Lots of stuff about hammer at top of story, but below, plenty of other interesting and quality performances - esp in the TJ and some signs of life from 400m runners too…kk
Monday 18 June 2007
Warsaw, Poland - The 53rd edition of the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, which took place in the Warsaw Academy of Physical Education stadium on Sunday (17) was a high-quality meet. Helped by favourable weather conditions, it was the throwers and jumpers who provided most of the highlights.
The Janusz Kusocinski Memorial is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final.
Ivan Tikhon of Belarus
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The men’s and women’s Hammer Throw competitions, taking place before the official start of the meet, were expected to be two of the meet’s high points, and the throwers did not disappoint.
Tikhon back at the top
The men’s contest started relatively quietly, with Krisztian Pars of Hungary the leader after round one with 79.32m. The fireworks started in round two, as the reigning World and European champion Ivan Tikhon sent the hammer well beyond the 80-metre line, taking the lead with 80.78.
Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia
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Round three turned out to be decisive. First, Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia threatened Tikhon’s lead with a throw of 80.35, and a moment later Pars also came close with 80.19. The Belorussian, however, was quick to respond. Throwing last, he unleashed a monster throw measured at 82.58 – a world-leading mark and new Polish all-comers record.
Six throwers surpassed 78 metres. Finishing in sixth place was Szymon Ziolkowski, Poland’s former Olympic and World champion, who competed with a leg injury and withdrew after taking four throws.
Area record for Moreno
Andrey Tereshin (RUS)
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The women’s competition was, if anything, of an even higher quality. The first round of throwing already saw no fewer than five athletes achieve marks in excess of 70 metres. The German Betty Heidler led at this point with 73.40, but the best was yet to come. In the next round Cuba’s former two-time World champion Yipsi Moreno delighted the audience and herself with a throw of 76.36 – an improvement of over a metre to her own Area record.
Heidler did not give up and she immediately followed Moreno’s throw with an improvement to 75.05, establishing herself firmly in second place. Kamila Skolimowska, Poland’s former Olympic champion, started on a low key, but got going in the third round with a throw of 73.09 to go into third place.
This order was unchanged until the last round, before Ivana Brkljacic of Croatia, fourth until that point, managed a new national record of 75.08 to take second place.
James Beckford (JAM)
(Getty Images)
Neither Heidler nor Moreno managed to improve their distances, while Skolimowska, looking distinctly slower in the circle than her rivals, had her longest throw of the day in the final round with 73.52, but still finished outside of the top three. A total of seven women surpassed 70 metres, making this one of the best female hammer throw competitions of all-time.
Two Russians duel at 2.34m
Aided by warm, sunny conditions and moderate tailwinds, the jumpers also achieved impressive marks. One of the most exciting competitions of the day was the men’s High Jump, which turned into a Polish-Russian battle.
Oksana Zbrozhek (RUS)
(Getty Images)
Poles Aleksander Walerianczyk and Michal Bieniek, and Russians Andrey Tereshin and Yaroslav Rybakov were the only ones to go clear at 2.28m. The two Russians also cleared 2.30 on their first attempt. Walerianczyk, who had cleared all earlier heights by big margins, got over the bar on his second try, while Bieniek, looking shakier, just scraped over on his final jump.
From then on, however, it was all about the Russians. Both Tereshin and Rybakov cleared 2.32m – the former in his second attempt, the latter in the third, and then both got over the bar set at 2.34 on their second try to equal the world-leading mark. At this point both were tied for first place and it stayed this way – neither managed to go clear at 2.36 and no tie-breaker was ordered, so both jumpers were given joint first place.
Burkenya advances to 17.48m
Gerd Kanter (EST)
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Excellent marks were seen in the men’s Triple Jump as well. Dmitrij Valukevic of Slovakia was the first to jump big, going into the lead with 17.25m in the first round. He was soon upstaged, however, as Russia’s Danila Burkenya recorded his season’s best of 17.48 on his second jump. This mark stood until the end of the competition, but Osniel Tosca of Cuba came close in the fourth round with a new PB of 17.39.
