Kluft seizes initiative over Barber

Fierce heptathlon rivals Eunice Barber and Carolina Kluft provided a thrilling start to the World Championships here on Saturday.

The duel between the Frenchwoman, Barber, the champion in 1999, and the young Swede, the winner of last year’s World Junior and European senior titles, lived up to its top billing.

In the 100 metres hurdles, Barber, who lost all hope of retaining her title two years ago when she failed to record a distance in the shot put, clocked the fastest time of the day, 13.05sec.

The 20-year-old Kluft wasn’t in the same class over the sticks, but was delighted at recording a lifetime best of 13.18sec.

The high jump was a closer contest with Barber 28, clearing 1.91m, her best of the year, but Kluft then grabbed the overall lead with a superb effort.

Kluft, voted “Swede of the Year” in 2002, added two centimetres to her previous best recording 1.97m.

It gave Kluft a narrow 19-point lead with progressive score of 2255 points and the pair are to resume their rivalry in the remaining two disciplines of the first day, the shot and 200 metres.

Britain’s Julie Hollman was surprisingly in third place after a career best 1.85m high jump. She has so far amassed 2005 points.

But her team-mate and Olympic champion, Denise Lewis, was in 17th place after managing to clear only 1.64m.