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Merah-Benida pulls off upset win for 1500m Olympic gold
= = ATTENTION - REPETITION, fixing slug /// SYDNEY, Sept 30 (AFP) - Algeria's Nouria Merah-Benida pulled off a stunning upset when she won the women's 1,500 meter Olympic title here on Saturday night. Merah-Benida won in a slow 4mins 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 meters earlier in the week. World number one 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. "She is being treated for dehydration at the Olympic stadium medical facilities," said a statement issued by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) "She is being treated with I.V. fluids and is responsive and is being tended to by stadium staff and the US delegation's medical team. No visable contact occurred to cause her to fall and at the moment it appear the fall was not injury related," it added. 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." It was a sweet moment for Szekely who had impressed during the heats. The 35-year-old missed out on a medal at the world championships in Seville last year when she finished fourth. Making her last Olympic appearance, Szekely was delighted with the silver. "This was it. I don't feel unhappy. I'm proud to end my Olympic career with a silver," she smiled. "Merah kicked too hard and my legs just could not carry me with her," she added. With 400 meters to go Szabo looked to be out of the race as she languished at the back of the field but a surging run saw her pass eight runners to dip over the line to win the bronze. "I thought I was going to win it in the last 400 meters. It's a shame I didn't but it doesn't matter that much. That's sport," she said. The race had been thrown wide open when the strongly fancied Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, the defending champion, pulled up injured in her opening heat.
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