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Beijing: Jamaica won another battle in its Olympic sprinting duel with the United States yesterday when Melaine Walker took the women's 400 metre hurdle race, outpacing Sheena Tosta.
Walker, slow out of the starting blocks, spent most of the race trying to make up her early deficit and the two runners arrived at the last 100 metres nearly even before the Jamaican powered away.
Walker finished in an Olympic record of 52.64 seconds, well ahead of Tosta who ran 53.70 seconds, tying up and struggling to maintain her pace.
Britain's Tasha Danvers, seen as an outside contender for a medal, was third in a personal best of 53.84 seconds.
"Well, I was kind of expecting it, I've dreamed about it a million times," Walker said of her victory. "I want to say it's heart, dedication, discipline and it's wanting."
Aksana Miankova of Belarus won Olympic gold in the women's hammer yesterday with her penultimate throw of 76.34 metres pushing Cuba's Yipsi Moreno into second place.
Just not enough
Moreno, also a silver medallist in Athens four years ago, responded with 75.20 metres on her final throw but that was not enough to dislodge the slimly built Miankova. China's Zhang Wenxiu took bronze with 74.32 metres to add to her third place in the world championships.
"This is my first gold medal and I felt I was so successful tonight," Miankova told reporters, adding she had tried to maintain consistency.
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