Athens: Russian Svetlana Feofanova broke the women’s pole vault world record and her compatriot Gulnara Samitova bettered her own 3,000m steeplechase world best at an IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting in Heraklion, Crete, on Sunday (As briefly reported in Monday’s Late City edition).

Feofanova cleared 4.88m to beat the mark of 4.87 set by her compatriot Yelena Isinbayeva in Gateshead last Sunday.

Samitova took more than six seconds off her 3,000m steeplechase world record, clocking 9:1.58 seconds. She had set a time of 9:08.35 at the Russian championships in Tula last August.

Costas Kenteris of Greece won the men’s 200m with a time of 20.24 seconds in his final appearance before he defends his Olympic title in Athens next month. (Reuters)