Ukrainian dethrones queen Marion in 100m

Ukraine's Zhanna Pintusevich-Block pulled off a sensational upset in Edmonton last night when she outran American sprint queen…

Ukraine's Zhanna Pintusevich-Block pulled off a sensational upset in Edmonton last night when she outran American sprint queen Marion Jones for the world championship 100 metres title.

The former world 200 metres world champion finished in 10.82 seconds, with Jones second in 10.85 and Greece's Ekaterini Thanou third in 10.91.

In the semi-finals only 90 minutes before, Jones had also been beaten by Pintusevich-Block.

Pintusevich-Block said after the final: "You cannot be confident when you run against Marion, but this semi-final gave me a lot of confidence. I thought 'I can do it'. It just happened".

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"I am not a sore loser, so all credit to Zhanna. She ran a great race. She was the better sprinter today," said Jones.

Jones had been unbeaten over 100 metres since 1997 and until the semi-final defeat earlier in the day had remained unbeaten for 55 races.

Her defeat also put an end to her dream of becoming the first woman to win three straight world 100 metres titles.

AFP