GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Aug 7 - The most hotly anticipated showdown of the
European championships ended in anti-climax on Monday when Eunice Barber pulled
out of the women's heptathlon competition after two rounds.
Barber, who had been leading the competition by 36 points from world and
Olympic champion Carolina Kluft, withdrew due to a thigh problem, practically
ensuring the Swede would retain her European title.
"I felt it first yesterday," Barber said. "The physios tried everything."
However, the championships still have the prospect of a re-match in the 100
metres between the two fastest athletes from four years ago -- Britain's Dwain
Chambers, who was later stripped of the title for doping, and Portugal's Francis
Obikwelu.
Obikwelu looked the more comfortable of the two medal favourites, easing up
in his second round heat to win in 10.28.
"I ran for 80 metres and then I slowed it down, because I did not want to
waste a lot of energy," said the European record holder, who is attempting a
100-200 double.
Chambers, who made his competitive comeback from a two-year ban in June, was
troubled by a thigh injury in the run-up to the championships and after clocking
10.24 in the first round had a poor start in his next race to scrape through in
fourth.
COLOURFUL CROWD
Kluft gave an enthusiastic crowd, many of whom were clad in the yellow and
royal blue colours of their national flag, something to cheer about, although
the Swede was disappointed arch rival Barber was no longer in the medal hunt.
"It is sad for the competition, the crowd and it is sad for her, but it does
not affect me as a competitor. I always try to focus on my own competition,"
Kluft told reporters.
The 23-year-old, who is suffering from a hamstring problem got off to a slow
start with only the fifth fastest time in the opening event, the 100 hurdles.
"The hamstring was really bad this morning during the warm up. If it hadn't
been for the crowd I might have performed even worse," said Kluft.
The Swede's every move was cheered by the crowd and the amount of noise they
made as she raced down the home straight in the 200 metres, the final event of
first day of heptathlon competition, belied the fact the Ullevi stadium had not
been more than two-thirds full during the two sessions.
Kluft finished the day on 3,990 points, 124 ahead of Britain's Kelly
Sotherton.