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Shouaa's heptathlon defence over as Barber takes early lead
ATTENTION - CORRECTION (corrects first name of US athlete in eighth par xxx Shelia xxx sted xxx Dawn xxx as sent. Herewith corrected repetition): /// SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) - Reigning heptathlon gold medallist Ghada Shouaa of Syria became the latest high-profile champion to crash out of the Olympics here Saturday when she broke down in the 100 metres hurdles. Shouaa, the only Olympic gold medallist in Syrian history, saw her title defence end almost before it had begun, hobbling over to the side of the track before falling to the floor clutching at her injured leg. Shouaa is the third champion from Atlanta four years ago not to survive the early stages in Sydney. On Friday night, both Donovan Bailey, in the men's 100m, and high jumper Charles Austin saw their title defences come to an early end. While Shouaa coped with the pain of her injury and defeat, France's world champion, Eunice Barber won their heat 12.97sec seconds, scoring 1129pts. She could not shake off the challenge of the British hope, Denise Lewis. Lewis, the European and Commonwealth champion, ran 13.23sec for 1090pts. Shelia Burrell, of the United States, held the early bronze medal position thanks to her 13.30sec run for 1080pts. "I am just here to win," said Barber, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury throughout the European track season. "Whatever I score doesn't matter as long as I win. "I am very happy with that - it was my first hurdles race for two months." This is 25-year-old Barber's third Games, but her first for France, having previously competed for Sierre Leone. The world champion needed special dispensation to compete for France. In other hurdles heats, DeDee Nathan, the United States record-holder, clocked 13.74sec for 1015pts to put her in medal contention early on. Romania's Viorica Tigau won the third heat in 13.39sec to score 1066pts, with Natalya Sazanovich, silver medallist at the Atlanta Olympics four years ago, registering 1058pts for a 13.45sec clocking. The high jump, the second discipline in the seven-event challenge to discover the best all-round woman athlete, is due to begin at 11.15am local time.
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