Women 800 metres Heats
World and Olympic Champion Maria Mutola of Mozambique cruised through the first round of the women's 800m, clocking 2:00.81, the fastest of the round. She moved smoothly to the front of heat two with 300 m to go, but then stumbled as her heels were clipped from behind.
Mutola shot an accusing glance behind her but recovered quickly to lead a tight pack of eight through the final 200 metres, Claudia Gessell (GER) and Lucia Klocova following her across the line for the other two automatic qualifying positions. Six women finished inside 2:02.00 in that heat, 16 in the round as a whole.
Austria's Stephanie Graf, Olympic and World silver medallist behind Mutola, also qualified easily. Graf turned on the power in the home straight, to come home in 2:03.99. Other fast qualifiers were Russia's Natalya Yevdokimova (2:01.05 in heat one) and Mutola's fellow Mozambican, her cousin Tina Paulino, who won heat five in a season's best 2:01.06.
The only significant name to miss out was USA's veteran 36 year-old Jearl Miles-Clark, who was run out of the qualifying positions in heat three, won by Russia's Natalya Khruschelyova in 2:03.74, with Britain's Kelly Holmes also safely through in 2:03.75.
Note too the Moroccan sisters Amina and Seltana Ait Hammo, both of whom qualified automatically.
