Abera, just 22 years old, completed the course in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 11 seconds, about 20 seconds ahead of Wainaina, the 1996 bronze medalist.

The 1-3 finish gave Ethiopia eight track medals at Sydney. Only the United States, with 20, and Russia, with 12, won more.

Jones, Johnson Wrap Up In Style
Marion Jones was forced to settle for bronze in the 400-meter relay as the injury riddled American team fell prey to the Bahamas (Sevatheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup, Pauline Davis-Thompson and Debbie Ferguson) and Jamaica (Tanya Lawrence, Veronica Campbell, Beverly McDonald, Merlene Ottey) in the final. The Bahamas quartet finished in 41.95. The U.S. team, missing Inger Miller and Gail Devers, had trouble with baton passes and generally gave Jones no chance at a fourth gold medal.

Michael Johnson breezed to his fifth career gold medal, anchoring the U.S. men's 1,600-meter relay team to a two-second margin of victory over Nigeria. Johnson was joined by 400-meter silver medalist Alvin Harrison, his brother Calvin Harrison and Antonio Pettigrew. The foursome finished in 2:56.35. The Nigerians (Clement Chukwu, Jude Monye, Sunday Bada and Enefiok Udo-Obong) barely edged the bronze-medal Jamaica team (Michael Blackwood, Gregory Haughton, Christopher Williams, Danny McFarlane).

The U.S. men's 400-meter relay team captured the gold medal in 37.61, anchored by 100-meter champ Maurice Greene. Strong performances were turned in by teammates Jonathan Drummond, Bernard Williams the Third and Brian Lewis. Brazil finished second and Cuba was third.

Jones ran a splendid 49.4 split to give anchorwoman La Tasha Colander-Richardson a big lead in the women's 1,600 meter relay. Colander-Richardson held on to win. Jones' time was equal to the split turned in by Australian anchor runner Cathy Freeman, the women's 400-meter champion. The American foursome of Jones, Colander-Richardson, Jearl Miles-Clark and Monique Hannagan ran away from Jamaica and from Russia.

Olympic organizers might have done everyone a favor by shifting the men's 5,000 meter event to Africa. Millon Wolde of Ethiopia claimed the gold in 13:35.49 -- and five African runners followed him across the finish line. The silver medalist was Ali Saidi-Sief of Algeria and the bronze went to Brahim Lahlafi of Morocco. Wolde's countrymen Fita Bayissa and Dagne Alemu ran fourth and sixth; sandwiched between them was David Chelule of Kenya.

Nouria Benida Merah of Algeria won the women's 1,500 meters in 4:05.10, outdistancing Romanian teammates Violeta Szekeley and Gabriela Szabo. Marla Runyan, the legally blind U.S. runner, finished eighth. American Suzy Favor Hamilton collapsed on the final stretch after leading for most of the race. She was treated for dehydration.

In the women's 10,000 meter final, Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia set an Olympic record, winning in 30:17.49. Gete Wami of Ethiopia was second and Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal was third.

Kenyans Grab Two Golds
Noah Ngeny and Reuben Kosgei claimed two gold medals on a big day for Kenyan runners Friday on the track at Olympic Stadium.

Ngeny pulled one of Sydney's biggest shockers, upsetting world champion Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in the 1,500-meter run. Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat of Kenya won the bronze medal. Ngeny needed an Olympic record time of 3:32.07 and a blazing final kick to defeat El Guerrouj.

Kosgei edged teammate Wilson Boit Kipketer in the steeplechase, finishing in 8:21.77. The bronze went to Ali Ezzine of Morocco. Yet another Kenyan, Bernard Barmasai, finished fourth.

A bit of history was made by racewalker Robert Korzeniowski of Poland, who became the first man to win both the 20-kilometer and 50-kilometer walks in the same Olympics. Korzeniowski's winning time in Friday's 50-K walk was 3:42.22, more than one minute ahead of Aigars Fadejevs of Latvia. Joel Sanchez Guerrero of Mexico won the bronze medal.

Injuries, Upsets on Track
Injuries stripped Wednesday's track events of two medal favorites, while a third fell victim to the upset bug. Meanwhile, American Angelo Taylor raced to victory in the 400-meter hurdles, and Marion Jones continued her quest for a record gold haul.

The upset of the night came in the men's 800-meter final, as Germany's Nils Schumann edged Denmark's Wilson Kipketer. The winning time of 1:45.08 was four seconds off Kipketer's world record for the distance. Aissa Djabir Said Guerni of Algeria won the bronze medal.

Defending Olympic champ Gail Devers pulled up lame in a qualifying heat of the 100-meter hurdles, opening the door for a victory by Olga Shishigina of Kazakhstan, who finished in 12.65. Gloria Alozie of Nigeria won the silver medal and Melissa Morrison of the United States claimed the bronze.

Another key injury came in the semi-final of the men's 1,500-meter race. Nourredine Morceli of Algeria, the defending champion, quit in the last 200 yards after being spiked by a competitor.

Jones easily advanced to the semi-finals of the 200-meter dash in a field that is without key rival Inger Miller. She also qualified for the finals of the long jump.

