|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Defending champion Austin crashes out in qualifying
SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) - Charles Austin, the 1996 Olympic high jump gold medallist, crashed out of the Games here on Friday night in qualifying, while his predecessor as champion, controversial Cuban Javier Sotomayor, made it through to Saturday's final. Austin, aged 32, from Texas, needed to clear 2.30 metres or finish among the top 12 in the preliminary competition to make the final. But in a lacklustre performance, after clearing 2.20 at the first attempt, Austin suffered three failures, one at 2.24 and two at 2.27. It was a second-time clearance at the latter height that saw Sotomayor safely through. The world record-holder's participation in these Games had been in doubt until two months ago, when he had a two-year doping ban for cocaine use halved after the personal intervention of Cuba's president, Fidel Castro. In all, 13 men cleared 2.27m and will jump again on Saturday. They include world champion Vyacheslav Voronin, of Russia, the pre-Games favourite for gold. The women's triple jump qualifying contained less surprises, the 2000 world leader, Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva, heading the list with 14.91 metres. Former world champion Sarka Kasparkova, of the Czech Republic, needed three attempts to land at 14.34m and grab her final place.
|
