World University Games comes to a close as Britain,
Latvia and Kenya win their first golds
From Steven Downes in Palma de Mallorca
13 July 1999 - The 20th World Student Games came to an end here tonight, with Britain, Latvia and Kenya winning their first golds of the 10-day multi-event sports festival which has been so dominated by the United States, winners of 30 of the 63 total available gold medals, 12 of them in athletics.
High jumper Ben Challenger, with a personal best 2.30-metre leap, was flying high as he paraded out into he centre of the Son Moix stadium to collect his gold medal, and was greeted by a fly-past from the Spanish air force's aerial display team, ahead of the closing ceremony.
Challenger, had come to Palma rated only fifth best jumper, but won the test of nerves against his nemesis, Canada's Mark Boswell, to take the prize.
Ever since they first competed against one another at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Sydney in 1996, where Challenger took the silver, the Loughborough student has always been beaten by Boswell, who came to the meeting with a best 5cm higher than Challenger's 2.28.
That counted for nothing last night, as Challenger's cleaner jumping record at earlier heights gave him the advantage over the Canadian on countback throughout the competition. Nonetheless, when Challenger had his third failure at 2.32m, Boswell had a chance to snatch the competition.
He seemed to sail over the bar with his last effort, landed, and for a moment the bar stayed in place, only to fall to the ground a fraction later.
"Whoever jumped 2.32 would have deserved to win," Challenger said. "I'm absolutely ecstatic to have won. "I knew that first-time clearances were going to be important, and that's the way it worked out."
Bronze medallist in the high jump was Jin-Taek Lee, of Korea, who led the competition after his first-time clearance at 2.28, but could not manage any higher.
Erik Rags claimed the riches of gold for Latvia, his javelin throw of 83.78 metres, a personal best, in the second round proving enough to beat off Gregor Hoegler, of Austria (82.63) and Isbel Luaces, from Cuba (82.18).
Kenya, too, managed to get their only medal of the Games in the 1500m, and in the very last event. Bernard Lagat, the double NCAA champion indoors this winter, ran away from the field over the final 300 metres, which he covered in 39.76sec, to come home in 3min 40.99sec.
Japan's Rie Ueno outsprinted Ana Dias, of Portugal, on the final lap to win the women's 5,000 metres (winning time: 15:51.24), and Olena Shekhovisova won gold in the women's long jump for the Ukraine, comfortably ahead 0f Adrien Sawyer of the United States (6.92m to 6.61).
The Americans won all four relays, to bring their medal tally from athletics to 12 gold, nine silver and four bronze. Romania's six golds (all by women) put them second on the athletics medal table, just ahead of Cuba, who had an outstanding Games, winning five gold medals in track and field.
But it was a non-medal-winning performance on the final day which caught the eye. After the first stage of the women's 4x400 metres relay, Romania lay in last place. When Ionela Tirlea, the individual 400-metre champion, received the baton, they were tailed off in seventh. Chasing through the tailenders, Tirlea flew down the back straight and hauled her team into a final fourth place - hand-timed from the stands, she seemed to cover the 400 in 49.7sec.
The next World Student Games, in 2001, are to be staged in Beijing, China.
Check out the FISU site for full results
