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Posted at 6:23 a.m., Sunday, September 2, 2007

Track and field: Lagat gets double; Felix earns triple

By RAF CASERT
AP Sports Writer

OSAKA, Japan — Allyson Felix got her triple gold. Her U.S. teammate Bernard Lagat got a double for doing something no one had ever done at the world championships.

Lagat became the first 1,500-5,000 double winner in world championship history, biding his time in the 5,000 meters before kicking for home and keeping an eye on the stadium screen to ensure no one was closing in on him.

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge tried but failed and soon Lagat was pointing one finger up from each hand, celebrating a remarkable double.

Only the great Finn Paavo Nurmi and Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj had completed a similar double, but both achieved theirs at the Olympics.

Lagat had to qualify for the 5,000 final just one day after winning his 1,500 gold, but nothing could stop him.

When the 5,000 turned out to be a slow race, it suited him fine since he again had the fastest finishing kick.

"This double means a lot to me," he said, especially since he wanted to emulate his friend El Guerrouj. "I wanted to do the same because he inspired me."

After winning silver and bronze for Kenya in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, it was double gold for the United States only days after Lagat became eligible to compete for his adopted country.

When Jeremy Wariner brought the baton home in the 4x400-meter relay, he capped another incredible championships for the U.S. team.

The medal table was all stars and stripes, the sounds of the Star Spangled Banner kept beaming out of the stadium speakers.

In all, the United States won 14 gold and 26 medals overall, one medal better than its record performance two years ago. Kenya upstaged Russia on the last day, moving to No. 2 on the standings with five gold and 13 overall. The Russians had four gold and 16 overall.

With golds in the 200, 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay, Felix joined Marita Koch as the only woman to triple at one world championships. Koch, from the former East Germany, did it in 1983.

Together with triple gold medalist Tyson Gay, it set her up as the face of the U.S. team heading into next year's Beijing Olympics. "We have a great feeling going into next year. Just the showing tonight. To sweep the relays, everyone is extremely excited," said Felix.

Running second in the 4x400, Felix got the baton when trailing Jamaica and barely level with Russia. Another 400 meters later it was no contest. Her braids trailing in the hot air of Nagai stadium, she used her elegant, effortless style to perfection and handed over to Mary Wineberg with the gold all but sealed and delivered.

Felix won three golds in as many days.

"It was my first time running the relay and it has just been so amazing," she said.

Gay achieved his golden triple on Saturday in the 4x100 relay, joining Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene as the only men to do it. It was the first time in championship history the same country swept all four relay events.

If the medal for the most improved athlete surely goes to 32-year-old Lagat, the most improved nation is Kenya.

Two years after earning its only gold on the final day of competition, marathon runner Catherine Ndereba and 800 champion Alfred Yego took their nation's gold-medal tally up to five.

Behind Ndereba, Zhou Chunxiu won China's third medal of the meet and Reiko Tosa earned the host nation's only medal of the championship _ not a hoped-for gold, but bronze.

Blanka Vlasic gave Croatia gold in the high jump, one of the most expected of the games. After winning she tried to break the world record but failed her 3 attempts at 2.10.

If Vlasic failed, surely the U.S. 4x400 would do it to cap the championships, right?

No _ their time of 2 minutes, 55.56 seconds was 1.36 outside the old mark.

"The way we ran tonight we all were going for the record. But at the same time our goal was to get the gold," Wariner said.

It was Wariner's second gold of the championships after winning the 400. Kerron Clement, the 400 hurdles champion, also wins double gold because he ran in the relay heats on Saturday.

After the nine-day championships were on the verge of ending doping-free, the head of the IAAF announced Sunday there had been one "suspicious" case which needed further investigation. No details were provided.

If there was one constant it was the weather, and much like the first day, athletes continued to complain about the 30-plus (85-plus) temperatures.

"This was one of the toughest marathons I've ever run because of the weather," said Ndereba, the 2003 world champion and 2005 silver medalist. "I was amazed to see so many runners left after 39 kilometers."

Bahrain also got onto the gold medal table very late.

After 2005 double champion Rachid Ramzi only got one silver, Ethiopian-born Maryam Jamal moved past early pacesetter Yelena Soboleva of Russia about 250 meters out to give her adopted country the only title of the championships.

The men's 800 was thrilling up to the line. Gary Reed took the early initiative and seemed ready to clinch Canada's first gold but Yego failed to give up, steadily reducing the margin before winning by .01 seconds. Olympic champion Yuri Borzakovsky of Russia took bronze.

Finland won its only gold in an event it traditionally dominates _ the javelin.

Tero Pitkamaki won with 90.33 meters, beating Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway and American Breaux Greer.

Pitkamaki's only loss this year was at the Golden League meet in Rome, when he was too shaken after accidentally striking French athlete Salim Sdiri.