More Swiss athletes bound for Sydney

Switzerland's Marcel Schelbert qualifies for Sydney in the 400m hurdles at the Zurich Weltklasse Keystone

Two more Swiss athletes are heading to the Sydney Olympics after achieving crucial qualifying times at the prestigious Weltklasse meeting in Zurich.

Marcel Schelbert ran the 400 metres hurdles in 49’49” – almost a second faster than his best performance so far this season.

Schelbert, who has been plagued by injury, only had to meet the Olympic limit of 49’60” once because of his standing in the world rankings.

His compatriot, Raphael Monachon, ran a time of 13’65” in the 110 metre hurdles. It was his second time under the Olympic limit.

Meanwhile, André Bucher became the first Swiss athlete to win at any event in the Weltklasse since 1993 with victory in the 800 metres in 1’43″72.

In other results, America’s Marion Jones narrowly won the women’s 100 metres in a time of 10’95”. Jones finished just one hundreth of a second ahead of her compatriot, Inger Miller. Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey was in third place.

In the men’s 100 metres, America’s Maurice Greene, the world record holder took the title in 9’94” while Kenya’s Wilson Kipketer won the 3,000 metres steeplechase in 8’11″19.

swissinfo with agencies