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George fails to rise as Dragila fires

From Sports Illustrated • SI Images: Photos from the Games • Michael Farber: Cuba, U.S. renew hostilities on the baseball field • SI For Women's Kelli Anderson: Arab women make breakthrough • Richard Hoffer: Johnson-Jordan follows in father's Olympic footsteps • Grant Wahl: U.S. men more than a soccer story • Brian Cazeneuve: A look at the Games' top swimming moments • Medal Picks: SI's Predictions More Features • Day at a Glance: Fast company • Wake-up Call: Tracking the day in sports • CNNSI.com's Luba Vangelova: Sydney Scene • Viewers' Guide: What to watch for • Statitudes: Mourning By The Numbers • Quiz: Today's Tester Athletes • 10 Questions: Cathy Freeman • Just Checking IN: U.S. baseball assistant Ray Tanner • Head Games: U.S. swimmer Tom Malchow • Athlete Bios: U.S. Rosters Multimedia • Photo Gallery: Fast track • Photo Gallery: Shots of the Day • Multimedia Central: Photo Galleries, Video and More

SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) - Britain's Larry Achike dominated the men's triple jump, while Australian women's pole vault world record-holder Emma George disappointed a 104,000 home crowd in Olympic field event qualifiers Saturday.

George failed to fire and missed by five centimeters from joining an elite group going through to the finals.

The event, being staged at the Games for the first time, pitched Australian pin-up and one-time trapeze artist George, against current world champion and record-hold Stacy Dragila, a former rodeo competitor from the United States.

But as 13 women including Dragila cleared 4.30m, and only 12 were to qualify, George's 4.35m was not good enough,

"It was very disappointing," George said. "The conditions couldn't have been better. It was amazing out there. I should have jumped a lot better."

Also ruled out was Hungary's Zsuzsanna Szabo, fourth placed at last year's World Championships but who failed to clear a height Saturday.

Dragila went through safely, although she needed more than the single vault she had hoped.

"I did want to make things on the first attempt, but it gave me a chance to look around and get used to the track," she said.

In the land of the kangeroo, the men's triple jump qualifying was dominated by Cubans and Britons.

Larry Achike, the Commonwealth champion, and newcomer Philips Idowu, both of Britain, led the qualifiers with personal bests of 17.30 and 17.12 metres respectively.

Cuba's Yoel Garcia (17.08) and Yoelbi Quesada, the 1997 world champion (17.03), both went through easily enough, and Germany's world champion, Charles Friedek qualified with a 16.93.

But it was world record-holder Jonathan Edwards who looked most impressive, his 17.08m appearing effortless.

"That's the most I've ever felt in qualifying," said the Briton, who has disappointed on the global stage since taking the world title in 1995.

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