Okkert Brits of South Africa wins silver in the men's pole vault (© Getty Images)
The 9th International Erdgas Meeting in Chemnitz on Friday (27 Feb) will serve as one of the final preparation opportunities for the 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Budapest, Hungary (5-7 March), which are now only one week away.
The sprint and jump runways at the Sportforum have enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for producing excellent results, and so it should be no surprise that those events have attracted the strongest fields.
Brits back indoors
The men’s Pole Vault will feature Paris silver medallist Okkert Brits jumping indoors for the first time this season after posting two outdoor wins in his native South Africa. He will jump against the reigning World Indoor champion Tim Lobinger of Germany, as well as Birmingham bronze medallist Rens Blom of Holland. Additional German competitors scheduled are European outdoor silver medallist Lars Börgeling and this year’s German indoor runner-up Björn Otto.
On the women’s side, former European record holder Annika Becker was to have competed, but the German vaulter, the silver medallist in Paris last summer, injured herself in training recently when a pole broke, resulting in a neck injury. Only one week earlier she had jumped a new German indoor record of 4.68.
Leading the vaulters in Becker’s absence will be Poland’s Monika Pyrek, the 2003 Birmingham bronze medallist, plus the former German indoor record holder, Christine Adams. Hungary’s long-jumping vaulter, Tünde Vaszi, will also be on hand, as will Edmonton finalist Carolin Hingst of Germany.
Except for local meetings and national championships, the male long jumpers, for the most part, have had few chances to exhibit their craft this indoor season. Understandably, the Chemnitz meeting has become something of a magnet for that segment of active athletes.
Pedroso versus Beckford
Reigning Olympic champion Iván Pedroso of Cuba will join compatriot Luis Méliz, the Birmingham fourth-placer, in a match-up against last summer’s World Championships silver and bronze medallists, James Beckford of Jamaica and Yago Lamela of Spain, and the current Commonwealth silver medallist Gable Garenamotse of Botswana. Three additional eight-metre jumpers in the competition will be Namibian Stephan Louw, Schahriar Bigdeli and Kofi Prah of Germany.
In the Hurdles, Pan American champion Yuniel Hernández of Cuba and Sweden’s Robert Kronberg, while in the flat sprint he will see Eric Nkansah of Ghana and Roger Moke of Congo.
Winner of her first German senior individual event title last weekend, 18-year-old Sophie Krauel will attempt to add to her indoor PB of 6.62 in the Women’s Long Jump. Her main competition will come from double runner-up (LJ and TJ) in last weekend’s Polish championships, Malgorzata Trybanska. Also on the card, and returning after a year’s inactivity, will be Sydney finalist, 35-year-old Susen Tiedke, who placed third last weekend behind Krauel in the German Championships.
Sprenger races against top Jamaicans
Juliane Sprenger, this year’s German indoor Hurdles champion, is currently in the fourth position on the year’s world list with 7.94. She will do battle in the Women’s 60 Hurdles against Jamaicans Delloreen Ennis-London (7.95) and Dionne Rose-Henley, plus rapidly improving Lucie Martincová, who won the Czech title last Saturday while lowering her PB to 8.07.
The men’s 800 metres stands out as the track event with the deepest field of reknowned athletes. Kenya's Wilfred Bungei the world's fastest last summer and Joseph Mutua the 2003 Kenyan champion are the stars of the field. Belgian runner Joeri Jansen - 1:46.46 this season - is also included and will pit his fast finish against the long strides of German indoor champion René Herms, Edmonton finalist Khalid Tighazouine of Morocco, and a pair of Kenyans -Paris finalist Justus Koech and Michael Rotich.
