad I was in lane seven so I could just get on with my own race and wait for them to come. I am looking for a much better performances in the final, if not as good. It was tough but I felt pretty relaxed."

Andrew Baddeley on qualifying for the final of the men's 1,500m

"I can't believe how far back I'd gone and I was really hurting down the home straight. But anything can happen in the final 100m and I finished strong."

Phillips Idowu who could only finish sixth in the men's Triple Jump.

"It was a long day and a long competition and I came into it very positively. After qualifying I thought I had a 17-metre jump in me, but I wasn't sure how many. I was comfortable with my hop and step phase, but I missed the snap at the end. I enjoyed it as a couple of weeks ago I didn't even know if I would jump at all."

Athletics | Osaka 2007
Men's Hammer final Position Athlete
1 I Tsikhan
2 P Kozmus
3 L Charfreitag

Athletics | Osaka 2007
Men's Triple Jump final Position Athlete
1 N Evora
2 J Gregorio
3 W Davis

Athletics | Osaka 2007
Men's 10 000m final Position Athlete
1 K Bekele
2 S Sihine
3 M Mathathi

Athletics | Osaka 2007
Women's 100m final Position Athlete
1 L Williams
2 V Campbell
3 C Jeter

Osaka 2007 - Campbell wins 100m thriller
Eurosport - Mon, 27 Aug 16:49:00 2007
Veronica Campbell of Jamaica took the gold medal in a dramatic women's 100m, while Kenenisa Bekele once more showed his class in on a dramatic day four of the World Championship in Osaka.


Reaction from Osaka
It was a mixed evening session for British athletes - triple jump medal hope Phillips Idowu could only finish sixth, but Nicola Sanders and Christine Ohuruogu stormed into the final of the women's 400m (Click link below picture for more on the Brits).

WOMEN'S 100m

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell won the 100 metres title following a blanket finish to the final and chaotic scenes at the world championships.

Campbell and American defending champion Lauryn Williams were both given the same time of 11.01 seconds and the judges took several minutes to decide the Jamaican had won the race.

With the first six finishers separated by just seven hundredths of a second, 2003 world champion Torri Edwards was initially flashed up on the stadium's big screen as the winner.

Gasps of astonishment from the crowd and perplexed looks on the faces of the athletes told a different story, however, and that was confirmed when Campbell was awarded the gold medal.

Williams took the silver and her compatriot Carmelita Jeter bronze in a time of 11.02. Edwards was fourth in 11.05.

Campbell's winning time was the slowest for the event in world championships history.

MEN'S 10,000m

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele powered to his third 10,000 metres world title in a row with a pulsating victory on Monday.

Bekele blew past countryman Sileshi Sihine coming around the final bend and accelerated clear, crossing himself as he hit the finish line in 27 minutes 5.90 seconds.

The Olympic champion had time to blow kisses to the crowd in Osaka before turning around to see perennial bridesmaid Sihine come home to take silver again in 27:09.03.

Kenya's Martin Irungu Mathathi took bronze in 27:12.17. Bekele moved to within one world championship gold of Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie, who won four between 1993 and 1999, in addition to the 1996 and 2000 Olympic titles.

MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP

Portugal's Nelson Evora gave three nations cause to cheer when he won the triple jump world title with a leap of 17.74 metres.

Evora was born in the Ivory Coast and represented his parent's native Cape Verde Islands until 2002 when he was granted citizenship by Portugal, where he moved as a young boy.

The 23-year-old set out his stall with his first jump of the night and his 17.41 metres was better than all but one of his competitors could manage over the rest of the final.

But his best was yet to come and on his third attempt he launched himself down the track and hopped, skipped and jumped a new Portuguese national record that was enough for victory.

Brazil's Jadel Gregorio, who owns the best leap of the year at 17.90m, left it until late before making 17.59m on his penultimate attempt to claim silver.

