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News07 Mar 1999


Men 60m heats

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After false starting, world record holder Maurice Greene, left nothing to chance in his heat of the 60m. As the gun fired he lingered in the blocks – allowing his rivals to steal an immediate advantage – but coolly closed the gap, crossing the line together with Giorgios Theodoridis in 6.56 – a personal best for the Greek. Most impressive of the qualifiers was Greene’s teammate Tim Harden. Quickly into his running, Harden pulled away from the field before easing up completely five metres from the line. Jamaica’s Donovan Powell caught the American at the line with both men timed at 6.51. Australia’s young hope – Matt Shirvington – took the first heat, marred by four false starts, in an Oceania record of 6.52, with Britain’s Jason Gardner just behind. The closest race came in heat 6, with former World Champion Bruny Surin, Ray Stewart and Luis Alberto Perez Rionda, matching stride for stride throughout the race. Stewart, who ran his first Olympic 100m final in 1984, got the verdict in 6.58. But the others qualified for the semis as well, as did Nigeria’s Deji Aliu (6.65) and Japan’s Koji Ito (6.68) from heat 3.

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