Athletics World Championships 2003 Review

The nine days of competition in the World Championships in Paris have provided a large number of surprises and upsets. Many of the favourites have been defeated by virtual unknowns in the world of international athletics. Here are just a few of the more interesting results.

Described by the media as "Tomashova's Turkish Delight", Tatyana Tomaskova from Russia won the the women's 1500 metres. The unexpected win over the heavy favourite Sureyya Ayhan from Turkey came about on the last day of competition. Tomashova was priced at 11.00 whilst the favourite was priced at 1.06.

All things come to those who wait! Thirty year old, Sergey Makarov of Russia won the gold medal with his javelin throw in the first round of the competition. This was his first gold after gaining silver at the Sydney Olympics and bronze at the 2002 European Championships. The favourite to take the gold was Jan Zelezny from the Czech Republic with a price of 1.95. Makarov was positioned as number two favourite priced at 2.90.

No one really noticed the Algerian Diabir Said-Guerni in the line-up for the 800 metre final. He was priced at 23.00 and ranked 6th out of the eight competitors. His unknown status served him well. At the start of the race he tucked himself behind the leader and was never further back than third. His stunning lunge at the finish line gave him victory over the Russian favourite Yuriy Borzakovskiy by just three one-hundredths of a second.

Catherine Ndereba of Kenya was worried about getting tripped up in the women's marathon. She picked up the pace at the 34 kilometre mark. She went on to win the race and achieve a championship record time of 2:23:55.

The Marseillaise was played twice on the last day of the World Championships. Eunice Barber won gold for France in the Long Jump and the 4 x 100m relay team showed the advantage that crisp baton changes can make. Although the team were not as fast as the Americans, the superior baton changes made up more than the difference required to win the gold medal.

Centrebet provided books on the majority of the events at the 9th IAAF Athletics World Championships in 2003. The results show that it is not always the favourite that wins. Over the course of the competition there were quite a number of Centrebet clients who picked well and were paid a large monetary reward for the faith they showed in their chosen competitors.

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This page last modified 10 February 2004