Fani Halkia of Greece (L) celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win  the women's 400-metres hurdles final in Athens (Kurt Morris/Western Images/Sportinking)

Olympic champion Halkia returns on a winning note
Monday May 01, 2006

ATHENS, GREECE - Greece's Fani Halkia, the 2004 Athens Olympic 400m Hurdles champion returned to the track on a winning note after she won that event at the Greek National Clubs Championships at the weekend.

Finally returning to the track after 20 months without a competitive race, Halkia crossed the finish line at 57.03 second to win the race in unfavouable conditions for running.

Halkia, who sprung one of the biggest surprises in Athens 2004 when she defeated Australian Jana Pittman in the event, said despite the slow time, she was happy with the win.

"It's too early for me to reach the peak of my form," the Greek star was quoted as saying on the IAAF website after the race on Monday.

"I don’t pay much attention to this mark, this race was just a test and a chance to help my club. I am healthy and I feel very strong and ready to return," Halkia said after her race.

Periklis Iakovakis also started his season in the event on a winning note when he took the men's race in 49.43sec. Sotirios Iakovakis (51.26) finished second, while Constantinos Anastasiou took third in 51.38.

Apart from the return of Halkia after more than a year-and-a-half, the other highlight of the championships came from Olympic Triple Jump silver medallist Hrysopigi Devetzi, who opened the season with a world leading jump of 14.64m. She then completed a fine championship by winning the Long Jump crown with a leap of 6.36.

"I am very satisfied with this jump," said Devetzi. "I was waiting for a jump at around 14.40 for the beginning, but this one was much better. Her coach also expressed his satisfaction with his athlete’s technical improvement."

Gary Smith - World-Track Sports Media