AP News, March 4th, 2007
Kim Gevaert of Belgium successfully defended her European indoor 60-meter title on Sunday, with disgraced Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou finishing sixth.
In the men's final, Britain's Jason Gardener ran the fastest time in Europe this year _ 6.51 seconds _ to take his fourth straight European indoor 60-meter title.
Gevaert won in 7.12 on the final day of the European Indoor Championships. Thanou, who posted 7.26, was loudly jeered at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena for a second straight day.
"The most important thing is that I have come back and shown I am still here," Thanou said. "I didn't hear the crowd. No matter what people believe or say, it only matters that I am back in competition."
Thanou said she had been tested two days before the meet but not during the championships.
Yevgeniya Polyakova of Russia was second with 7.18 and Daria Onysko of Poland came third with a personal best time of 7.20.
Thanou, who won the Greek indoor title last month, took the Euro title in 2000 _ the same year she won silver in the 100 at the Sydney Olympics.
Gevaert first voiced doping suspicions about Thanou in 2002 when the Greek beat her to the European 100 title. At the Athens Olympics, Thanou and another Greek sprinter, Kostas Kenteris, failed to report for doping controls on the eve of the games, claiming they were in a motorcycle accident.
The pair were given two-year suspensions which expired in December. Kenteris has not returned to competitive racing. Thanou first competed at the Greek indoor championships on Feb. 3.
"She isn't the only one who has come back from doping violations," Gevaert said. "If I thought about that every time I raced someone coming back from bans, I would go nuts," Gevaert said. "We all want the sport clean."
Craig Pickering of Britain _ Gardener's training partner _ was second in the men's 60 with 6.59 and third-place Ronald Pognon of France posted 6.60.
Lidia Chojecka added a second successive 3,000 title to the 1,500 she won on Saturday. The 30-year-old Pole ran in 8:43.25 after overtaking Jo Pavey of Britain on the penultimate lap.
Marta Dominguez of Spain ran second-fastest in 8:44.40 and Silvia Weissteiner of Italy was third with 8:44.81.
"I thought coming into the championships that I would get a medal and even a gold, but did not know which event," Chojecka said.
In the 800, Arnoud Okken of the Netherlands took gold in 1:47.92, edging Miguel Quesanda of Spain.
Olympic high jump champion Stefan Holm of Sweden retained his indoor European title with a 7-foot, 8-inch leap. But the 30-year-old failed three times at 7-10 3/4 for the championship mark.
Olympic and world indoor champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic won a third straight European indoor heptathlon title, beating Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia in the final event.
Sebrle, who has recently recovered from shoulder and calf muscle injuries, won with 6,196 points. He overtook Pogorelov with a seventh-place finish in the 1,000 meters.
Pogorelov was second with 6,127 and Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus took bronze with 6,090 after wins in the high jump and 60 hurdles.
Sebrle trailed Pogorelov by 32 points going into the 1,000 meters, but he bettered his rival in a repeat of their 2005 showdown in Madrid. Although Sebrle finished seventh in 2 minutes, 45.84 seconds, he was 9.8 seconds faster than Pogorelov.
Also Sunday, Assunta Legnante of Italy won gold in the shot put with a throw of 60-2.
Carlota Castrejana set a Spanish record with her winning leap of 48- 1/2 in the triple jump.
Britain topped the event's medal table with 10, including four golds. Italy came second with six medals, followed by Sweden with four.
