Lacena Golding-Clarke in the 100m Hurdles heats (© Getty Images)
Going up against the Sunday afternoon programme in the Winter Olympics was a big challenge for the organizers of the 3rd LE Athletics meeting in Leipzig, especially after the public excitement caused by Germany’s pair of gold medal performances the day before. But the Leipzig Arena was filled nonetheless for the compact afternoon programme.
World lead for Golding-Clarke
Jamaican Lacena Golding-Clarke may have had the slowest reaction time in the women’s 60m Hurdles, but she had carved out a lead by the second barrier on her way to a world season leading PB 7.83 win over Helsinki World 100m Hurdles champion Michelle Perry of USA, whose 7.86 was also a lifetime best. Lolo Jones of the US joined the PB parade with her third place 7.92 time, ahead of the 7.97 of Germany’s Kirsten Bolm.
The men’s 60m Hurdles race went to Elmar Lichtenegger in a season best 7.64, after the Austrian had run 7.65 in the earlier heats. The former European Indoor silver medallist carried a small lead over hometown favourite Thomas Blaschek throughout the race, and it was all Lichtenegger could do to hold off the German’s final thrust which produced a 7.65. Blaschek had logged the top German time of the year with his 7.63 heat time.
Helge Schwarzer finished strongly with 7.72 to take third ahead of Leipziger Willi Mathiszik’s 7.77.
Gomes flies to 6.70m national record
Reigning World indoor Pentathlon champion - and current European indoor long jump champion - Naide Gomes of Portugal equalled her own national record of 6.70m in the Women’s Long Jump to move to number-three in the world for the season. That effort, coming in the second round, held up as the winning leap as Jana Veldáková of Slovakia (6.47) and Bahamas’ Jackie Edwards (6.33) were a distant second and third.
Reigning European silver medallist Lars Börgeling scored a count-back win in the men’s Pole Vault over season leader Tim Lobinger as both cleared 5.70m. Börgeling used a minimalist strategy, opening with a first attempt jumps at 5.50 and 5.70, to remain fresh for his jumps at a would-be PB 5.83. Neither he nor Lobinger - who had competed the day before in Potsdam - were up to the task, however.
Amertil in control
Christine Amertil of the Bahamas won a close battle for the pole position at the halfway mark of the women’s 400m, but after that the former World Indoor silver medallist was in firm control. Her 51.71 clocking was easily the winner over the 52.45 of Germany’s Claudia Marx.
The top section of the men’s 400m was won by Davian Clarke in 46.31. The Jamaican hit the 200 mark in 21.61 and sprinted away from the field on the final backstretch. Finishing strongly and passing Lancford Davis on the final curve was Germany’s Ruwen Faller, whose 46.66 easily bested the Jamaican’s 47.27. Two other Germans, Christian Duma (47.31) and Florian Seitz (47.35) were close behind at the end.
An earlier section saw Poland’s Daniel Dabrowski win in a European season best of 46.46, as California Molete of Botswana was pushing strongly at the end with 46.62.
Sack upsets with 20.43m PB the result
The men’s Shot Put provided Peter Sack with an opportunity for a PB 20.43m and an upset win over Athens finalist Ralf Bartels, who finished second in 20.16. Detlef Bock finished third in the mostly-German field with 19.66, as the rest of the competitors were more than a half-metre in back of this trio.
The men’s 1000m was an all-German affair, won by Stefan Eberhardt in a PB 2:22.02. The European U23 1500 silver medallist from last summer took the lead from Toni Mohr with just under two laps remaining. Mohr, a former world junior 1500 finalist, tried to salvage the race during the final curve, but the long strides of Eberhardt were invincible. Behind winner Eberhardt, Mohr led five runners under 2:23 with 2:22.25, as former European junior 800 champion Rene Bauschinger also finished fast for third in 2:22.45.
Jaroslav Ruza ran a season best 1:48.15 to take the men’s 800m. The Czech runner stayed close to the pacemaker during the first two laps, and then held the lead for the final 400m as Italy’s Christian Neunhäuserer (1:49.10) and Andreas Freimann of Germany (1:49.20) had a close battle for the next two places.
Collision wrecks 800m
The women’s 800m was a bloody mess, as only four of the starting eight finished the race in normal form. A collision coming out of the second curve cut down Italians Elisa Cusma and Alexia Oberstolz, both of whom had run splendidly in Vienna two weeks ago. With five runners remaining after the departure of the pacemaker, Sasha Spencer of the US and Greece’s Aggelika Raftaki were on the receiving end of a push to the infield on the penultimate home stretch as the runners began to position for the final sprint. NOTE: Both Oberstolz and Raftaki came back later to fill empty lanes in the Women’s 400 Metres.
