No world records at big meet
No world records were set at last night’s Grand Prix track and field meeting in Athens, but several athletes did register lofty performances before a solid turnout at the Olympic Stadium. Russian Tatyana Lebedeva set the best triple-jump mark of the year with a leap of 15.14 meters. The 30-year-old European champion thus became the first woman to clear 15 meters this outdoor season. Emerging Greek athlete Constantinos Douvalidis set a new national record in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.54 seconds. But he ended last in his heat. Douvalidis had registered a time of 13.59 seconds at the National Championships on June 17. «It was incredible to run next to such major athletes. The national record was like an additional present for me,» Douvalidis said. «Some day I want to be part of the elite,» he added. Pygi Devetzi came third in the women’s triple jump with a 14.57-meter performance, her best for the year. Greece’s Fani Halkia, who won gold in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the Athens Olympics, withdrew from competition yesterday after pulling a muscle during her warmup routine. Louis Tsatoumas, a top performer for Greece at the recent European Cup, pulled out of the men’s long jump yesterday after injuring himself slightly on his first attempt. James Carter, the world’s fastest runner this year in the men’s 400-meters hurdles ended third in his heat with a time of 48.25 seconds. Going into the race, the American, whose performance of 47.72 seconds stands as the year’s best, had said it was too soon to think about beating Kevin Young’s time of 46.78 in the final of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
