Jun 1, 2008, 15:32 GMT
Berlin - Kenyan teenage sensation Pamelina Jelimo moved into sixth place in the all-time list over 800 metres with the fastest time in more than a decade over the distance at the Golden League athletics series opener on Sunday.
Jelimo, 19, clocked 1 minute 54.99 seconds, lowering her own junior world record by almost one second on a hot afternoon in front of 65,000 fans in the Olympic stadium.
It was the best result over the distance since Ana Fidelia Quirot's 1:54.82 from 1997. Quirot is one of only five runners who have been faster than Jelimo, led by the 25-year-old world record of 1:53:28 from Czech Jarmina Kratochvilova.
In other action Augustine Kiprono Choge led a Kenyan 1,500m sweep in a 2008 world leading time of 3:31.57, beating two-time world indoor silver-medallist Daniel Kipchirchir Komen (3:31.91) and Shedrack Kibet Korir (3:31.99) for first place.
Bershawn Jackson of the US won the 400m hurdles in 48.73 seconds, and compatriot David Oliver edged Cuba's Dayron Robles by one hundredth of a second to win the 110m hurdles in 13.19 seconds.
'I was a lucky winner today, he leaned too early. I was not thinking I could win. Technically the race was bad, I hit a few hurdles,' said Oliver.
The women's 100m hurdles saw Josephine Onyia of Spain prevail in 12.50 seconds over Swedish favourite Susanna Kallur (12.54).
Ehsan Hadadi of Iran scored an Asian record 69.12m to win the discus throw on countback over Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania (68.30m to Alekna's 66.66m), who also had 69.12m.
'I am not surprised, my training went well,' said Hadadi, who trains in Tehran and in Russia. 'Now I still have one competition in Tallinn on Tuesday and afterwards back to Olympic preparation. To win the Olympics (August 8-24 in Beijing) is my biggest dream.'
Stars who were due to compete later in the day in the Olympic stadium included 400m world and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner of the US, Panama long-jump world champion Irving Saladino and Croatian high jump world champion Blanka Vlasic.
The Golden League series offering a 1-million-dollar jackpot consists of six stops, with Oslo following Berlin on June 6. The Rome and Paris stops follow on July 11 and 18, respectively, before the series concludes after the Beijing Olympics in Zurich (August 29) and Brussels (September 5).
Athletes who win their event at all six stops are eligible for the jackpot. If no one achieves that sweep, 500,000 dollars are available to be won or shared by five-time winners.
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