Ehsan Hadadi sets an Asian record in the discus (© Getty Images)
Iranian Ehsan Hadadi, who won the men’s Discus Throw at the ÅF Golden League meeting in Berlin on Sunday (1 June) with an Asian record of 69.12m, improved his mark again last night in the Estonian capital (3 June).
The Tallinn 2008 meet 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, to be held on 13-14 September in Stuttgart, Germany.
In the second round, the 23-year-old Hadadi who is a former World Junior champion threw 69.32m, beating Estonia’s World champion Gerd Kanter, whose best was 67.82m. At the moment Kanter is a little below par by his usually very high standards, finishing fourth in Berlin on Sunday.
Third place was taken by 17-year-old World Youth champion and World Junior record holder Ukrainian Mykyta Nesterenko who with the senior implement threw a mighty 65.31m beating the previous European junior best by West German Werner Hartmann 63.64 in 1978.
World and Olympic Long Jump champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia improved her season’s best by three centimetres to 6.65m (+0.9), well down on her best form but still well clear of fellow Russian Irina Simagina, the Olympic silver medallist, who leapt 6.56m (-0.6).
There was also a high quality women’s Hammer Throw in which Croatian record holder Ivana Brkljacic (73.62m) beat French Stephanie Falzon (71.68) and Russia’s Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (70.82m).
In the men’s Javelin Throw, Latvian Eriks Rags was the victor with 81.19m, beating Estonia’s 2005 World champion Andrus Varnik. The Estonian who has been ill or injured for most of the last two years threw 81.11m, his best throw since 2006.
Estonia did take high level wins via Monika Aava (58.98m) in the women’s Javelin Throw and in the Long Jump by Tonis Sahk, 7.99m (-0.8) ahead of German Nils Winter (793, +1.8).
Russian Natalya Rusakova took a women's sprint double with 11.59 (-2.6) and 23.31 (-0.1) for the 100m and 200m respectively, while former US Indoor champion Danielle Carruthers won the 100m Hurdles (13.35, -0.8).
Marc Burns of Trinidad and Tobago succeeded in the men's 100m in 10.22 (+2.1) ahead of USA’s Preston Perry (10.25), and another American Eric Mitchum won the 110m Hurdles in 13.49 sec (+0.2). Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe was the winner of the 200m in 20.76secs (-0.7).
Alfons Juck for the IAAF
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