VALENCIA, Spain —
Maria Mutola missed out on a record eighth gold medal at the world indoor championships, finishing third in the 800 meters behind winner Tamsyn Lewis.
At 35 and running in her last indoor championships, Mutola ran a poor tactical race and let Lewis sweep past her on the inside with 300 meters to go. Lewis won in 2 minutes, 2.57 seconds, edging Tetiana Petlyuk of the Ukraine by 0.09 seconds.
“I should have done better,” said Mutola, who finished in 2:02.97.
Lewis said she couldn’t get around the pack from the outside, so she made a move on the inside to win.
“I got caught by surprise,” Mutola said.
But no one was more surprised than Lewis, the 29-year-old Australian who won her first major title.
“I was just hoping to make the final. I did win, didn’t I?” Lewis said. “Maria is a star. I always wanted to get close to her.”
Mutola, who won her first gold in 1993, retired from indoor racing Sunday. The star from Mozambique will focus on winning a second Olympic gold in Beijing.
In the 400, Olesya Zykina of Russia won in 51.09, followed by teammate Natalya Nazarova and Shareese Woods of the United States.
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