By NESHA STARCEVIC

Associated Press Writer

MUNICH, Germany (AP) It was rainy, windy and cool - the type of conditions that make Heike Drechsler wish she was home instead of on the track.

"I had very high expectations, but how could have I known about this stupid weather?" Drechsler said at the European Championships on Wednesday.

Drechsler's long jump winning streak snapped and failed to capture a record fifth straight title, ending up in fifth place at Munich's Olympic Stadium.

"It was a fight, it was difficult today. I gave it my best shot, but it wasn't my day," said Drechsler, who intends to compete through next year's worlds in Paris.

Drechsler, the reigning Olympic champion, settled for fifth place with a leap of 21 feet, 9½ inches.

Russia's Tatyana Kotova cleared 22-5¾ to win the gold, with Jade Johnson of Britain taking silver and Tunde Vaszi of Hungary earning bronze, both with a distance of 22-1.

"I did think I could do better, especially when you see what distance was enough for the gold medal today," Drechsler said.

"In these conditions, you need at least one good jump," Drechsler said. "I should have done better in my first three jumps. After that the conditions were worse because of the rain."

Dieter Baumann, another 37-year-old German veteran, didn't seem to mind the drops bouncing off his face and body.

In his first major competition since sitting out a two-year doping ban, Baumann battled to the silver medal in the 10,000 meters to repeat his pre-ban performance four years ago in Budapest.

Baumann stayed in the front of the 10,000-meter race and used the support of about 40,000 drenched fans.

Coming into the last lap, Baumann was behind the pair of Spaniards, Jose Manuel Martinez and Jose Rios.

Rios was the victim of the fast pace and Baumann passed him in the final straight. Martinez had enough power to win in 27 minutes, 47.65 seconds. Baumann was second in 27:47.87 and Rios third in 27:48.39.

Baumann came to Munich less than two days before the final, straight from his high-altitude training camp in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The 1992 Olympic 5,000-meter champion celebrated a strong comeback in his "second career."

Baumann's drug case was one of the more bizarre in the sport.

After failing a drug test in the fall of 1999, when he tested positive for nandrolone, Baumann always insisted he had never knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs.

Baumann, with a clean image of a vocal fighter against drugs in sports, said his toothpaste had been spiked with the banned steroid and that he'd been the victim of an "attack."

The German athletics federation believed him and did not impose a ban. But the world body - the IAAF - showed no such leniency and he was banned for two years.

This was his first major championship since the ban and Baumann is looking at the 2004 Olympics as his ultimate goal.

"I don't have anything to prove, neither to my critics nor to my friends," Baumann said. "I run because I'm having fun and out of dedication."

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