Taylor's win in the men's 400-meter hurdles came in a personal best time of 47.50. Hadi Souan Somayli of Saudi Arabia won the silver medal and Llewellyn Herbert of South Africa took the bronze. In the women's 400-meter hurdles event, Irina Privalova of Russia took the gold with a time of 53.02. The silver went to Deon Hemmings of Jamaica and the bronze to Nouza Bidiouane of Morocco.

Freeman, Johnson Storm to 400 Victories
The emotional peak of the Sydney games may well have come Monday, with Australia's Cathy Freeman claiming gold in the women's 400-meters in front of 112,000 fans at Olympic Stadium. The woman who touched off the Olympic torch at the Opening Ceremonies blazed ahead of the field to finish in 49.11 seconds, comfortably ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica. Katharine Merry of Britain was the bronze medalist.

Michael Johnson of the United States overpowered the men's field to win his second straight Olympic 400-meter crown. He cruised to a 43.84 finish, well off his world record. U.S. teammate Alvin Harrison claimed the silver medal and Gregory Haughton of Jamaica was third.

In the women's 5,000-meters, Gabriela Szabo of Romania obliterated the Olympic record by 19 seconds, finishing in 14:40.79. Less than half-a-second behind her was Sonia O'Sullivan of Ireland, who settled for a silver medal. The bronze went to Gete Wami of Ethiopia.

In other highlights, Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia won a surprisingly close 10,000-meters race over Paul Tergat of Kenya. Gebreselassie was considered one of the safest bets for gold as the games began. He covered the distance in 27 minutes, 18.2 seconds, just nine-one-hundredths of a second ahead of Tergat. Assefa Mezgebu of Ethiopia won the bronze.

Anier Garcia of Cuba pulled off an upset in the men's 110-meter hurdles. The talented American contingent settled for a 2-3-4 finish, with Terrence Trammell in silver medal position and Mark Crear third. Pre-race favorite Allen Johnson was fourth. Garcia's winning time was 13 seconds flat.

Lurdes Mutola of Mozambique won the women's 800-meters in 1:56.15, chased across the finish line by Stephanie Graf of Austria and bronze medalist Kelly Holmes of Britain.

Japan's Takahashi Wins Women's Marathon
Japan's Naoko Takahashi posted a landmark win in the women's marathon Sunday. She's the first female track athlete in her nation's history to win Olympic gold. Takahashi beat out Lidia Simon of Romania and Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya, finishing in two hours, 23 minutes and 14 seconds. That broke the mark set by American Joan Benoit, which had stood since the first women's marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Fast Start for Jones, Greene
American sprinters are picking up where the swimmers left off as the Olympic focus shifts to track and field for the second week of the games.

Marion Jones ran away from her competition to claim the gold medal in the women's 100-meters, finishing in 10.75 seconds. That's one down for Jones, who hopes to win an unprecedented five golds at these Olympics. Chief rival Inger Miller sat out the race with a hamstring injury. The silver went to Ekaterini Thanou of Greece, and the bronze to Tanya Lawrence of Jamaica.

Maurice Greene sailed to victory in the men's 100-meters, posting a time of 9.87 seconds. That was off his world mark, but well ahead of silver medalist Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago. Obadele Thompson of Barbados won the bronze.

Miller Pulls Out of 100 Meters
American sprint star Marion Jones won't have to contend with one of her chief rivals in the women's 100-meter dash. Inger Miller says a hamstring injury will keep her out of the race. She still hopes to compete in the 200-meter event, which comes up later in the games.
About The Running Events
Legend has it that the earliest running star was the Greek soldier Pheidippides, who ran 25 miles with news of Athens' victory in the Battle of Marathon -- then dropped dead. His long jog was the genesis of the modern marathon. The modern games have built fleet-footed legends of their own, from sprinter Jesse Owens of the United States, to distance man Paavo Nurmi of Finland, to marathoner Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia.

Running events at Sydney begin at the 100-meter distance that traditionally measures "the world's fastest human" and stretch across distances ranging to the 26-mile, 385 yard marathon.

In between come:

- individual foot races of 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters
- hurdle events at 110 meters and 400 meters, plus the 3,000-meter steeplechase
- walking races at 20 kilometers and 50 kilometers
- relay races at 4 x 100 meters and 4 x 400 meters
- wheelchair races at 800 meters and 1,500 meters
U.S. Olympian Marion Jones is shooting for five gold medals in Sydney, including the 100 and 200 meter sprints, the two women's relay events and the long jump. There's no one male performer who is seeking to dominate the Games in a similar fashion, but several will be out for multiple medals.

Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago has an outside shot at winning both the 100 meters and the 200 meters. Michael Johnson is back to defend his 400 meter gold. World record holder Hicham El Guerroj of Morocco is the favorite at the showcase 1,500 meter event. And if he's healthy, there's no bigger favorite in any one men's event than Hailie Gebrselassie of Ethiopia in the 10,000 meters.

On the women's side, performers to watch include Gabriela Szabo of Romania, who is a runaway favorite in the 3,000 meter run. Gail Devers of the United States, the finest women's hurdler of the past decade, will try again for her first Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles. Inger Miller of the United States is expected to be right on Jones' heels in the sprints. Australia's Cathy Freeman is a favorite in the 400-meter dash, but may challenge Jones in the 200-meter as well. The women's 800 meters could be a battle between Maria Mutola of Mozambique and Ludmila Formanova of the Czech Republic.