Mary Slaney proved she's not too old at 38 to win world championship medals. She also proved she's not too old to finish second to someone even older.
Slaney, making an amazing comeback this year, won a silver medal in the 1,500 meters Sunday. Even more amazing was that she was beaten by an athlete six years older.Yekaterina Podkopayeva, 44, an old Russian adversary who Slaney beat in 1983, won the event in 4 minutes, 5.19 seconds, just .03 ahead of Slaney.
In the men's 1,500 run Saturday, Provo's Jason Pyrah finished seventh in 3:41.64. The winner was Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj in 3:35.31.
Wilson Kipketer, who claims Danish citizenship, no longer runs for Kenya. The IOC wouldn't let him compete for his adopted country at last summer's Olympics, but he gained full citizenship in December.
Allowed to run for Denmark at the World Indoor championship, Kipketer made sure everyone noticed.
He smashed the 800-meter world record owned by Kenya's Paul Ereng in Friday's heats and then broke his own mark two days later in the final. Kipketer was timed in 1:42.67 to beat Moroccan Mahjoub Haida by more than three seconds and collect $100,000 in prize money.
"I was here to run. I was not after the money," Kipketer said. "I was doing this for the audience and my coach (1972 Olympic 800 bronze medalist Mike Boit of Kenya).
"The decision that I would run a world record for the second time came during the warmup. The second important thing was the atmosphere in the arena, and I knew the public loved me.
"After I broke the first world record, I said I'll try to do it better," Kipketer said.
"I want to make history of my life. I have my dreams. I still can see things I can improve."
At least now he can start doing it at the Olympics as a Dane.
After falling out with the Kenyan federation back in 1990, he was unable to make an impact at the world's highest-profile sports event. He will be 29 in Sydney and likely still a force.
Slaney, who will be 42 by then, was inches away from winning the 1,500 meters Sunday, 14 years after she won at that distance at the outdoor Worlds in Helsinki.
Running in that 1983 race too was Podkopayeva, who finished third, and it was ironic that the Russian was in Paris to gain some kind of payback.
Slaney, who has returned to almost her best form this season, imposed her famed front-running style on the field and looked set to win her first indoor title until Podkopayeva made a late surge.
The Russian, who won the title four years ago, appeared on Slaney's shoulder only five yards from the finish line.
"I didn't feel her coming," Slaney said of the Russian's late charge. "I didn't feel her until right when she got there. I didn't have another gear to go to.
"For a change I wasn't the oldest competitor in the race. That was cool. But for me to win a medal after 14 years . . ."
By contrast, while Slaney has been out of the world championship spotlight since 1983, Bulgarian high jumper Stefka Kostadinova has won five indoor high jump titles.
After cruising to her fifth triumph, she just failed to set a world record, but suggested it won't be far off.
Maria Mutola of Mozambique made it three 800-meter titles in a row, and Cuba's Ivan Pedrosa did the same in the long jump.
The Clark family scooped gold, silver and bronze on the final day of competition Sunday.
Jearl Miles-Clark won the 400 meters and gained a relay silver in the 1,600. Her sister-in-law, Joetta Clark, won bronze in the 800 behind Mutola.
Stacy Dragila of the United States became the first world champion for the women's pole vault, tying the world record of 14 feet, 51/4 inches.
The Russian women's 1,600 relay team of Tatyana Chebykina, Svetlana Goncharenko, Olga Kotlyarova and Tatyana Alekseyeva set the other world mark of 3:26.84, shaving .38 off a five year-old mark owned by a German quartet.