Mayock breaks British record

Mayock is looking good for Lisbon next month

John Mayock produced a nail-biting finale in his 2,000m clash with Noah Ngeny to become the first Briton to run the distance indoors in under five minutes at the Lievin meeting.

The Yorkshireman came second after completing a blistering last lap in an attempt to catch Olympic 1,500m champion Ngeny.

The performance, which shaved five-and-a-half seconds off the old mark he set 12 months ago, was the ideal confidence-booster before the World Indoor Championships get underway in Lisbon next month.

"I've come home and run personal bests at 1,500m, the mile and 2,000m in a space of 10 days," said Mayock, who will compete in the 3,000m in Lisbon.

"That's not bad and I'm raring for the World Championships to begin."

The Briton was twenty metres behind the Kenyan with one final 200 metres circuit remaining when he unleashed the finishing speed which three years ago earned him the European 3,000 metres indoor title.

Ngney managed to stay ahead of Mayock

He reduced Ngeny's lead to only three metres as his rival, crossing the line in four minutes 57.09 seconds.

Ngeny's time was the sixth fastest ever, taking first place in four minutes 56.40 seconds.

Mayock's training with world mile record holder Hicham El Guerrouj in Morrocco in January had clearly paid off.

"I know I am stronger than I have ever been - and I can thank Hicham for this.

"The physical sessions I did with him and his squad were brilliant and the advice I received fascinating."

Fast time

Christian Malcolm had to wait for two official decisions before claiming first place in the 200m.

The former world junior champion looked as though he had been defeated by Chris Williams in a 20.46 seconds photofinish.

But the Jamaican, who beat Malcolm to the dip as they crossed the line, was disqualified for stepping out of his lane

"It's a bit of a relief to have gained the victory, but I shouldn't have let him get the verdict," said Malcolm.

Malcolm wins the 200m by default

"But obviously I'm delighted with the time. I've been running consistently, so I did sort of expect it."

Malcolm's time of 20.46 seconds moved him to second place on the UK All-Time best performance list and also constituted a Welsh record.

Malcolm, who was earlier eliminated in his 60m heat, expressed some reservations about replacing John Skeete in Lisbon.

Skeete withdrew from the World Championships after testing positive for stanazolol last week, and Malcolm is expected to take over from the 60m trial winner.

"It is not a nice way to get a place in the team," said Malcolm.

"I would rather have been selected on merit and I do have sympathy for the circumstances in which he has had to pull out."

On Friday, Skeete said a person whose identity he knows had tampered with his dietary supplements.

Skeete faces a long drawn-out battle to restore his innocence.

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Results Sunday at the Energizer-Euroseries Gaz de France Indoor track meeting

MEN

60m - 1, Deji Aliu, Nigeria, 6.55 seconds. 2, Greg Saddler, United States, 6.56. 3, Coby Miller, United States, 6.59. 4, Georgios Theodoridis, Greece, 6.61.

60m Hurdles - 1, Tony Dees, United States, 7.52. 2, Shaun Bownes, South Africa, 7.54. 3, Stanislav Olijar, Latvia, 7.58. 4, Dudley Dorival, Haiti, 7.61.

200m - 1, Christian Malcolm, Britain, 20.26. 2, Joseph Batangdon, Cameroon, 21.07. 3, Ramon Clay, United States, 21.09.

1,500m - 1, Hicham El Guerrouj, Morocco, 3:37.20. 2, Laban Rotich, Kenya, 3:38.25. 3, Bernard Lagat, Kenya, 3:38.82. 4, Mehdi Baala, France, 3:39.41.

2,000m - 1, Noah Ngeny, Kenya, 4:56..40 2, John Mayock, Britain, 4:57.09. 3, Youssef Baba, Morocco, 4:58.93. 4, Vyacheslav Shabunin, Russia, 4:59.12. 5, Kamel Boulahfane, Algeria, 5:01.99.

Long jump - 1, Ivan Pedroso, Cuba, 8.01 meters. 2, Gregor Cankar, Slovenia, 8.01. 3, Cheikh Toure, France, 7.96. 4, Aleksei Lukasevich, Ukraine, 7.95.

WOMEN

60m - 1, Mercy Nku, Nigeria, 7.11 seconds 2, Petya Pendareva, Bulgaria, 7.15. 3, Marina Kislova, Russia, 7.19. 4, Anzhela Kravchenko, Ukraine, 7.21.

60m Hurdles - 1, Michelle Freeman, Jamaica, 7.83. 2, Glory Alozie, Nigeria, 7.84. 3, Olga Shishigina, Kazakstan, 7.94. 4, Vonette Dixon, Jamaica, 8.01. 5, Anjanette Kirkland, United States, 8.02.

800m - 1, Stephanie Graf, Austria, 1:57.53, 2, Maria Mutola, Mozambique, 1:58.02. 3, Helena Fuchsova, Czech Republic, 1:58.37. 4, Yelena Afanasyeva, Russia, 2:00.10.

1,500m - 1, Gabriela Szabo, Romania, 4:03.42. 2, Natalya Gorelova, Russia, 4:03.51. 3, Carla Sacramento, Portugal, 4:04.11. 4, Olga Kuznetsova, Russia, 4:04.26. 5, Mariya Pantyukhova, Russia, 4:143.84.

High Jump - 1, Monica Iagar, Romania, 1.97 meters, 2, Inga Babakova, Ukraine, 1.94. 3, Kajsa Bergquist, Sweden, 1.94. 4, Venelina Veneva, Bulgaria, 1.94. 5, Yuliya Lyakhova, Russia, 1.94.

Pole Vault - 1, Svetlana Feofanova, Russia, 4.48. 2, Anzhela Balakhonova, Ukraine, 4.43. 3, Pavla Hamackova, 4.43. 4, Yelena Belyakova, Russia, 4.38.