Beckford back with 8.37m
No less exciting was the competition in the men’s Long Jump. To the delight of the audience, it was the young Pole Marcin Starzak who led after three rounds with 8.07m. All of this changed in the next round, however. First Gable Garenamotse of Botswana jumped 8.16, and just a moment later the veteran Jamaican James Beckford flew to 8.31.
Ana Guevara of Mexico
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Beckford was not finished, and in the next round went even better, setting his best mark in 6 years with 8.37. Starzak was not quite able to match his two more experienced rivals, but he could nonetheless be happy with the competition, as he improved to 8.13, a new PB, in the fourth round, and then had a jump which looked to be in excess of 8.20, but was declared a marginal foul.
Poles not so high up in the vault
In contrast to the other jumping events, the women’s Pole Vault did not quite live up to expectations. The favourites, Monika Pyrek and Anna Rogowska started promisingly with big clearances at lower heights, but once the bar was raised to 4.55m, neither was able to go over it. In the end Pyrek finished first with 4.45, with Rogowska, obviously having technical problems in her first outdoor competition of the year, second at 4.40.
Kanter and Cechlova beat-off unhelpful winds
The same tailwinds that helped the jumpers, were a hindrance to discus throwers. Nonetheless, three men out of a high-class field went over 65 metres. World leader Gerd Kanter of Estonia proved the strongest with 65.45, just ahead of the Hungarian Gabor Mate with 65.07, and the Polish record holder Piotr Malachowski with 65.03.
In the women’s contest, Vera Cechlova seemed unbothered by the wind, as she set a season’s best of 65.61m in the first round and improved further to 66.18 on her next throw. Even the World champion and world season’s leader Franka Dietzsch was not able to match the Czech, taking second with 64.84, exactly a meter ahead of Nicoleta Grasu in third.
Tomasz Majewski of Poland scored a valuable victory in the men’s Shot Put and achieved a season’s best of 20.20, 8cm ahead of the Canadian Dylan Armstrong and beating a field including the reigning Olympic champion Yuri Bilonog.
While it was the field event that attracted the highest number of top stars to Warsaw, there was also a fair amount of excitement on the track. The main memorial race, the men’s 3000m (an event in which Janusz Kusociñski was the world record holder) turned into a Kenyan-Ethiopian battle. The 19-year-old Kenyan Bisluke Kiplagat proved the strongest in the end with a fast finish and won in 7:45.63, ahead of the Ethiopian Sahle Warga and another Kenyan, the experienced Mark Bett.
Zbrozhek – 1:58…two others sub-2 too
The women’s 800m was won by the European Indoor champion Oksana Zbrozhek, who dominated with a strong second lap and won clearly in 1:58.80. Ewelina Setowska-Dryk was happy with a second place in 1:59.64, achieving the World Championship qualifying mark, just ahead of Italy’s Elisa Cusma, who also dipped under the 2 minute mark (1:59.90).
Guevara victory
The women’s one-lap race was won by the former World champion Ana Guevara in 51.08, while Yulyana Yushchanka won the B-race with 51.38, the second fastest time overall. The men’s 400m was dominated by Polish runners, with Daniel Dabrowski taking the win in 45.63 and 21-year old Kacper Kozlowski finishing second in 45.80, the first sub-46 second race of his career.
In the women’s 400m Hurdles, there was a Russian victory thanks to Natalya Ivanova, who ran a strong second half and crossed the line in 55.01, holding off the Polish record holder Anna Jesien by 0.21.
In the short sprints, Christiaan Krone of South Africa was the star, taking the 100/200m double in 10.37 and 20.51. The women’s 100m was won by Tahesia Herrigan of British Virgin Islands with 11.23, while in second place last year’s World Junior medallist at 200m Ewelina Klocek improved her PB by 0.18 to finish in 11.46.
In the men’s 4x100m Relay the Polish national squad, despite lack of strong competition, achieved a World Championship qualifying mark with 38.91.
Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF