Johnson bids adieu with gold; Hat-trick for Jones

For the 24-year-old Jones, her gold in the 4×400 meters relay took her Sydney 2000 tally to three golds and two bronzes — a stunning performance.

Jones admitted she was disappointed she did not get the record busting five she had planned.

“I wanted five and didn’t get them. That was disappointing,” said the former basketball star from North Carolina, who managed the sprint double when she took the 100m And 200m titles and bronze in the long jump and 4x100m.

For Johnson, his gold in the 4x400m, topped a record breaking showing that saw him became the first man in history to defend the 400m individual title.

“Now I am going to take time out and think about my future and decide if I should call it a day,” said Johnson. “This was my last major meet. I will not be running at the World Championships. There is nothing to be gained.”

Ethiopia’s Million Wolde came of age when he won the Olympic 5,000 metre title.

The 21-year-old who won the World junior title two years ago and finished eighth at the World Championships in Seville a year ago, ran his race to perfection, beating out second placed Ali Saidi-Sief of Algeria and Morocco’s Brahim Lahlafi.

With no one prepared to set a fast pace, Wolde bided his time before pouncing 200 metres out.

He burst past the 22-year-old Saidi-Sief who had taken the lead but simply had no answer to the Ethiopian’s power.

“I did not think I could win gold before coming here but when there were two laps to go I decided it was possible and went for it,” said Wolde.

Olympic 100 metre champion Maurice Greene collected his second gold of the Games when he anchored the American 4×100 metres team to victory.

The Americans clocked 37.61 secs ahead of Brazil (37.90) and Cuba (38.04)

It was a sweet moment for Greene, who led America to their 15th 4x100m Olympic title.

“I’m bringing the gold back to the United States. It is hugely important the relay gold returns to America,” he said.

Four years ago the United States were beaten by Canada for the sprint relay title — the only time they have been beaten across the line. Their two other defeats were through disqualification.

Algeria’s Nouria Merah-Benida declared it a victory for Arab women when she pulled off a stunning upset to win the women’s 1,500 meter Olympic title.

Merah-Benida won in a slow 4:05.10 seconds ahead of Violeta Szekely of Romanian and her team-mate Gabriela Szabo, who added the bronze to her gold from the 5,000 metres earlier in the week.

World No 1 Suzy Favor-Hamilton, who had lead for almost half of the race, appeared to get tripped coming down the final straight and crashed to the track. She managed to get up and finish but even before the fall she had faded out of medal contention.

It was later revealed that Favor-Hamilton had collapsed from exhaustion.

The 29-year-old Merah-Benida kissed her vest before taking an Algerian flag and going on a victory lap as she followed in the footsteps of compatriot Hassiba Boulmerka who won the 1500m in Barcelona eight years ago.

“This was a victory for Arab women,” she said. “Europeans have sponsorship and facilities but we have courage and heart.”

Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia won a gripping women’s 10,000 metre final.

The 28-year-old Barcelona Olympic champion clocked 30:17.49 seconds to finish more than five seconds ahead of her team-mate Gete Wami with Atlanta gold medallist Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal taking the bronze.

The previous record of 31:01.63 had been set four years ago by Ribeiro. “I am more experienced than in Barcelona. It was always going to be an Ethiopian race. The others were just not up to it,” said Tulu.

It was a devastating run by Tulu, who proved her comeback from the birth of her child and a series of injuries as she made her break with 400 metres to go.

Tulu simply swept out in front and neither Wami, the current World champion, nor Ribeiro could answer. “I realised from early on I was running for the minor medals,” admitted Ribeiro. “The two Ethopians were too strong on Saturday.”

Norway’s Trine Hattestad breezed to the Olympic javelin gold medal, her first-round 68.91-metre throw killing off the competition.

Greece’s Mirella Maniani-Tzelili took the silver with a personal best while Cuba’s Osleidys Menendez finished with the bronze.

By throwing so close to her own World record, which she set at 69.48m in July, Hattestad put the gold out of the reach of all her rivals.

Russia’s Yelena Yelesina ended a 10-year wait to claim the Olympic high jump title.

The 30-year-old mother last won a major title when she took the European junior championship in 1989.

But the wait ended when she sailed over 2.01 metres at her second attempt, beating South Africa’s Hestrie Cloete, who also clear 2.01m but had more failures at lower heights.

There was a tie for the bronze medal between Kajsa Bergqvist, of Sweden, and Oana Manuela Pantelimon, from Romania. both cleared 1.99m.