ATHENS, Greece - Pole vaulters are an odd bunch — friends and fierce competitors who perform gymnastics atop a pole 19 feet above the ground.

Right now, no one is doing it better than Americans Tim Mack and Toby Stevenson, who finished 1-2 on Friday. It was the second Olympics in a row that the gold and silver went to vaulters from the United States.

Mack cleared an Olympic record 19 feet, 6¼ inches on his final try.

“Going over that bar and kind of seeing it up there on the screen was pretty unbelievable,” Mack said. “And, yeah, I’m thinking I should be enjoying this a little more. Don’t get me wrong. I am and it’s an awesome feeling, and it’s going to hit. It’s going to hit hard real soon.”

Stevenson, wearing his trademark helmet, cleared 19-4¼ for the silver medal. Giuseppe Gibilisco of Italy, the 2003 world champion, earned the bronze at 19-2½.

Stevenson led through most of the competition and was lying comfortably on his back, knowing the gold was his if Mack missed.

But Mack cleared the bar for a personal best. Stevenson then failed on his third and final try at 19-6¼, slamming his helmet into the landing pit in disgust.

He then hugged Mack, and watched as the champion took his last three attempts.

“I think myself and Tim, we’ve kind of opened the doors in the U.S. to vaulting high and making it fun again,” Stevenson said. “We’re not so stoic out there. We’re out there having a great time. They can see that we’re great competitors, but we’re also great friends.”

The colorful Stevenson got the crowd going early with his celebrations, including a shimmy-shake after making one of his early heights and playing air guitar on his pole after another.

Mack, the U.S. trials champion, missed three times at 19-8¼ (six meters). Stevenson and American record-holder Jeff Hartwig have cleared that height.

Four years ago in Sydney, Americans Nick Hysong and Lawrence Johnson finished 1-2 in the pole vault. But Mack and Stevenson have taken the event to, literally, new heights.

Mack grew up in Cleveland and attended little Malone College for two years before transferring to Tennessee. He has been vaulting since the eighth grade, and at 31, he finally has figured it out, to the point that his e-mail address says “goldnathens.”

He is meticulous in his preparation, taking his notebook onto the track to study where to set the bar, what pole to use and other technical information. When he jumped, he talked to himself on the runway.

“Keep your posture and work your arms,” he was saying.

His previous personal best was 19-4¼. He broke the Olympic record of 19-5¼ shared by three vaulters — Andre Tivontchik of Germany, Igor Trandevkov of Russia and Jean Galfione of France. All three set the mark in Atlanta in 1996.

Mack and Stevenson both cleared 19-4¼ on their first attempt. Stevenson began celebrating as he fell down to the mat, shaking his fists in triumph, then pointing his index fingers up because he knew he had taken the lead on fewer misses.

Americans Derek Miles and Stevenson, joined by Gibilisco, clapped in unison in support of Mack’s final try.

There was a frightening moment in the competition when Russian Pavel Gerasimov failed at 18-6½, then missed the landing area, falling on his back on the hard infield surface. But Gerasimov climbed to his feet, walking away and rubbing his lower back.

“To be a pole vaulter, you have to be a little bit crazy,” Gibilisco said.

Gerasimov attempted one more jump, at 18-10½, but stopped midway down the runway because of the pain and withdrew from the competition.

Stevenson said the incident showed why he wears a helmet — just in case a jump goes terribly awry. He promised his parents he’d wear it when he was in high school, and he keeps wearing because he feels more secure, no matter how good he is at his craft.

Gerasimov “is a great vaulter,” Stevenson said, “and look what happened to him.”

Men's 110-meter hurdles
Liu Xiang of China won the 110-meter hurdles Friday, tying the world record and setting a new Olympic mark in 12.91 seconds.

Liu, who took bronze in the world indoor and outdoor championships last year, equaled the world mark set by Colin Jackson in 1993 and broke the Olympic record of 12.95 set by Allen Johnson in 1996.

The 21-year-old Liu, who became the favorite when Johnson crashed in the second round and failed to advance, had the lead throughout the race. He crossed the line in an ecstatic flurry of arms and legs, then pumped his fists in victory.

“This is a miracle,” Liu said. “I’m too tired to even cry. I never ran so fast. I am very proud, not just for myself and China, but for Asia and the yellow-skinned people. To come out and be perfect, I’m shocked.”

U.S. trials champion Terrence Trammell won silver in 13.18, while Anier Garcia of Cuba took bronze in 13.20. Garcia tumbled as he crossed the finish line, doing a somersault on the track.

Trammell, who won silver at the 2000 Olympics and 2003 world championships, was the only American in the final. Johnson, the four-time world champion, fell for just the second time in his career Wednesday to end his medal hopes. Duane Ross, the other American in the field, went out in the semifinals.

Women's 10,000 meters
Xing Huina of China surged past Ethiopia’s Ejegayehu Dibaba in the final turn Friday night to win the women’s 10,000 meters at the Olympics.

The 20-year-old Xing covered the distance in a personal-best 30 minutes, 24.36 seconds. She waved to the crowd after crossing the finish line and caught a Chinese flag tossed out of the stands.

Dibaba held off fellow Ethiopian and two-time gold medalist Derartu Tulu for second, finishing in 30:24.98. Tulu, who won the event in 1992 and 2000, finished third in 30:26.12.

The race came down to five runners — Xing, Dibaba, Tulu, Ethiopian Werknesh Kidane and Lornah Kiplagat, of the Netherlands.

