Campbell wins 200, Halkia takes hurdles

Spurred on by the chants of "Hellas, Hellas" at the stadium, Fani Halkia of Greece blazed to victory in the 400-metre hurdles.

Spurred on by the chants of "Hellas, Hellas" at the full Olympic stadium, Fani Halkia of Greece blazed to victory in the 400-meter hurdles to give the host nation its second gold medal in athletics at the Athens Games on Wednesday. "When I entered the stadium today, I could feel it in my bones I would win," Halkia said.

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Veronica Campbell of Jamaica won the 200-meter gold medal to add to her bronze in the 100, beating Felix Allyson of the United States and Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas.

Olga Kuzenkova of Russia won the hammer throw with a heave of 75.02 meters, improving the Olympic record of 73.71 she set in qualifying. Yipsi Moreano took the silver at 73.36 and her Cuban countrywoman Yunaika Crawford won the bronze at 73.16. Marion Jones of the United States, who is under a doping investigation, cleared 6.70 meters in her second attempt to qualify for the long jump final.

Four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the United States clipped a hurdle and fell in the second-round heats of the men's 110 hurdles and failed to advance to the semifinals.

Justin Gatlin, the 100-meter champion, advanced to the 200 final by winning his heat in 20.35 seconds. Two other Americans, Shawn Crawford and Bernard Williams, went 1-2 in the other semifinal heat and also advanced. So did Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, the 100 silver medallist, and Asafa Powell of Jamaica.

Before the start of the heats, the crowd shouted "Kenteris, Kenteris," recalling Kostas Kenteris, the Greek who won the 200 in Sydney but who withdrew from Athens after coming under investigation for allegedly missing a drug test.