TRACK AND FIELD ROUNDUP

updated 5:40 p.m. ET Aug. 23, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Britain’s Kelly Holmes held off three competitors, including defending champion Maria Mutola, to win a thrilling women’s 800 in the closest Olympic finish in history.

Holmes, a bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Games, finished in 1 minute, 56.38 seconds — her eyes wide, mouth open and arms spread like wings as she crossed the line just ahead of Morocco’s Hasna Benhassi and Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak. Both were timed in 1:56.43, and it took a photo to determine Benhassi had captured the silver medal.

Mutola faded in the final few strides to finish fourth in 1:56.51. Jearl Miles Clark of the United States led for most of the race, but ran out of energy on the final stretch and finished sixth.

Hungary’s Robert Fazekas won the discus with an Olympic-record toss of 232 feet, 8 inches (70.93 meters). Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna, the defending champion, got the silver and Hungary’s Zoltan Kovago got bronze.

Slide show   Emotional Moments: Aug. 29 Trouble mars the marathon but the Olympic spirit prevails.

Francoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon won the triple jump, followed by Hrysopiyi Devetzi of Greece and Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia.

Another Greek, Athanasia Tsoumeleka, got the crowd going early Monday, winning the 20-kilometer walk in 1 hour, 29.12 seconds. Olimpiada Ivanova of Russia won the silver in 1:29.16, while Australia’s Jane Saville took bronze in 1:29.25.

In the women’s 200, Allyson Felix is off to a much better start than at her last major international competition, the world championships last summer, where she barely advanced out of the first round and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Felix led three American women into the semifinals Monday, winning her heat in both the first and second rounds. She had the best time of 22.39 seconds in the first round and ran 22.69 in the second round.

Joining Felix in Tuesday’s semis are U.S. teammates Muna Lee, who won her second-round heat in 22.74, and LaShaunte’a Moore, who placed fourth in her heat but advanced as one of the four fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

Also advancing were France’s Christine Arron, who was eliminated in the 100 semifinals after being favored to win that race, and 44-year-old Merlene Ottey.

Marion Jones, the defending champion in the 200, dropped out before the second round at the U.S. Olympic trials last month and didn’t qualify for the event.

In the 100-meter hurdles, world champion Perdita Felicien and two Americans reached the final, an event that lost Gail Devers to injury a day earlier.

Joanna Hayes won her semifinal heat Monday night in 12.48 seconds, while U.S. teammate Melissa Morrison was second to Felicien in the other heat in 12.53. Felicien, a Canadian who attended the University of Illinois, won that heat in 12.49.

Hayes, her sprained left ankle wrapped in tape wrapped to resemble the American flag, said she was running for fallen teammate Devers.

“I love Gail. I’ve known her for 10 years and I think Gail’s a wonderful person,” Hayes said. “I feel bad for her, my heart went out to her.”

Devers, 37, lost her dream of finally winning a hurdles medal when she failed to clear the first hurdle in the first round Sunday because of a strained left calf. One of the greatest hurdlers of all time, Devers has Olympic gold medals in the 100 and 400 relay, but nothing from her signature event.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Americans Angelo Taylor, Bennie Brazell and James Carter all advanced to the semifinals. So did two-time world champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, who has not lost in more than three years.

Track & field - Women's 800 Meters (medals: Aug. 23rd) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Kelly Holmes Britain 1:56.38 Silver Hasna Benhassi Morocco 1:56.43 Bronze Jolanda Ceplak Slovenia 1:56.43 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Women's Triple Jump (medals: Aug. 23rd) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Francoise Mbango Etone Cameroon 50 feet, 2 1/3 inches Silver Hrysopiyi Devetzi Greece 50 feet, 3/8 inches Bronze Trecia Smith Jamaica 49 feet, 8 1/16 inches NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Men's Discus (medals: Aug. 23rd) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Virgilijus Alekna Lithuania 228 feet, 9 3/4 inches Silver Zoltan Kovago Hungary 219 feet, 11 3/8 inches Bronze Aleksander Tammert Estonia 216 feet, 6 3/8 inches NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Women's 20k Walk (medals: Aug. 23rd) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Athanasia Tsoumeleka Greece 1:29:12 Silver Olimpiada Ivanova Russia 1:29:16 Bronze Jane Saville Australia 1:29:25 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

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