Bungei and Bartels in-form for Moscow -
Saturday 4 March 2006
Chemnitz, Germany - The final event last night provided the highlight of the Erdgas Indoor meeting (3), though the result was not quite what the spectators and organisers had hoped for. Cheered on by a capacity crowd of 2000 spectators Wilfred Bungei tried to regain the world leading mark he had lost to Yuriy Borzakovskiy but in the end the Kenyan clocked 1:45.94 minutes, missing the time of Russia’s Olympic champion by about half a second.
Opening lap too fast?
“It will be difficult to beat Yuriy in Moscow next week but I will try. And I want to run fast”, Bungei said looking ahead to the World Indoor Championships next weekend.
Perhaps the Kenyan had run the first part of the race a bit too fast in Chemnitz. His pacemaker Philemon Kimutei had led him through 200m in 25.13 and through 400m in 51.42 seconds. Bungei then went past the Kenyan shortly after the 500m mark, but slowed a bit. At the end he did not sprint to the line. “I had a look at the clock and saw that I would not reach the time”, Bungei explained. Still he was looking very strong and with his performance at least sent a warning to Borzakovskiy.
Another 21m+ effort… saving energy for Moscow
Shot putter Ralf Bartels reached his goal once again. It was last Saturday, when he had achieved a personal best of 21.43m at the German Indoor Championships. He then said that his goal would now be to stabilise at around 21.00 metres. He achieved that in Chemnitz in his first competition after the championships. At his second attempt he put 21.12m. With that he was well ahead of Peter Sack who took second place with 19.77m, and in the process Bartels had broken the eight year old meeting record of Oliver-Sven Buder (20.91 m).
“I am happy to have put 21 metres again – that was my aim in this competition”, Bartels said. Regarding the World Indoor Championships he said: “That will be a completely different competition, it is impossible to compare to today’s field. I first have to qualify for the final. That is not as easy as it might sound. You have to be fit in the morning to reach the final of the best eight athletes. But once I am in there everything is possible.”
Bartels is having a tough test a week before Moscow since he headed for the European Cup in Lievin, France, straight after the meeting in Chemnitz. That was the reason why he skipped his last attempt on Friday. It was what former Olympic champion Udo Beyer who as an announcer was keeping the public in the stadium up with the action in the Shot - “It is better not to do a sixth throw. It would be wise to save energy for Moscow.”
Kleinert beaten again at a national level
In the women’s shot put Nadine Kleinert, the silver medal winner from the Olympics in 2004 had to be content with second place in a national competition once again. Petra Lammert who had beaten her in last week’s national championships, did it again. Celebrating her 22nd birthday on Friday (3) she made herself a present with a winning mark of 19.08m. Kleinert put 18.91m. “I am happy to be able to reach 19 metres more constantly now. That gives self confidence for the next competitions. It is my aim to reach the final in Moscow”, confirmed Lammert.
Lobinger takes close vault win
Pole vaulting in Germany is always a high-class affair. Once again Tim Lobinger was the winner with 5.70m. But it was very close since there was a tie with Lars Börgeling, who had also cleared 5.70 m at his second attempt. Both then failed at 5.80m although Lobinger’s jumps looked very good and confirmed his fine form this season. In the tie break both failed at 5.75. Then Lobinger cleared 5.70m. “I am a bit annoyed because I will hardly get a better chance to jump 5.90m this season. Chemnitz is a great place for pole vaulting. And I know that I am able to jump that height”, Lobinger said.
The 60m sprint Hurdles were won by Lolo Jones (US) and Thomas Blaschek (Germany). After a first round time of 8.11, Jones improved to 8.04 seconds in the final. While there was quite a big gap to Germany’s Judith Ritz, the men’s final was closer. Blaschek looked fine throughout but was not quite satisfied with his winning time of 7.61. “The first hurdle was not ideal so hopefully I can improve,” confirmed Thomas.
The men’s 60m sprint was won by Olusoji Fasuba in 6.59 seconds (edit: 6.55 in heat 1). “My aim is to win a medal in Moscow” 
, said the sprinter from Nigeria. Last year he had set the meeting record in Chemnitz with 6.50.
After plenty of faulty attempts due to individual problems with the run-up, the long jumpers produced some drama during the last two rounds. First Ignisious Gaisah (Ghana) took the lead with 7.93m but his leading position was lost again very soon. James Beckford (Jamaica) jumped 7.99. The real surprise then happened in round six with Ireland’s Ciarian McDonagh jumping 7.99. Since he had the better second attempt by the slightest of margins in comparison to Beckford (7.78 to 7.77) McDonagh was the winner.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
Results (German unless stated),
Men:
60m: 1. Olusoji Adekotunbo Fasuba NIG 6.59, 2. Gabor Dobos HUN 6.62, 3. Matic Osovnikar SLO 6.68, 4. Dmitro Glushchenko UKR 6.68.
200m: 1. Marcin Jedrusinski POL 21.08, 2. Tobias Unger 21.35, 3. Tobias Pfennig 21.53.
400m: 1. Ruwen Faller 46.78, 2. Pawel Patak POL 47.29, 3. Rafal Wieruszewski POL 47.35.
800m: 1. Wilfred Bungei KEN 1:45.94, 2. Grzegorz Krzosek POL 1:47.74, 3. Joseph Mutua KEN 1:48.13
60mH: 1. Thomas Blaschek 7.61, 2. Marcel van der Westen NED 7.72, 3. Gregory Sedoc NED 7.73, 4. Stanislav Sajdok CZE 7.78.
LJ: 1. Ciarian McDonagh IRL 7.99 m, James Beckford JAM 7.99, 3. IgnisiousGaisah GHA 7.93.
PV: 1. Tim Lobinger 5.70, 2. Lars Börgeling 5.70, 3. Michael Stolle 5.60.
SP: 1. Ralf Bartels 21.12 m, 2. Peter Sack 19.77, 3. Detlef Bock 19.38.
Women:
60m: 1. Vida Anim GHA 7.31, 2. Marion Wagner 7.35, 3. Marta Koj 7.38.
200m: 1. Birgit Rockmeier 23.46, 2. Johanna Kedzierski 23.49, 3. Sandra Möller 24.40.
400m: 1. Claudia Marx 53.35, 2. Jana Neubert 53.56, 3. Julia-Kristin Kunz 54.45.
800m: 1. Svetlana Klyuka RUS 2.02.81, 2. Fotini Dagli-Pagotto GRE 2:11.27, 3. Tereza Capkova CZE 2:11.56.
60mH: 1. Lolo Jones USA 8.04, 2. Judith Ritz 8.22, 3. Lucie Martincova CZE 8.36, 4. Petra Seidlova CZE 8.38.
LJ: 1. Naide Gomes POR 6.48 m, 2. Jana Veldakova SVK 6.31, 3. Denisa Scerbova CZE 6.31
SP: 1. Petra Lammert 19.08, 2. Nadine Kleinert 18.91, 3. Denise Hinrichs 18.12.