( l - r ) Lloyd, Thomas

Two members of Jamaica's team to the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany, last year, Dwight Thomas and Shereefa Lloyd, had third-place finishes in yesterday's Stockholm Gala Indoor Meet ,which was highlighted by a world record run from Ethiopia's Meseret Defar in the Women's 1500 metres event.

Following his third-place finish a week ago in the men's 60-metre hurdle event in Stuttgart, Thomas who is preparing for the World Indoor Championships next month in Doha, had a similar result, as he clocked 7.66 seconds.

Cuba's Dayron Robles, the world leader in this event, made it two wins from two starts by winning in 7.49 seconds, just one hundredth of a second outside his season best which was logged last week in Stuttgart. Finishing second was Hungary's Daniel Kiss in 7.66 seconds while Jamaica's other entrant in the event, Maurice Wignall, ended fifth in 7.78 seconds.

Lloyd, a member of the women's silver medal 4x400 metres relay team in Berlin, continued her progress in the women's 400 metres, as she took the third-place finish in 53.92 seconds.

Jamaica-born Debbie Dunn, who was a member of the United Sates' gold medal winning 4x400 metres relay team in Berlin, won the event in a personal best of 52.37 seconds, with her teammate Ebony Floyd finishing second in 52.67 seconds.

World record

The meet was, however, highlighted by a world record in the women's 5000 metres, as Ethiopia's Meseret Defer destroyed Tirurresh Debebe's record by more than three seconds, as she clocked a new mark of 14:24.37 for the win.

The Bahamian veteran Chandra Sturrup had a second-place finish, clocking 7.36 seconds in the women's 60 metres as Indoor specialist Angella Williams from the United States took the event in 7.32 seconds.

There was a major upset in the men's triple jump as world champion, Phillip Idowu of Great Britain, could only manage second place with a mark of 17,00 metres behind Cuba's Alexis Capello who secured the victory with a leap of 17.03 metres.