European Track and Field Championships : Soviets Set World Marks in Hammer, Women’s 400 Hurdles

Soviet athletes Yuri Syedikh and Marina Stepanova set world records, and little-known Italian Gelindo Bordin won the marathon in the European Track and Field Championships Saturday.

Syedikh bettered his world mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 284 feet 7 inches on his fourth attempt. Syedikh trailed countryman Sergei Litvinov, who led the first round, before breaking the record of 284-4 he had set at Cork, Ireland, June 22.

Stepanova upset East Germany’s Sabine Busch in the final of the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 53.32 seconds.

Busch went into the race as the favorite and current world record-holder--she ran a 53.56 at Berlin last September--and as the fastest in the event this year. She led for the first part of the race but tired over the last two hurdles and finished second in 53.60.

“My start was not too good and I did not take the first hurdles too well,” said the 36-year-old Stepanova, who also set the world record in 1979 as Marina Makeyeva but had never won a major title.

“In the end, I had more in reserve than Sabine. If there had been no wind, I believe we could have been the first (women) runners under 53 seconds.”

Bordin, 27, from Verona, won the marathon in 2:10:54. He beat countryman Orlando Pizzolato by three seconds.

The two Italians were in front at 19 miles after the early leader, Steve Jones of Wales, tired and slipped far back.

“I kept asking myself, ‘Is it true, or am I dreaming?’ ” Bordin said.

As the leaders entered the stadium to a huge roar from the crowd, Pizzolato briefly moved ahead. But Bordin quickly regained the lead and crossed the line five meters in front.

Bordin, who had run only five previous marathons, was so excited he did not know the race was over.

“I did not see where the finish line was. I kept on running until I realized from the noise of the crowd that I had won,” he said.

In the 110-meter hurdles, Stephane Caristan won France’s first gold medal of the championships in a world-best time this year of 13.20, which also was a European record.

Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway won the inaugural women’s 10,000 meters impressively. She had lapped half the field by the 5,000-meter mark and took the gold medal in 30:23.25.

“I had to run alone because no one followed me,” Kristiansen said. “I ran only for winning. I never thought about the world record.”

HAMMER THROW ALL-TIME LIST

Mark Name Country Year 284-7 Yuri Syedikh USSR 1986 282-3 Sergei Litvinov USSR 1986 276-11 Juri Tamm USSR 1984 274-1 Igor Nikulin USSR 1982 271-1 Gunther Rodehau East Germany 1985 267-8 Benjamin Viluckis USSR 1986 267-7 Christoph Sahner West Germany 1985 267-5 Juha Tiainen Finland 1985 267-2 Yuri Tarasyuk USSR 1984 266-9 Klaus Ploghaus West Germany 1986

WOMEN’S 400 HURDLES ALL-TIME LIST

Mark Name Country Year 53.32 Marina Stepanova USSR 1986 53.55 Sabine Busch East Germany 1985 53.58 Margarita Khromova USSR 1984 53.74 Myrtle Bothma South Africa 1986 53.76 Debbie Flintoff Australia 1986 54.02 Anna Ambraziene USSR 1983 54.13 Cornelia Feuerbach East Germany 1986 54.14 Yekaterina Grun USSR 1983 54.15 Ann-Louise Skoglund Sweden 1986 54.20 Ellen Fiedler East Germany 1983