Cottbus, Germany - On a very hot day with temperatures reaching well above 30° Celsius one could not expect world class results at the 14th edition of this EAA-permit Meeting in Cottbus. Still the meeting produced some good results with Chris Philipps (USA) winning the 110 metres Hurdles in 13.35 seconds or Astrid Kumbernuss taking the shot put with 19.56m. Atmosphere among a couple of thousand spectators was good – and the meeting proved that it should have a role in German athletics in future.

Ingo Schultz was among those athletes who were specially welcomed in the Sportzentrum Cottbus, driven around in a convertible car. The 27-year-old European 400m champion ran his first individual race at the distance this year and the first one for nearly nine months. He had only run a quarter mile in a local relay in Hamburg two weeks ago, where he was timed in 48.5 seconds.

After a good 200m in Dessau last Friday (21.04) Schultz began his 400m race in convincing style and was ahead after the midway point but it wasn’t going well for much longer. Turning into the home straight Schultz had lost speed and was fighting very hard. He could not respond to the Danny McFarlane (Jamaica) who won in 45.72 seconds, and was caught in the last few metres by Tomas Coman (Ireland/46.06) and just managed to keep third position with  46.10 in from of the Ukrainian Andriy Tverdostup (46.16).

“It was very hard at the end of the race. But I am not disappointed. This was about what I had expected from my first race – there are still nearly three months to go until the World Championships”, confirmed Ingo Schultz, who had won a surprising silver medal in Edmonton two years ago.

“I had thought he could run around 46 seconds. So that is all right for a start. The first 300 metres were fine”, said Schultz’ coach Jürgen Krempin, and added: “In his first race last year he was slower. He had run 46.30 then.”

Astrid Kumbernuss was another of the German stars who had travelled to Cottbus. “Already as a small child I used to participate in a meeting in Cottbus. So I always like coming back here”, she said. In the end she won the Shot in convincing style with 19.56m, missing her season’s best by just two centimetres. Nadine Kleinert was well behind in second place with 18.30 m. But it had not started well for Kumbernuss in the heat. Her first three attempts were all invalid. But then she managed 19.56 m, 19.03 m and 19.40 m.

Prospects are good for the German women’s Hammer throwers. For them Cottbus was an official qualification competition for the World Championships. Susanne Keil took the opportunity to confirm her present form. After she had broken the national record in Hengelo last week (69.69m) she won the competition with 69.29 m. Her second best would have been good enough for winning as well (67.76m). It was Betty Heidler who took the second place with 67.64m. 

Lars Börgeling was the winner of the Pole Vault competition. The athlete from Bayer Leverkusen jumped 5.70m in his second attempt. Britain’s Nick Buckfield managed the same height but needed three jumps to clear the bar. Both then missed each of their attempts at 5.82m. With 5.70m Börgeling has once again cleared the German qualification standard for the World Championships in Paris.

“My chances are not bad, but three of us already have jumped over this height. And once Michael Stolle will be fit again I expect him to do so as well. Björn Otto is another candidate, so there is a tough fight ahead of us for those three tickets. It is a pity that just three of us can go – we get on with each other very well,” Lars Börgeling said.

It was not a good day for Tim Lobinger though. The World Indoor champion managed to jump 5.40m in his third attempt, then left out 5.50 and missed 5.60 three times.

Inga Babakova (Ukraine), the winner of the women's High Jump, cleared her first five heights at once: 1.80 m, 1.85, 1.88, 1.91 and 1.93. When the bar was lifted to 1.96 it was down to her and Blanka Vlasic (Croatia), who jumped that height in her third attempt. It was a new personal best for her, but not enough for winning. Babakova had cleared 1.96m in her second attempt.
Both then missed 1.99m.

