Golden is silence for Nestarenko's 100m win
Yulia Nesterenko of Belarus became the first non-American since 1980 to win the women's 100 metres Olympic title on Saturday.
Yulia Nesterenko of Belarus became the first non-American since the 1980 Olympics to win the women's 100 metres Olympic title on Saturday.
However, the greatest moment in her career was greeted with silence from the capacity crowd.
The 25-year-old timed 10.93 seconds to edge out America's Lauryn Williams, who ran a personal best of 10.96sec, while Veronica Campbell of Jamaica was third in 10.97sec.
"I am very very happy," said the world indoor 60m bronze medallist. "I have been working hard and training for this for six months. I did not come from nowhere."
Nesterenko had been the form runner coming into the final and she held her nerve to come back at Williams who had a substantial lead at halfway while Campbell and Bulgarian youngster Ivet Lalova were also in contention.
However, Nesterenko broke the line just in front of 20-year-old Williams to take the crown that was worn by Marion Jones in 2000 but who failed to qualify for the event.