Defending champion Walter Davis claimed bronze with his first attempt of 17.33m but it was a close run thing, with Cuban Osniel Tosca and his fellow American Aarik Wilson one and two centimetres back respectively.

3,000m WOMEN'S STEEPLECHASE

Russia's Yekaterina Volkova stormed to the world title in the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase, going one better than in 2005.

Volkova looked up at the giant stadium screen and punched the air in delight as she came down the home straight to clock a world championship record nine minutes 6.57 seconds, with fellow Russian Tatyana Petrova taking silver in 9:09.19.

It could have ended in embarrassment for Volkova, who almost fell after catching the curb entering the final straight while gazing up at the screen.

But Volkova stayed on her feet and had words of comfort for Olympic champion Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, who trailed home in seventh in 9:30.24 -- way outside her world record of 9:01.59.

Kenyan Eunice Jepkorir, who had won five of her previous six steeplechases this year, settled for the bronze after fading over the second half of the race.

Uganda's 2005 gold medallist Dorcus Inzikuru did not travel to the world championships because she is pregnant.

MEN'S HAMMER

Ivan Tikhon of Belarus left it late to complete a hat-trick of world titles in the men's hammer with a final throw of 83.63 metres.

The 30-year-old, who also won gold at the 2003 and 2005 world championships, produced the best throw of the season with his last effort to deny Slovenia's Primoz Kozmus.

Tikhon said he was expecting the seal of approval from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

Kozmus settled for silver with a best effort of 82.29 and Slovakia's Libor Charfreitag took bronze with 81.60.

Japan's Olympic champion Koji Murofushi never threatened to capture an elusive world title, finishing sixth with a best of 80.46 in the sixth and final round of throws.

Osaka 2007 - Morning round-up: Danvers back in play

Britan's Tasha Danvers-Smith announced her comeback to the world scene by cruising comfortably into the semi-finals of the womens' 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, and there was more good news for Britain in mens' high jump qualifying.

Womens' 400m hurdles

Danvers-Smith, 29, who missed the Helsinki games through injury, looked a little too relaxed for comfort during her lap.

But she still managed to come home third in her heat behind Russian Yulia Pechenkina and Jamaica's Nickiesha Wilson, easing up near the end and coming home in 55.67 seconds.

"I let my nerves get the better of me, but I'm glad to get that round out of the way," Danvers-smith told the BBC.

"It's my first meet back since 2003 with the whole world back so it's a bit nerve-wracking. Now I can calm down. When I get nervous I get too relaxed, like today, so tomorrow I'll level out."

American Tiffany Ross-Williams was the fastest qualifier in 54.24 while Olympic champion Fani Halkia of Greece marked her return from injury with a season's best to give her third in her heat.

100m Hurdles

Sweden's Susanna Kallur signalled her intent to add the world title to her European gold medal by setting the fastest qualifying time of 12.66 seconds.

Event favourite Michelle Perry of the USA looked comfortable though as she was another heat winner in 12.72.

Turkey's Nevin Yanit and Canada's Perdita Felicien were the other heat winners while Irish record holder Derval O'Rourke, running in Perry's heat, made it into the semis in 12.91.

Long jump

European champion Lyudmila Kolchanova hit the ground running as she leapt to 6.96 metres to easily make it into the long jump finalist.

She was matched by Portugal's Naide Gomes, the woman she beat to gold in Helsinki last year, who headed the second group with the same distance.

It was a different story for defending world champion Tianna Madison of the USA, who only just scraped through to the final after jumping 6.59 with her final attempt.

Discus

Franka Dietzsch of Germany was, as expected, the class of the field in discus qualifying as the 2001 and 2005 world champion managed 65.17metres to set the benchmark with her first throw.

It remained unbeaten with Romainia's Nicoleta Grasu her closest challenger on 64.26 and Cuban Yarelis Barrios also at the sharp end with 63.44.

Men's High jump

It was a good day for Britain as Martyn Bernard and Thomas Parsons both made the qualifying height of 2.29 metres to make it into the final - the first time two Brits have made it through in championship history.

