Women’s Sprints: Sailre and Soumaré stamp their authority in Barcelona; no stopping the Russian 400m women | 23.12.2010
100m and 200m:
Verena Sailer and Myriam Soumare were two of the brightest stars
of the year 2010.
The contest between the top European women 100m runners was an extremely tight one during the 2010 season. Germany’s Verena Sailer, 25, didn’t really show much before Barcelona only setting a 11.23 season’s best winning the German Championships little more than a week before the European Championships.
But in Barcelona she showed different class winning her semifinal with her powerful running technique in a slightly wind aided 11.06, fastest time during career which also made her a favourite for the final.
In the final, Sailer dipped just ahead of French Véronique Mang setting a personal best time of 11.10 in the race with Mang clocking 11.11, also a PB. Despite a small head wind of 0.6 m/s, the first four set personal bests. France got the second medal in the race with Myriam Soumaré in third (11.18) and Norwegian Ezinne Okparaebo set national record 11.23 for the fourth place.
37-year-old Christine Arron (FRA) competed in her second European Championships, her previous appearance was 12 years ago in 1998 when she was crowned a double gold medallist in 100 m and 4x100 m relay and set a European record 10.73 that remains intact till date in the 100m final.
Cameroon born Mang made it to the semifinals in 2006, but was not near her best form for the next four years before setting a 11.20 personal best in Tomblaine in June following a win at the SPAR European Team Championships in Bergen.
24-year-old Myriam Soumaré was third in the 100m race, but the style in which she won the 200m was phenomenal. The Frenchwoman came to Barcelona having set a 23.01 personal best at the National Championships in Valence. She only placed third in her semifinal in a near PB 23.02 against a strong head wind, but then destroyed rest of the field in the final clocking a 22.32 personal best cutting off 0.69 seconds off her personal best in one race and in almost windless conditions.
Soumaré also did a very rare trick at this level lowering her personal best from 23.34 (2009) to 22.32, by 1.02 seconds in one season. 2008 Olympics relay champion with the Russian team, Aleksandra Fedoriva came to Barcelona as the favourite. She had run a European leading 22.41 to win the Russian Championships and must have been surprised to return with only a bronze medal with a 22.44 result from Barcelona.
The Russian trio of Antonina Krivoshapka, Kseniya Ustalova and Tatyana
Firova dominated the women’s 400m.
Fedoriva bounced back well though winning the IAAF Continental Cup in Split in September. In Barcelona, final 21-year-old Yelizaveta Bryzhina of Ukraine set a big personal best 22.44 to win the silver medal following in her father’s, 1988 Olympic relay gold medallist Viktor Bryzgin’s, footsteps. The Ukrainian had won the European Team Championships in Bergen in a 22.71 personal best, but still was a surprise medallist here.
The 2003 World champion Russian Anastasiya Kapachinskaya had been one of the favourites for a medal in Barcelona, but despite a 22.47 season’s best was left to fourth place in a high standard final where four runners set personal bests with two additionally reaching season’s best. French champion Lina Jacques-Sebastian was fifth in a PB 22.59 and Cypriot Eleni Artymata set national record 22.61 for sixth place.
400m
Women’s 400m running was, not surprisingly, an all Russian affair during the 2010 season. Russians were the only favourites before Barcelona and they did deliver in style at the European Athletics Championships. With the European leader before Barcelona, Anastasiya Kapachinskaya with 50.16, opting to run the 200m in Barcelona the Russian champion Kseniya Ustalova was the number one favourite having run 50.33 to win the title just two weeks before Barcelona. At the Europeans 400m runners only had to do two rounds with the three Russians each winning their heats easily to advance to the final.
All three of them reached the finish line almost in a straight line within only 0.21 seconds to grab a 1-2-3 for Russia.
In the end 28-year-old Tatyana Firova finally scored a gold winning in a 49.89 finish time, her first sub 50-second race of career.
Firova had previously won the silver medal at the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha. Just 22-year-old favourite Ustalova did well too dipping under 50 seconds in a close finish in a 49.92 personal best and a silver medal in her first major championships.
Ustalova had previously won the European U23 Championships last year in Kaunas. 2009 World Championships bronze medallist Antonina Krivoshapka, with a super fast 49.29 personal best last summer, was third this time in 50.10, a season’s best with Cuban-born Italian Libania Grenot in fourth in a 50.43 SB.
Notable stats:
100m
2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:
Véronique Mang FRA – Verena Sailer GER 1-1
Verena Sailer GER – Myriam Soumaré FRA 2-0
Véronique Mang FRA – Myriam Soumaré FRA 4-0
Véronique Mang FRA – Christine Arron FRA 3-0
Career head-to-head between best Europeans:
Véronique Mang FRA – Verena Sailer GER 2-1
Verena Sailer GER – Myriam Soumaré FRA 4-0
Véronique Mang FRA – Myriam Soumaré FRA 6-1
Véronique Mang FRA – Christine Arron FRA 5-4
200m
New entries on the European all time list:
Tied for 26th place 22.32 Myriam Soumaré FRA
2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:
Myriam Soumaré FRA – Yelizaveta Bryzhina UKR 1-0
Myriam Soumaré FRA – Aleksandra Fedoriva RUS 1-0
Myriam Soumaré FRA – Anastasiya Kapachinskaya RUS 1-0
Aleksandra Fedoriva RUS – Yelizaveta Bryzhina UKR 3-1
Anastasiya Kapachinskaya RUS – Aleksandra Fedoriva RUS 2-1
Career head-to-head between best Europeans:
Myriam Soumaré FRA – Yelizaveta Bryzhina UKR 1-0
Myriam Soumaré FRA – Aleksandra Fedoriva RUS 1-0
Myriam Soumaré FRA – Anastasiya Kapachinskaya RUS 1-0
Aleksandra Fedoriva RUS – Yelizaveta Bryzhina UKR 3-1
Anastasiya Kapachinskaya RUS – Aleksandra Fedoriva RUS 5-3
400m
2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:
Tatyana Firova RUS – Kseniya Ustalova RUS 3-1
Tatyana Firova RUS – Antonina Krivoshapka RUS 3-1
Kseniya Ustalova RUS – Antonina Krivoshapka RUS 2-0
Tatyana Firova RUS – Libania Grenot ITA 4-0
Career head-to-head between best Europeans:
Tatyana Firova RUS – Kseniya Ustalova RUS 3-1
Tatyana Firova RUS – Antonina Krivoshapka RUS 8-3
Kseniya Ustalova RUS – Antonina Krivoshapka RUS 3-1
Tatyana Firova RUS – Libania Grenot ITA 7-1