Updated 2/17/2007
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP)
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a world record for the indoor 2,000 meters of four minutes, 49.99 seconds at the Norwich Union Grand Prix on Saturday, beating a nine-year-old mark of Haile Gebrselassie.
But there was disappointment for Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and American sprinter Xavier Carter in the 400 meters, who had hoped to set new marks here.
After winning the men's 400, Carter was disqualified for stepping out of his lane before overtaking Robert Tobin of Britain just ahead of the line. Tobin won with 46.07.
"I have no idea why I was disqualified," Carter said. "It's a bit shocking to me because personally I think I ran the race how it was supposed to be ran. I never felt myself stepping on the line. I didn't feel myself breaking into it."
Isinbayeva failed to beat the world mark she set at the "Pole Vault Stars" in Ukraine last week, but a leap of 15 feet, 6¼ inches was enough to land the 24-year-old Russian her third successive victory.
"I had problems with my run-up," Isinbayeva said. "Sometimes I was quick, sometimes I was slower. It was all a bit inconsistent."
Bekele, the Olympic champion and world record holder for 5,000 meters, set the world record running at the same National Indoor Arena where Gebrselassie ran his 4:52.86 in February 1998.
"It makes me very happy after all the hard work," Bekele said. "The previous record was very difficult, but I knew I was in good shape to beat it."
Jason Gardener of Britain won the 60 meters in 6.57 to beat his training partner Craig Pickering by just 0.01.
Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia won the men's high jump with 7-7¾ meters and Irving Saladino of Panama was first in the long jump at 27-3¼.
Carter — also known as "X-Man" — is now focusing on beating Michael Johnson's 11-year-old world mark of 19.32 seconds for the 200.
"I feel this is my best race. I like it and I'm trying to break the world record," Carter said. "I believe it's in reach. I'm not going to say it's impossible."
American Reese Hoffa won the shot put after throwing 69-3½, beating Dan Taylor of the United States.
"There is a lot more to come this year. My goal was to keep it above 21 (meters, 68-10¾ feet) but I missed the board a couple of times," Hoffa said.
In the 60 hurdles, Ron Bramlett of the United States narrowly beat Cuba's Dayron Robles with a personal best of 7.52.
"Robles is always a tough man to beat and he's been ahead of me recently, so it was nice to get ahead of him for a change," Bramlett said.
Britain's Joanne Pavey won the women's 2-mile race in 9:32 while Kelly Sotherton of Britain won the long jump with a leap of 21.26 feet. Britons Nicola Sanders and Jenny Meadows won the 400 and 800 in 50.60 and 1:59.88 respectively.
Bernard Lagat won the 3,000 in 7:32.43 after fighting off a late challenge by Ethiopian Markos Geneti.
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