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New record in women's 5,000 meters

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 4, 2006

NEW YORK - Meseret Defar of Ethiopia set the world record in women's 5,000 meters in 14:24.53 on Saturday at the Reebok Grand Prix, breaking the mark of 14:24.68 set by Elvan Abeylegesse in 2004. Defar won Olympic gold in Athens in the 5,000 and finished second at the world championships.

Meanwhile, Marion Jones won the 100 meters, crossing the line in 11.06 seconds in her first race in the United States in more than a year. The former Olympian beat a field that included world champion Lauryn Williams and 2003 world champ Torri Edwards.

In the men's 100, co-world record holder Justin Gatlin won, clocking 9.87 in the final sprint event of the evening.

Joseph Nguran won, taking the lead halfway through the race and winning by 1 minute, 17 seconds. Nguran finished with a time of 2:16:41. Ilona Baranova took over the women's race with about 4 miles remaining and won in 2:38:04.

Phillip Bandawe won in Sweden, beating Michael Ngaseke. Bandawe finished the race in 2 hours, 17 minutes, 1 second, while Ngaseke crossed the line in 2:20:05.

Sir Percy won the $2.35-million English Derby in a photo finish in England. Sir Percy charged up on the rails to catch front-runners Dragon Dancer, Dylan Thomas and Hala Bek in one of the closest finishes in the 227-year history of the race.

Horatio Nelson pulled up 600 yards from the finish with a broken front left leg.

Yachats beat Pickin Laurel by 21/4 lengths in the $40,000 feature race for fillies and mares in New Jersey. Yachats splashed the six furlongs in 1:09.4.

Santa Fe rallied to win a $51,000 allowance Friday night in California, beating Miracle Maker by a nose. Santa Fe covered 11/16 miles on turf in 1:40.2.

BOXING: Undefeated Chad Dawson unanimously outpointed defending NABF light heavyweight champion Eric Harding on Friday night in California. Dawson recovered from a first-round knockdown to win most of the remaining rounds in the 10-round bout. ... Nikolai Valuev retained his WBA heavyweight title in Germany, stopping Owen Beck in the third round. The biggest heavyweight in history at 7 feet and 321 pounds, Valuev sent Beck backward to the canvas with 1:16 left following a second-round knockdown. The referee stopped the bout seconds later.

Mat Mladin ended Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Ben Spies' winning streak at six, taking the first leg in Wisconsin. Mladin, the defending AMA Superbike champion, took the lead from Spies on lap seven of the 16-lap race and held off a last lap charge by Spies to win by 0.148 seconds.

[Last modified June 4, 2006, 01:17:19]