Kiplagat, her orange-yellow pony tail bobbing with every step, took a brief lead before the Ethiopian trio overtook her with five laps left. Xing was fifth, then moved to third behind Kidane and Dibaba with two laps left.

Dibaba and Xing passed a slowing Kidane in the final lap and Xing made her move 100 meters from the finish.

Algerian Souad Ait Salem fell with 10 laps to go. Volunteers helped her to the sideline and carried her off the track on a stretcher.

Paula Radcliffe, of Britain, a top-5 finisher in the event in the last two Olympics, stopped running with eight laps to go. Radcliffe dropped out of last Sunday’s marathon with four miles left and made a last-minute decision to enter the 10,000.

“My legs just hadn’t recovered since Sunday,” she said.

Men's 400-meter relay preliminaries
Olympic bronze medalist Maurice Greene anchored the U.S. team to victory in the first round of heats of the 400-meter relay.

The defending champions finished with a time of 38.02 seconds in Heat 2 ahead of Britain, which was timed in 38.53.

Olympic 200-meter champion Shawn Crawford ran the first leg for the Americans, handing over to Darvis Patton who in turn passed the baton to Coby Miller. The United States rested Olympic 100-meter gold medalist Justin Gatlin.

Nigeria won the first heat in 38.27. 

Women's javelin throw
Osledidys Menendez of Cuba won the gold medal in the women’s javelin by a commanding margin, falling just one centimeter short of her world record.

Menendez’s best throw was her first one — 234 feet, 8 inches (71.53 meters), shattering the Olympic record of 226 feet, 1 inch (68.91).

Silver medalist Steffi Nerius of Germany was a distant second with 215 feet, 11 inches (65.82). Mirela Manjani of Greece thrilled the home crowd with a throw of 210 feet, 11 inches (64.29) to take the bronze.

Menendez knew she had won when Nerius’ final throw fell short, and the 24-year-old Cuban opted not to take a last attempt at the world record. Instead, she grabbed her country’s flag and began a victory lap to celebrate Cuba’s third gold medal of the Athens Games.

In 2001, Menendez became the first Cuban woman to hold a track and field world record with a throw of 234 feet, 8 inches (71.54 meters) in Rethymnon, Greece — the mark that still stands.

Menendez had no significant results on the international scene last year, but she has come back this year to win meets in Cuba, Mexico, Germany, Greece, Spain and Estonia.

Nerius was fourth in Sydney in 2000 and won the bronze at the world championships last year. The 32-year-old former East German is the daughter of two volleyball coaches.

Manjani won silver four years ago in Sydney and was the world champion in 1999. Albanian-born, she is the former wife of Greek weightlifting champion Giorgos Tzelilis.

50-kilometer walk
Robert Korzeniowski of Poland added to his record collection of gold medals in race walking with his unprecedented third consecutive Olympic victory in the 50-kilometer walk.

It was a final triumph for the 36-year-old Pole, who says he is retiring after the Olympics.

With the Polish flag clenched between his teeth, Korzeniowski crossed the finish line in the virtually empty Olympic Stadium Friday morning in 3 hours, 38 minutes and 46 seconds — more than four minutes ahead of silver medalist Denis Nizhegorodov.

Nizhegorodov, moving slowly and appearing disoriented over the final few hundred meters, finished in 3:42.50, then lay face-down on the track in exhaustion.

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Another Russian, Aleksey Voyevodin, overtook Yu Caohong of China just outside the stadium to claim the bronze in 3:43.34.

In all, Korzeniowski, has won four Olympic golds — the last three in the 50-kilometer walk and the 20-kilometer event in Sydney four years ago, a race he won after Bernard Saguaro of Mexico was disqualified. No other walker has won more than one gold medal.

Nizhegorodov, who was fifth at last year’s world championships, stayed with Korzeniowski through most of the race and was just 30 seconds behind the leader with 15 kilometers to go. The pace proved too much for the Russian, who barely managed to make it the rest of the way.

Head down, weaving from side to side of the course, he glanced behind him as he entered the stadium, then seeing no one close, struggled to the finish line.

Korzeniowski, who has lived and trained in France since 1992, looked as if he was ready for another 50 kilometers. Someone gave him his country’s flag as he entered the stadium. First he waved it with one hand, then grabbed it with his teeth so he could keep his walking form across the line.

He and Voyevodin hugged, then Korzeniowski ran around the track in a victory lap.

The event — the longest in track and field — began at 7 a.m., local time to avoid the intense afternoon heat.

Track & field - Men's Pole Vault (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Timothy Mack United States 19 feet, 6 1/4 inches Silver Toby Stevenson United States 19-4 1/4 Bronze Giuseppe Gibilisco Italy 19-2 1/4 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Men's 110-meter Hurdles (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Liu Xiang China 12.91 WR Silver Terrence Trammell United States 13.18 Bronze Anier Garcia Cuba 13.20 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Women's 10,000 Meters (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Xing Huina China 30:24.36 Silver Ejegayehu Dibaba Ethiopia 30:24.98 Bronze Derartu Tulu Ethiopia 30:26.42 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Women's Javelin (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Osleidys Menendez Cuba 234 feet, 8 inches OR Silver Steffi Nerius Germany 215-11 Bronze Mirela Manjani Greece 210-11 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

Track & field - Men's 50k Walk (medals: Aug. 27th) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Robert Korzeniowski Poland 3:38.46 Silver Denis Nizhegorodov Russia 3:42:50 Bronze Aleksey Voyevodin Russia 3:43:34 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

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