Two World Records Fall at Track Meet in Greece

Two Russian women set world records within a half-hour span Sunday night -- one in the pole vault, the other in the steeplechase -- and a third had the second-longest triple jump in history.

In that short period during the Tsiklitiria super grand prix meet at Iraklion, Greece, the Russians showed they will be formidable opponents at the Athens Olympics.

Svetlana Feofanova set the world record in the pole vault, becoming the first woman to clear 16 feet and bettering the mark set a week earlier by a Russian countrywoman.

Feofanova’s left knee rubbed the bar and made it wobble, but it stayed on. The record, on her second attempt at 16 feet, broke the mark of 15-11 3/4 set June 27 by Yelena Isinbayeva in Gateshead, England.

Feofanova, Isinbayeva and American Stacy Dragila have been taking turns breaking world indoor and outdoor marks the last couple of years -- and all three will be vying for the gold medal at the Athens Games next month.

Feofanova, the reigning world champion, said she thinks the barrier of 4.90 meters (16-0 3/4) will “be quickly broken by either me or Isinbayeva or Dragila, since we have the potential to do so.”

A few minutes earlier, Gulnara Samitova shattered her record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by nearly seven seconds.

Running a half a lap ahead of the field for the second half of the race, Samitova finished in 9 minutes 1.59 seconds. Her previous mark, set last August, was 9:08.33.

The women’s steeplechase is not contested in the Olympics. Samitova said she expects to run the 5,000 at the Athens Games.

Tatyana Lebedeva solidified her status as the favorite for Olympic gold in the women’s triple jump with a leap of 50-4, the second-longest in history. The only longer jump was 50-10 1/4 by Ukraine’s Inessa Kravets in 1995.

Lebedeva, who won the silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and is the two-time world champion, had a previous best of 50-3 1/4 four years ago. Her previous best this year was 49-11 3/4 less than two weeks ago.

Also turning in a world best for 2004 was Jana Pittman of Australia, who won the women’s 400-meter hurdles in 53.52. The previous best this season was 53.54 by Sheena Johnson of the U.S.

The Tsiklitiria meet was moved to the Cretan capital this year because the Olympic stadium in Athens is being prepared for the Aug. 13-29 Summer Games.

It was one of the first events held at the 33,000-seat Pankrition Stadium, which will be the site of some preliminary-round Olympic soccer matches in August.

Miscellany

Sophomore third baseman Ryan Zimmerman of Virginia had three hits and three runs batted in, but it wasn’t enough as the U.S. national baseball team lost to Japan, 6-3, at Yokosuka Stadium.

Japan clinched the 33rd annual U.S.-Japan Collegiate All-Star Series with two games remaining to play in the seven-game series.

The victory extended a streak in which the home team has won every series since 1979. The U.S. leads the all-time series, 20-13, and 107-83 in games.

Starting pitcher Cesar Ramos, a sophomore left-hander from Long Beach State, gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Ramos, who began the game 2-0 record with an 0.85 earned-run average, gave up five hits and four runs in the first inning.

Cindy Bishop won the Princess Royal Cup, and New Hampshire’s St. Paul’s School won the Princess Elizabeth Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames, England.

Bishop, who races for Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge, Mass., easily outpaced South Africa’s Rika Geyser and became the first American to win the category for female international single sculls.

St. Paul’s, in Concord, N.H., beat England’s Abingdon School by 1 1/4 lengths in the final for schoolboy eights.

Harvard was defeated by two-thirds of a length by a Dutch Olympic squad in the Grand Challenge Cup for international eights. Princeton lost by three lengths to a composite English crew in the Remenham Cup for women’s international eights.

Hector Camacho won a unanimous decision over Clint McNeil in a 10-round middleweight fight Saturday night in Biloxi, Miss., to keep his world championship hopes alive.

The 42-year-old Camacho (78-5-2), a former super-featherweight, lightweight and junior-welterweight champion, hopes to fight World Boxing Organization junior-middleweight champion Daniel Santos.

In his last title bout, he lost to then-welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya in 1997.

France rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat the U.S., 39-31, in an international rugby match at Hartford, Conn., Saturday.

It was the final international match for 35-year-old Dave Hodges of Long Beach, who is regarded as one of best U.S. players.

Chris Dufresne is on vacation.