Kamel cruises to 800m victory

[Pero]

BAHRAIN'S Youssef Saad Kamel set the Asian leading mark of one minute 44.49 seconds in the men's 800 metres last night, en route to winning the event at the Meeting de Atletismo de Madrid 2007 IAAF Grand Prix in Spain - an event on this year's World Athletics Tour.

The Asian leading mark is the fastest time an Asian athlete achieves in his or her respective event in a particular year. Kamel narrowly bettered the previous leading mark of 1:44.56, set in mid-June by Kuwaiti Mohamed Mutlak Al Azimi in Oslo, Norway.

Kamel took control of the race in the final 200m, where he made his push for the lead after pacing himself for most of the event in fourth place.

The 26-year-old moved clearly ahead by the final 60m-mark, and maintained his winning pace all the way to the finish to clinch his first victory on this year's tour after three tries.

Behind Kamel were Americans Khadevis Robinson (1:45.03) and Nick Symmonds (1:45.06). Rounding up the top five were Spaniards Manuel Olmedo (1:45.15) and Antonio Manuel Reina (1:45.32).

Kamel, who currently holds the all-time Asian record in the 800m (1:43.11), earned 10 points on the tour standings with his finish. He now has 26 points for the season and is on track to qualifying for this year's World Athletics Final - the season-ending event of the tour.

He has also already qualified for next month's World Athletics Championships, which is the premium event of the IAAF.

The entry standard for the double-lap race is 1:45.40 - a mark Kamel has already beaten several times during the qualifying period.

Meanwhile, in yesterday's other events, Croatia's Blanka Vlasic beat her own leading mark of the year when she cleared 2.05 metres to take victory in the women's high jump.

The 23-year-old had room to spare as she sailed over the bar at the first attempt and went close as she tried for a world record of 2.10m.

World champion Kasja Bergvist of Sweden and Spain's Ruth Beitia tied for second place with clearances of 1.95.

There was another top class performance in the women's long jump with Russian Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva celebrating her 31st birthday with a leap of 7.15 metres, the second best mark in the world this year.

Portugal's Naide Gomes also broke the seven metre barrier to finish second with a personal best mark of 7.01.

The evergreen Maria Mutola of Mozambique was one of three women to dip under two minutes as she breezed to victory in the 800 metres.