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Wednesday, August 7
 
Drechsler falls short at European Championships

Associated Press

MUNICH, Germany -- Olympic long jump champion Heike Drechsler's bid for a record fifth straight European title ended with a fifth-place finish under the rain Wednesday.

Tatyana Kotova of Russia won with a leap of 22 feet, 5¾ inches.

The 37-year-old Drechsler, who sat out the indoor track season with a calf injury, had a best effort of 21-9½.

"My expectations were very high, but how could I have known about this stupid weather?'' Drechsler said.

In other events, Britain's Dwain Chambers overcame three false stars to win the men's 100 meters in 9.96 seconds, the fastest dash by a European in 2002.

Olympic silver medalist Ekaterina Thanou of Greece won the women's 100 in 11.10 in a race postponed almost 90 minutes because of a protest by her national team.

Thanou and the seven other finalists were forced to wait around in the rain for 1½ hours after the Greek team filed a protest saying a runner made a false start in the semifinals. The protest was rejected.




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