Soboleva, Borzakovskiy and Vlasic star in Moscow
Saturday 30 June 2007
Moscow, Russia - Victories by Yelena Soboleva, Yuriy Borzakovskiy and Blanka Vlasic were the key highlights from the Moscow Luzhniki Cup 2007 on Friday evening (29).
With a prize pot of $130,000 at stake, the inaugural version of meeting, launched by the Moscow Athletic Federation, had promising support. And the athletes, both domestic and foreign, certainly delivered.
Blanka Vlasic (CRO)
(Getty Images)
Borzakovskiy, Vlasic the main attractions
Borzakovskiy is not one to take part in competitions very often. This time he was running the 800m in good company. But the 2004 Olympic champion proved he was the best, winning in 1:46.16. His friend and permanent opponent Dmitriy Bogdanov was the runner-up in 1:46.77, leaving behind Ramil Artikulov (1:46.86). Two guest stars, Norbutas Mindaugas of Lithuania and Andrea Andrea Longo from Italy were not at their best on the calm and quiet Moscow evening.
But another special guest tried her utmost on the High Jump sector. Croatia’s world leader Vlasic is a habitual visitor to the Russian capital and a well-recognized personality. She won the event clearing 2.00, leaving behind two Russians. Anna Chicherova was second with a 1.98 clearance and Yekaterina Savchenko was third, clearing 1.96. Cheered by the enthusiastic crowd the Croatian then had the bar raised to 2.05 but missed. Smiling and satisfied she made a definite promise “to do it next time”.
Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS)
(Hasse Sjögren)
Soboleva cruises to third fastest Mile ever
Several champions and record holders toed the line in the Women’s Mile, a distance that is hardly traditional for Mother Russia. Yelena Soboleva was second to none clocking 4:15.63 (roughly equivalent to 3:57.00 for 1500m), the third fastest performance ever over the imperial distance. The 24-year-old 1500m World record holder indoors dominated the race, leaving behind veteran Olga Yegorova (4:20.10). perhaps the distance turned out too short for Gulnara Galkina-Samitova, who finished third in 4:20.23. It’s worth mentioning that two-time World champion Tatyana Tomashova was a distant sixth, clocking 4:24.84.
Simagina wins deep Long Jump competition
Olympic silver medallist Irina Simagina is really back. In her third and winning attempt she landed at 6.93 to take a narrow victory over Oksana Udmurtova. Udmurtova, who took the lead in the first round with her excellent jump of 6.92, was a bit upset. Rounding out the deep competition was World Indoor Champion Tatyana Kotova, who was just another two centimetres behind with a 6.90 leap to take third. And don’t forget another Russian jumping star, Tatyana Lebedeva, who is training hard in order to get ready for the Osaka World Championships. The intentions of the Russian team in this particular event are more then serious.
Elsewhere - close battle in men’s Triple Jump
The competitions in the men’s Triple Jump turned into a fantastic battle. Ukrainian Mikola Savolaynen won with his fifth attempt leap of 17.17, just a mere centimetre ahead of Danila Burkenya. Another Russian, Aleksandr Petrenko, landed at 17.12 to take third.
There is a saying popular among Russian athletes: you cannot stop the flying Kenyans. And again this proverb came true. Shadrack Kosgei won the men’s 5000m in 13:32.19 ahead of his 21-year-old compatriot Mike Kigen (13:34.41). Aleks Orlov, considered to be the main Russian hope got the bronze in 13:34.86, a notable performance according to Moscow standards.
[b]2003 World champion Kim Collins dominated in men’s 100m in 10.27. Russian prodigy Andrei Yepishin was only fourth with his disappointingly unexpected 10.41.
The women’s 400m is always in the centre of attention. Russian girls are extremely fast at this distance that produces serious hopes for the gold medal in the 4x400m Relay. Natalya Antukh won in 50.90 ahead of multiple world relay title winner Natalya Nazarova (51.36). But now Russians will have to consider the Belorussian quartet among their chief opponents. Ilona Usovich finished third in 51.58 and Svetlana Usovich was fifth in 52.10. Russian Tatyana Veshkurova split the difference between the Usovich sisters to finish fourth (51.73).[/b]
Elsewhere, Tatyana Petrova won women’s 3000m in 8:50.33 and Igor Vinichenko took top honours in the Hammer Throw, reaching 76.14.
By all accounts, The Moscow Cup was regarded as successful. Now the intentions of the organisers are to continue with even more solid prizes to attract more stars in future editions.
Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF