Zadorozhnaya back in shape

In women`s 3000 m, Yelena Zadorozhnaya gave a good indication that she was
able to put last yeat`s misfortunes behind. Yet, her victory was no
breezer. Lilia Volkova of Ufa emerged into spotlight, trailing behind
teammate Lina Usmanova for the first 650 m, then taking the lead herself.
Zadorozhnaya, Oksana Belyakova and Olga Komyagina followed. The leading
pack was clocked at 2.55 at the 1000 m mark and 5.54 at the 2000 m mark, by
which point it had actually broken up into two pairs, with Volkova -
Zadorozhnaya staying clearly ahead of Belyakova - Komyagina. When, with
four laps to go, Zadorozhnaya took the lead that she would never give up,
Volkova put up a good fight and ended up just slightly behind the winner.
Both ladies turned in brilliant performances - 8.45,72 for Zadorozhnaya and
8.46,92 for Volkova - which put them in 2nd and 3rd places respectively on
the 2002 Indoor Perfromance List. This marks a breakthrough PR for Lilia
Volkova, who even outdoors had never run faster than 8.53