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Williams-Darling, Olsson share Golden League jackpot
Tonique Williams-Darling and Christian Olsson crowned memorable seasons by each winning half the million-dollar Golden League jackpot on Sunday. The two athletes, who both left last month's Athens Olympics with gold medals, made sure of pocketing $500,000 each with comfortable victories in the final round of the series in Berlin. Swedish triple jumper Olsson and 400 metres runner Williams-Darling, of the Bahamas, were the only athletes still in contention for the prize divided between competitors who win each of their events at the six showcase meetings. The 24-year-old Olsson, who has lost only once this year, confirmed he was in a class of his own with a best mark of 17.45 metres at his second attempt. Williams-Darling, 28, outclassed a strong field featuring arch-rival Ana Guevara of Mexico to win in a personal best 49.07 seconds, the world's fastest time this year. World champion Guevara, the silver medallist from Athens, remained in contention until the final 100 metres but then lost ground to finish a distant second in 49.53. More than 60,000 fans in Berlin's newly renovated Olympic stadium witnessed victories by a string of Olympic champions, among them Lithuania's Virgilius Alekna in the men's discus, American pole vaulter Tim Mack and long jumper Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia. One of few Olympic champions to be beaten on Berlin's eye-catching blue track was Britain's Kelly Holmes. The 800 and 1,500 metres gold medallist from Athens had to be content with second place in the 1,500 metres behind Russia's Tatyana Tomashova, who took some measure of revenge after finishing second to the Briton at the Olympics. Fans had hoped for a strong performance from former Olympic long jump champion Heike Drechsler, making her last outdoor appearance, but it was not to be. The 39-year-old German managed a modest 5.92 metres after fouling one of her attempts and could not make the final featuring the best eight competitors. |
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