High jumping Hellebaut makes history for Belgium
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Belgium's Tia Hellebaut celebrates a successful jump. (Getty Images: Paul Gilham)
Belgium's Tia Hellebaut has given her country its first ever Olympic track and field title, winning the women's high jump gold medal by clearing a season's best of 2.05 metres.
The 30-year-old European champion rounded off a memorable Games for Belgium as the 4x100m women's relay team had given them their first ever track and field medal in the Olympics when they won silver on Friday.
World outdoor champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia suffered a rare defeat as she took silver after missing three times at matching her career best 2.07.
Russia's Anna Chicherova was third after clearing 2.03m while her compatriot and defending champion Elena Slesarenko took fourth with 2.01m.
Hellebaut and Vlasic - who has won all five of the Golden League meets this season and remains on course for at least a share of the million dollar bonus - had a memorable duel.
It was Hellebaut who first hit trouble when she saw the bar fall at 1.99, but as she was to do at the next two heights she got over on the next attempt.
Vlasic's first failure came at 2.05, a height which the Belgian successfully jumped at the first attempt, but then came Vlasic's three failures at 2.07 and the gold was Hellebaut's.
-AFP
