Kipketer Sets His Own Standards

ATHENS —  After seven days, no world records have been broken at these World Championships. The mark considered most likely to fall was the 800-meter record of 1:41.73, set by Sebastian Coe in 1981 and tied last month in Stockholm by Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer. Kipketer won Friday’s 800-meter final as expected, but fell far short of the record, finishing in 1:43.38.

“I am really tired about talking about the world record,” said Kipketer, testy all week during group interview sessions. “I think I did well to tie Sebastian’s record, but people cannot get enough. They want more. Nobody gets enough. Only myself. Only I am satisfied with winning this world title.”

Norberto Tellez of Cuba took the 800-meter silver medal (1:44.00), with Rich Kenah of the United States a surprising third at 1:44.25. “I was confident I had a one-in-seven chance for one of the two remaining medals,” said Kenah, whose previous personal best was 1:44.66. “Kipketer is in a world of his own. The rest of us were very evenly matched.”

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The upset of the day came in the women’s 200-meter final, where co-favorites Merlene Ottey of Jamaica and Inger Miller of the United States finished third and fifth. First place went to Ukraine’s Zhanna Pintussevich, the 100-meter silver medalist, in 22.32 seconds. Runner-up Susanthika Jayasinghe (22.39) earned Sri Lanka’s first-ever medal at the World Championships, with Ottey, the two-time defending champion, taking the bronze at 22.40. Miller ran 22.52.

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Another 1995 world champion, women’s 400-meter hurdler Kim Batten of the U.S., failed to repeat and was third behind Nezha Bidouane of Morocco (52.97) and Deon Hemmings of Jamaica (53.09). Batten, the world-record holder, ran a disappointing 53.52 and said she was “shocked. . . . It was a great race for the Moroccan girl. I don’t even know her name, but she ran great.”

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Cuba’s dominance in the jumping events continued as Yoelvis Quesada won the triple jump in 58 feet 6 3/4 inches, following the lead of countrymen Ivan Pedroso in the long jump and Javier Sotomayor in the high jump. Jonathan Edwards of Great Britain was second (58- 1/2), Cuba’s Aliecer Urrutia third (57-10 1/2) and 1996 Olympic champion Kenny Harrison ninth (55-11 1/4).