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Hail Halkia

REUTERS, Athens
Greek sensation Fani Halkia blitzed to gold in the Olympic women's 400 metres hurdles on Wednesday to confirm her meteoric rise in
the world elite.
Halkia, a no-hoper last year, raced home in 52.82 seconds to thrash Romania's Ionela Tirlea-Manolache (53.38) and Ukraine's Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova (53.44).
World champion Jana Pittman of Australia, running after a brave battle against injury, faded to fifth while world record holder Yuliya Pechenkina of Russia trailed in last after a wretched run.
The winner, who came from nowhere to run the sixth fastest time in history during the semifinals, knelt on the ground to kiss the track after her triumph as the crowd bayed their support.
"I felt I would win when I came into the stadium," Halkia said, wearing a blue and white national flag around her shoulders.
"The Greek soul is enough by itself. We don't need anything else. We were born winners."
It was the biggest margin of victory in the event for the past five Games.
"She did an awesome job," Pittman said.
"It's a beautiful story for her to win in front of her home crowd."
Halkia's time in the final was the eighth equal fastest of all time. Only four women have ever run faster.
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When the 25-year-old, wearing yellow shades and sporting blond-tinted hair, was presented at the packed Olympic stadium the roars of "Hellas! Hellas!" were so loud that the names of her rivals could not be heard.
Last to settle in her blocks after being drawn in lane four, she began cautiously but drew level with Pittman outside her at halfway before leading down the last 100 metres and pulling further away after clearing the final hurdle.
None of the pre-Games favourites had seen Halkia coming.
Hidden from the international spotlight by her coaching team this season, the former high jumper was putting together an incredible series of performances, improving her personal best by almost three-and-a-half seconds in 12 months.
A year ago her best was 56.40 -- a time which would have left her outside the first eight in any Olympic final stretching back to 1988.
By Thursday, however, following her extraordinary semifinal dash when she clocked 52.77, she was the favourite with
a time good enough to have won at any preceding Olympic Games since the event made its debut in 1984.
That time would also have won any preceding world championships apart from 1995 in Gothenburg.
Pittman tore a knee cartilage and underwent surgery less than three weeks ago. She ignored medical advice and undertook a nine-hour-a-day rehabilitation programme in an attempt to run in Athens.
She was given a one per cent chance of running by the first specialist she consulted but refused to accept his opinion.
"It was part of my dream to come here and I'm proud I reached the final. It's awesome to get back in two weeks but I'm really sad I did not get a medal," she said.
"I didn't have anything left in the last 100."
Pittman is coached by Phil King, whose wife Debbie Flintoff-King won the event for Australia in Seoul in 1988.
No female Greek athlete had ever reached a 400m hurdles final before, let alone won a medal.