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Lebedeva wins Golden League jackpot
BERLIN, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva won the Golden League's one million dollar jackpot on Sunday with a triple jump victory in Berlin she said was more important than defending her world title in Helsinki last month.
A twice world champion, the Russian was the only athlete to win her discipline at all six Golden League meetings in Europe this season. She defended her controversial decision to skip the world championships, while nursing a minor injury, in order to focus on the sport's most lucrative jackpot, saying she had won the two previous world titles and wanted a new challenge. In contrast, France's Christine Arron was forced to settle for just the honour of five 100-metres wins in six Golden League races -- and no jackpot money. She had won two bronze medals in Helsinki but then lost after that in Zurich's Golden League. The jackpot is shared at the end of the season by competitors who win their disciplines in all six meetings: Paris, Rome, Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin. Only once before in its eight-year history has the award gone to just one person -- in 2003 to Mozambique's Maria Mutola. "I have always dreamed of earning so much money," said Lebedeva, who wore the bib number "1,000,000" on her jersey. "Today my dream came true. I don't have to worry about the future, for my family and my grandfather," she said, adding she would donate $100,000 to schools in her home town of Volgograd. Arron, who would have won half of the jackpot had she managed to win in Zurich, swept to an emphatic victory in the 100 metres in 11.01, beating Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas and American Me'Lisa Barber. On a bright warm day in the German capital there were nine newly crowned world champions competing in the International Stadionfest (ISTAF) meeting but only Cuba's 800-metres champion Zulia Calatayud took first, winning in one minute 59:25 seconds. Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi, a double gold winner in Helsinki, finished a disappointing fourth in the men's two-lap race, coming up short in a sprint won by South Africa's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi in 1:44.26. Dwight Thomas of Jamaica won the men's 100 metres in 10.01, edging out Ronald Pognon of France and Briton Jason Gardener. Aziz Zakari of Ghana, who won the Golden League meets in Paris and Oslo, was a disappointing seventh. Kenyan Daniel Kipchirchir Komen produced the second fastest 1,500 metres of the year by clocking 3:29.72, just missing a 20-year-old meet record of 3:29.46 set by Said Aouita. In the women's 100 metres hurdles, Jamaica's Brigitte Foster-Hylton, bronze medallist at the world championships, edged compatriot Delloreen Ennis-London, who had won silver in Helsinki. In the men's 110 metres hurdles, world champion Ladji Doucoure got injured on a hurdle and was sixth behind American Dominque Arnold. Berhane Adere of Ethiopia, who won the silver medal in Helsinki in the 10,000 metres, had an easy win in the women's 5,000 metres race in 14:47.56.
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