Parsons' achievement was especially good as it marked a new personal best.

Germaine Mason though could not make it a three-way success, failing to clear 2.23.

Among the big names joining Parsons and Bernard in the final were Olympic champion Stefan Holm of Sweden and Jaroslav Rybakov of Russia, who is looking to go one better than the Silver he won in the last world championships

Osaka Grand Prix - Kluft: I'll never break world record

Carolina Kluft outdid heptathlon great Jackie Joyner-Kersee by becoming the first woman to win three world titles, but she does not think she will ever beat the American's world record.

Kluft set a personal best of 7,032 points and broke the European record but her tally was still 259 points shy of the mark Joyner-Kersee set in 1988.

"I think it's a great record and I really pushed myself over these last two days and I'm not even close to it," the 24-year-old Swede said.

"For me it's not really any more a goal. Jackie Joyner-Kersee was a great athlete and I'm not sure I'm as good as she was so that's not a source of motivation for me at all."

Kluft's triumph at the Nagai Stadium extended her unbeaten run to 19 competitions over the last five and a half years but she still believes she can be bettered.

"No one is unbeatable," she added. "I think the girls will just have to keep it up and try to beat me. Every competition is another chance to beat me, I'm not unbeatable, no one is."

Mentally and physically fatigued after a tough weekend, Kluft again refused to be drawn on whether she would be in Beijing to defend her Olympic title next August.

"I never make plans for the next year until my season is over and I'm going to keep it that way," she added. "I just know that after my few weeks off, I'll go into training hungry again because I know I've got so much more to give."

"I'm going to finish the heptathlon when I feel I'm ready for it and I don't know when that is. It could happen any day ...

"It's like 'now I'm feeling, I'm finished, I want to do the long jump or I want to do another event, I want to move my focus to just one event.' When I feel I'm ready for that I'm going to take that decision. But right now I'm not ready for it."

Turkish GP - Hamilton's spirits still high
Eurosport - Mon, 27 Aug 11:12:00 2007
Lewis Hamilton refused to let his Turkish Grand Prix tyre problems get him down, even though he saw his championship lead cut.

The 22-year-old Briton was the only driver to pose any kind of threat to the dominant Ferraris during the race, but lost out on a certain third place in his McLaren when his right-front Bridgestone came apart with 15 laps to go.

The problem forced him to tour back to the pits slowly for half a lap and dropped him to fifth by the finish, allowing his team-mate Fernando Alonso to come through to third and cut his points advantage from seven points to five.

But Hamilton was still happy with his weekend's work and told ITV: "It was a little bit unfortunate, but still, we did a good job, the team did a fantastic job all weekend.

"We had the pace of the Ferraris, I think; when you're behind them, you lose a little bit of downforce, I think we were just matching them for the majority of the race.

"But yeah, really unfortunate. I saw some bits start flying off the tyre, and it blew. I was quite unfortunate I didn't put it in the gravel, and I still got points."

Hamilton admitted he was lucky to keep his car under control when the tyre blew as he entered the braking zone for turn nine on the Istanbul Park circuit.

"I couldn't stop the car. That wheel was locked and I think the rear wheel was sort of coming up, so it was extremely tricky," he added.

"Some people, when they have that, they break their front wing or they break their suspension, so I had to be careful but at the same time try to get back as soon as possible without losing too many places. So with that problem, I think it's a good job.

"I did think that the front wing would be broken and I don't know why (the team didn't change it), I think because it's too much time to change it. But, yeah, it made a huge difference and I had a huge understeer and I couldn't get around corners, so I couldn't challenge the BMW."

Hamilton passed the incident off as no more than a blip and expects to continue to fight for glory in the remaining five races of the season.

"It's just a little bit of a problem," he added. "You always have setbacks; we won the last race, and we still got five races to go. But I'm still leading with five points, so it's not over, don't worry."

Formula 1 drivers championship
27/08/2007.