In the 800 metres Rene Herms, who beat Olympic champion Nils Schumann in the German championships last summer and again indoors in February, just managed to beat the national qualification time for Paris. He clocked 1:45.94, while the federation had asked for 1:46.00. In a great finish he just caught Henry Rotich (Kenya/1:46.06), but could not get to the surprise winner Osamar Santos (Brasil/1:45.51). The Brasilian had run away from the field before. “I thought he was a pacemaker. And when I realised that he was not it was too late”, said Herms.

Taking into account that the meeting only had a very limited budget of 55,000 Euros altogether the field that was put together was quite amazing. “We were again struggling to find a bigger sponsor. So we could not pay any appearance money and only limited prize money. But in March we had decided to keep the meeting going”, Ulrich Hobeck, the organiser of the meeting, said.

Jörg Wenig for the IAAF

Results (all German, unless stated):

Men:

100 m (-1,7): 1. Tyrone Edgar GBR 10.34, 2. Eric Nkansah GHA 10.39, 3. Daniel Dubois SUI 10.45.

400 m: 1. Danny McFarlane JAM 45.72, 2. Tomas Coman IRL 46.06, 3. Ingo Schultz 46.10, 4. Andriy Tverdostup UKR 46.16, 5. Corey Nelson USA 46.46. B-Race: 1. Abidin Zaiful MAS 46.24.

800 m: 1. Osamar Santos BRA 1:45.51, 2. Rene Herms 1:45.94, 3. Henry Rotich KEN 1:46.06, 4. Graham Davidson RSA 1:46.54, 5. Jebre Harris USA 1:46.72.

1500 m: 1. Suleiman Simtow KEN 3:39.12, 2. Charles Kiplangat KEN 3:39.70, 3. Zbigniew Graczyk POL 3:39.92, 4. Toni Mohr 3:40.25, 5. Rees Buck POL 3:41.62.

3000 m: 1. Moses Kigen KEN 7:55.30, 2. Erik Sjöquist SWE 7:55.52, 3. Tom Compernolle BEL 7:55.85, 4. Michael Kaczmarek POL 7:56.41, 5. Marek Drzala POL 7:57.21.

110 Hurdles: 1. Chris Philipps USA 13.35, 2. Ladji Doucoure FRA 13.58 (heat: 13.55), 3. Jan Schindzielorz 13.78, 4. Daniel Kiss HUN 13.94.

Pole Vault: 1. Lars Börgeling 5.70, 2. Nick Buckfield GBR 5.70, 3. Oscar Janson SWE 5.60, 4. Rens Blom NED 5.40.

Javelin Throw : 1. Dariusz Trafas POL 81.00 , 2. Peter Esenwein 80.67, 3. Rajmund Kolko POL 80.05, 4. Raymond Hecht 78.90.

Women:

100 m (+1,2): 1. Vida Anim GHA 11.49, 2. Chinedu Odozor NGR 11.56, 3. Daria Onysko POL 11.61, 4. Dorota Dydo POL 11.73.

400 m: 1. Doris Jacob NGR 52.11 , 2. Claudia Marx 52.38, 3. Anna Pacholak POL 52.45.

800 m: 1. Mina Ait Hammou MAR 2:00.36, 2. Tamara Volkova UKR 2:01.89, 3. Anja Knippel 2:02.58, 4. Charlotte Moore GBR 2:02.59, 5. Joanna Kaczor POL 2:03.51, 6. Lisbeth Pedersen NOR 2:05.62.

High Jump: 1. Inga Babakova UKR 1.96, 2. Blanka Vlasic CRO 1.96, 3. Katja Schötz 1.91.

Sot Put: 1. Astrid Kumbernuss 19.56, 2. Nadine Kleinert 18.30, 3. Nadine Beckel 17.81.

Discus Throw: 1. Joanna Wisniewska POL 61.81, 2. Franka Dietzsch 60.90, 3. Marzena Wysocka POL 60.37.

Hammer throw: 1. Susanne Keil 69.29, 2. Betty Heidler 67.64, 3. Manuela Priemer 67.26, 4. Andrea Bunjes 65.09, 5. Simone Mathes 65.08, 6. Ivana Brkljacic CRO 65.02.