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VALENCIA, Spain (08-Mar) -- Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain and Yulia Fomenko of Russia won their respective heats in the women's 1500m as the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships continued at the Palau Lluis Puig Velodrome here.
Jamal's heat went through 400m in only 1:10.26, spurring American Christin Wurth-Thomas to pick up the pace with four laps to go. Only three time qualification spots were available between the two heats, with the top-3 automatically advancing. Wurth-Thomas was trying hard, but she was not at her best.
"I've been pushing vitamin C all week," she said after the race. She felt sick shortly after arriving from the States. "It's a rough time to get sick."
Wurth-Thomas was still on the front with two laps to go, but Russia's Yelena Soboleva (the world indoor record holder), soom went past her, along with Jamal, Ethiopia's Geleta Burka, and Bulgaria's Daniela Yordanova. Jamal took the lead in the last lap and won the heat in 4:07.43. The slow early pace would cost Wurth-Thomas and Britain's Susan Scott dearly. Finishing sixth and fifth, respectively, they failed to advance on time.
"I just couldn't kick at the end," said a disappointed Wurth-Thomas.
The second heat went much faster, with Fomenko taking the field through 800m in 2:10.55. She held the lead all the way to the line, clocking 4:05.94. Romania's Liliana Popescu was second in 4:06.68 and Slovenia's Sonja Roman was third in 4:08.12. Briton Jemma Simpson and American Jenelle Deatherage failed to advance, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
Tonight's evening session features the men's and women's 800m semi-finals and the men's 1500m final. The latter race features Kenya's Daniel Kipchirchir Komen against Spain's Juan Carlos Higuero, Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi and New Zealand's Nick Willis.
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