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Greek glory for Halkia in 400H
Athens - Fani Halkia of Greece pulled off a stunning upset to win the Olympic Games women's 400 metres hurdles gold medal on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old timed 52.82 seconds while European champion Ionela Tirlea-Manolache of Romania won silver in 53.38sec and Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova of Ukraine took bronze in 53.44sec.
Halkia, who was a virtual unknown coming into the Games but broke the national record and then the Olympic record in successive rounds, came off the bend on an equal footing with world champion Jana Pittman of Australia with the others trailing, including world record holder Yuliya Pechonkina.
However, Pittman stuck doggedly to her until the penultimate hurdle where the Greek girl surged ahead and from then on it was a fight for the minor places as she put more and more distance between her and her rivals.
Pittman couldn't hold on for a medal as the effects of having a knee operation just over a week ago took its toll and she finished fifth, while Pechonkina was eighth and last.
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