Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 26, 2007

Four Gold Medals at Stake in World Athletics
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=18FD21F:A6F02AD83191E16077C3A5DF5C2EDF749574F7DCC14957C0 Jefferson Perez of
Ecuador, Javier Fernandez of Spain, and Hatem Ghoula of Tunisia share
top places in men's 20-kilometer walk 





Gold medal winner Jefferson Perez from Ecuador, center, Silver medal
winner Francisco Javier Fernandez, left, from Spain and bronze medal
winner Hatem Ghoula from Tunisia in Osaka, Japan, 26 Aug 2007 An
Ecuadorian walker has earned his third world title at the World
Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan. VOA's David Byrd has this
report on that race and a preview of the rest of Sunday's action.

World record holder Jefferson Perez of Ecuador won his third world
title in the men's 20-kilometer walk by overtaking 2004 Olympic
champion Ivano Brugnetti of Italy to win in one hour, 22 minutes, 20
seconds.

European Champion Francisco Javier Fernandez of Spain was disqualified
for a technical violation, but was later reinstated to the silver
medal after an appeal. Tunisia's Hatem Ghoula won the bronze (in
1:22:40) to become the first African to medal in the event in a world
championship or Olympics.

Later, the men's 100-meters final and the women's heptathlon highlight
the action. The men's 100 is shaping up to be a battle between world
record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica and American Tyson Gay.

Powell qualified with a time of 10.01 seconds while Gay had a time of
10.06. The American said his time was not his best effort.

"I felt [Britain's Marlon] Devonish running up on the side of me a
little bit so I just tried to secure my spot, you know what I mean,"
he said. "So it is about conserving as much energy as possible and
just leaving it on the line for the finals."

In the heptathlon, two-time world champion Carolina Kluft of Sweden
has a 148-point lead over the field going into the last three events.

The other gold medal is the women's shot put, where Valerie Vili of
New Zealand had the best qualifying throw (19.45 meters). The Kiwi
will have to hold off Olympic champion Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba
(18.29), Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus (18.23), and Petra Lammert of
Germany (18.72).


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