1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren
2 Fernando Alonso McLaren
3 Felipe Massa Ferrari
4 Kimi RSikk÷nen Ferrari
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
6 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
7 Heikki Kovalainen Renault
8 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
9 Alexander Wurz Williams
10 Nico Rosberg Williams
11 David Coulthard Red Bull
12 Mark Webber Red Bull
13 Jarno Trulli Toyota
14 Ralf Schumacher Toyota
15 Takuma Sato Super Aguri
16 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso
17 Jenson Button Honda
18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso
18 Christijan Albers Spyker
18 Rubens Barrichello Honda
18 Markus Winkelhock Spyker
18 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri
18 Sakon Yamamoto Spyker
18 Adrian Sutil Spyker
18 Scott Speed Toro Rosso

Next formula one race:-

race 13
09/09/2007 Italy GP Monza

Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Via Vedano 5
Parco di Monza
20052 Monza (MI)
Italy

Statistics

Length 5.793 km
Nb of Laps 53 (306.720 Km)

Best Lap R. Barrichello - 1'21''046 (2004, Ferrari)
Record Pole R. Barrichello - 1'20''089 (2004, Ferrari)
K. Raikkonen - 1'21''484 (McLaren)
1. M. Schumacher 2. K. Raikkonen 3. R. Kubica

Previous Winners
Year Driver

2006 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2005 J-P. Montoya (McLaren)
2004 R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
2003 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
2002 R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
2001 J-P. Montoya (Williams)
2000 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1999 H-H. Frentzen (Jordan)
1998 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1997 D. Coulthard (McLaren)
1996 M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
1995 J. Herbert (Benetton)
1994 D. Hill (Williams)
1993 D. Hill (Williams)
1992 A. Senna (McLaren)
1991 N. Mansell (Williams)
1990 A. Senna (McLaren)
1989 A. Prost (McLaren)
1988 G. Berger (Ferrari)

Fl team standings
07/08/2007.

1 McLaren
2 Ferrari
3 BMW Sauber
4 Renault
5 Williams
6 Red Bull
7 Toyota
8 Super Aguri
9 Honda
10 Toro Rosso
10 Spyker
10 SPY 0

Isinbayeva eases through qualification

Defending world champion Yelena Isinbayeva eases through pole vault qualifying passing on every vault until the required height of 4.55m which she cleared comfortably at the first attempt. Brit Kate Dennison falls short only managing to clear 4.20m.

Recent Breaking News

Baala disqualified
Date Mon, Aug 27, 22:46

Mehdi Baala is disqualified from the men's 1500 metres semi-final for barging his way through the field on the home straight.

For the utd fans .............

Premier League - Solskjaer calls time
Eurosport - Mon, 27 Aug 23:45:00 2007
Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has retired after losing his battle against a long-standing knee injury, according to media reports.

The 34-year-old Norwegian, nicknamed 'the baby-faced assassin', returned to action last season after a long spell on the sidelines, and scored 13 goals as United recaptured the Premiership trophy from Chelsea.

He admitted in pre-season, however, that the state of his knee would make a Premiership start in the 2007/8 season unlikely, and Sky Sports news claims he has now called time on his playing career.

Solskjaer's retirement would leave United boss Sir Alex Ferguson with just three strikers - Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and the injury-prone Louis Saha - to lead the club's defence of the Premiership title and pursuit of the Champions League crown.

The Scot could now dip into the transfer market before the August 31 deadline in order to reinforce his front line.

Premiership 27/08/2007

1 Chelsea
2 Manchester City
3 Wigan Athletic
4 Liverpool
5 Everton
6 Arsenal
7 Newcastle United
8 Portsmouth
9 Blackburn Rovers
10 Aston Villa
11 Birmingham City
12 Middlesbrough
13 West Ham United
14 Reading
15 Sunderland
16 Tottenham Hotspur
17 Bolton Wanderers
18 Fulham
19 Manchester United
20 Derby County