Pittman wins 400m

SANTIAGO, OCT. 21. Australia's Jana Pittman completed the first leg of her bid for a gruelling one-lap double when she won the 400 metres at the World junior athletics championships.

``Now I have a chance of making history,'' said Pittman, who is also hoping to win the 400 metres hurdles. Pittman took the gold medal on Friday in 52.45 seconds, 0.33 seconds ahead of the Poland's Aneta Lemiesz, who set a national junior record in second place. Colombian Norma Gonzalez was third in 53.30.

Pittman runs in the final of the 400m hurdles, her preferred event, on Sunday.

On Friday, the Australian powered through the first half of the race - her fourth in as many days - and came into the finishing straight some 12 metres clear of her closest challenger, Jamaica's Kareen Gayle. But as Gayle blew out, Pittman came under attack in the last 80 metres from Lemiesz.

The teenager from Sydney - who celebrates her 18th birthday in three weeks' time - responded to come home in front, the finishing time perhaps reflecting the rigours of a week's hard racing. Her personal best on the flat is 51.76.

The second Australian bidding for double gold, Georgie Clarke, found one other runner just a little better than her in the 800 metres final. Kenya's Jebet Langat ran the legs off 16- year-old Clarke, and thus completed a full set of world junior medals.

Langat, 19, had won her first world junior medal, a bronze, four years ago, and took silver in Annecy at the 1998 championships. Langat clocked 2 minutes 01.51 seconds after leading from the gun.

Clarke was never able to get on terms with her older rival, finishing in 2:02.28. The bronze was won by Lucia Klocova, of the Slovak Republic, in a personal best 2:04.00.

A miserable championships for the American team was compounded in the men's 200 metres semifinals, when Rae Edwards fell to the track with a thigh strain 50 metres from the finish.

- Reuters

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