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Klüft triumphant in Helsinki title chase

Olympic champion Carolina Klüft of Sweden retained her heptathlon world title at the World Atheletics Championships in Helsinki on Sunday, seeing off French arch-rival Eunice Barber in a thrilling sprint finish in the final event, the 800m.

Published: 7 August 2005 20:04 CEST

The 22-year-old ended with a total of 6887 points, 63 ahead of Barber (6824) while Margaret Simpson of Ghana took bronze with 6375 points in the multi-discipline event.

With her left ankle heavily strapped, a grimacing Klüft outpaced the valiant Barber down the home straight of the 800m to the rapturous delight of the Finnish crowd that have adopted the Swede as one of their own.

The race was won by British Olympic bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton, but her impressive run was not enough for her to move from fifth in the overall standings after her dismal performances earlier in the day in the long jump and javelin.

“I had a really great experience here and Eunice is a fantastic competitor,” said Klüft.

“After the accident in training, I thought what would happen. But this has given me hope to do even better in the future once I am injury free.”

In the opening event of the day, the long jump, Klüft and Barber both recorded season’s bests of 6.87 and 6.75m respectively.

Klüft’s best came on her first attempt in an all-or-nothing jump that saw her narrowly miss being red-flagged.

The France team lodged a protest, complaining that the jump should not have been allowed for a foul on the take-off board.

After reviewing the evidence, the IAAF’s Jury of Appeal determined that the event judges had made the correct decision and the protest was dismissed.

The result saw the Swede squash Barber’s two-point overnight lead after the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m and regain top spot by 38 points.

But Barber, the 1999 world champion, cut back that deficit to just 18 points after the javelin, in which she threw 48.24m to Kluft’s 47.20m, albeit a season’s best for the Swede.

In the overall standings before the 800m, Klüft was top on 5906, followed by Barber on 5888 and Simpson in third on 5511.

The 23-year-old Ghanaian, bronze medallist in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, recorded a personal best of 56.36m in the javelin to overtake Sotherton, who will regret a day when she failed to perform to the best of her abilities.

Sotherton finished in fifth place overall behind Lithuania’s Austra Skujyte, whose season’s best of 48.82m in the javelin ensured her a healthy finish.

AFP

CRIME

Spain women’s World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

The crisis within Spanish football deepened Friday as the women's World Cup winners demanded more heads roll at its scandal-hit RFEF federation whose disgraced ex-boss appeared in court on sexual assault charges.

Published: 16 September 2023 07:56 CEST
Spain women's World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

Just hours after Luis Rubiales was quizzed by a judge for kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso, all but two of Spain’s 23 World Cup players said they would not don the national shirt without deeper changes within the RFEF, demanding its current interim head also resign.

The statement came as the squad’s new coach Montse Tome was to announce the lineup for two upcoming UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, which was promptly postponed, federation sources said.

“The changes put in place are not enough,” said a statement signed by 39 players, among them 21 of the 23 World Cup winners.

Demanding “fundamental changes to the RFEF’s leadership”, they called for the “resignation of the RFEF president” Pedro Rocha, who took over as interim leader when FIFA suspended Rubiales on August 26.

But the federation insisted Rocha would “lead the transition process within the RFEF until the next election”, insisting any changes would be made “gradually”.

A federation source said a leadership election could take place early next year.

“This institution is more important than individuals and it’s crucial it remains strong. We’ll work tirelessly to create stability first in order to progress later,” Rocha said in the statement.

Despite a string of recent changes, the federation remains in the hands of officials appointed by Rubiales, and the players are demanding structural changes “within the office of the president and the secretary general”.

Brought to court by a kiss

The bombshell came after days of optimism within the RFEF that the players would come round after it sacked controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tome in his stead and pledged further changes, not to mention Rubiales’ long-awaited resignation on Sunday.

On August 25, 81 Spain players, including the 23 world champions, had started a mass strike saying they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

Earlier on Friday, Rubiales appeared in court where he was quizzed by Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation into the kiss, which sparked international outrage and saw him brought up on sexual assault charges.

At the end of the closed-door hearing, in which Rubiales repeated his claim that the kiss was consensual, the judge ordered him not to come within 200 metres of Hermoso and barred him from any contact with the player.

At the weekend, the 46-year-old had described the kiss as “a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was… 100 percent non-sexual” in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Hermoso, 33, has insisted it was not, describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Speaking to reporters outside court, Hermoso’s lawyer Carla Vall said they were “very satisfied” with the hearing.

“Thanks to this video, everyone can see there was no consent whatsoever and that is what we will demonstrate in court.”

Allegations of coercion

Hermoso herself will also testify before the judge at some stage, who will then have to decide whether or not to push ahead with the prosecution. No date has been given for her testimony.

The complaint against Rubiales, which was filed by the public prosecutors’ office, cites alleged offences of sexual assault and coercion.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors explained the offence of coercion related to Hermoso’s statement saying she “and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

At the hearing, Rubiales also denied coercion.

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