Left to pick up the pieces in this very scrappy race was Ewelina Setowska of Poland, whose 2:04.57 easily held off the 2:05.48 by Petra Lochmanová of the Czech Republic. After being jostled, Spencer returned to the track and continued to jog to the finish, as if to make a statement.
Poland’s Wiola Janowska sprinted ahead of Antje Möldner with just under three laps remaining in the rarely-contested women’s 2000m and won in an excellent 5:43.62, the best-ever by a Polish athlete. The performance ranks Janowska 13th among all runners at this distance. Möldner finished second in 5:47.66 as the remaining runners failed to break six minutes.
The men’s 60m lost much of its lustre earlier in the week with the withdrawal of World and European Indoor champion Jason Gardener of Great Britain, owing to a leg condition which reportedly has forced him to cancel his remaining indoor season. That left the door open for Ronny Ostwald to take the win in 6.69, ahead of Marc Blume’s 6.73.
The women’s sprint event was won by Peta-Gaye Dowdie of Jamaica in 7.29, but Germany’s Martha Koj, who finished second in 7.33, had ideas of an upset until the very last centimetre.
An all-German men’s 200m was won by Sebastian Ernst in 21.04 ahead of Till Helmke’s 21.26.
Ed Gordon for the IAAF
RESULTS
(all GER except as noted)
MEN:
60m: 1. Ostwald 6.69; 2. M Blume 6.73; 3. Bamann 6.78; 4. Unger 6.79; 5. Broening 6.81; 6. Schulte 6.88; 7. Adu-Mfum (GHA) 6.88.
200m: 1. Ernst 21.04; 2. Helmke 21.26; 3. Swillims 21.77; 4. Liemann 21.86.
400m: Race 1 (called “C”): 1. Nikitin (SWE) 48.65; 2. Wilhelm 48.90; 3. Bastians 48.94. Race 2 (called “B”): 1. Dabrowski (POL) 46.46 (European leader); 2. Molefe (BOT) 46.62; 3. Grothkopp 47.26; 4. Sattelmaier 48.16 . . . did not finish: Gatzka. Race 3 (called „A“): 1. Clarke (JAM) 46.31; 2. Faller 46.66; 3. Davis (JAM) 47.27; 4. Duma 47.31; 5. Seitz 47.35.
800m: 1. Ruza (CZE) 1:48.15; 2. Neunhäuserer (ITA) 1:49.10; 3. Freimann 1:49.20; 4. Waldmann 1:49.48; 5. Conrad 1:49.84; 6. Niederberger (SUI) 1:50.10; 7. Daehlin (NOR) 1:50.47; 8. Peter 1:51.31. Pacemaker: Köhler.
1000m: 1. Eberhardt 2:22.02; 2. Mohr 2:22.25; 3. Bauschinger 2:22.45; 4. Jaworski 2:22.79; 5. Hamm 2:22.81; 6. Stephan 2:22.97; 7. Schneider 2:23.15; 8. Grothaus 2:25.03; 9. Moormann 2:25.59. Pacemaker: Fredrich.
60mH: 1. Lichtenegger (AUT) 7.64; 2. Blaschek 7.65; 3. Schwarzer 7.72; 4. Mathiszik 7.77; 5. Sajdok (CZE) 7.81; 6. Siebert 7.87; 7. Schindzielorz 7.98.
Heat 1: 1. Lichtenegger 7.65; 2. Fenner 7.76; 3. Sajdok 7.79; 4. Schindzielorz 7.87; 5. Filipowski 7.89; 6. Mühlbach 8.09; 7. Niklaus 8.12. Heat 2: 1. Blaschek 7.63; 2. Mathiszik 7.79; 3. Schwarzer 7.80; 4. Balzer 7.88; 5. Siebert 7.88; 6. Doskoszynski 7.97; 7. Burkhardt 8.00.
Pole Vault: 1. Börgeling 5.70 [5.50 – 5.70 – 5.83/xxx]; 2. Lobinger 5.70 [5.50/2 – 5.60/3 – 5.70/2 – 5.83/xxx]; 3. Otto 5.60; 4. Spiegelburg 5.40; 5. Stolle 5.40; 6. Scherbarth 5.20. No height: Honcl (CZE) and Bechyne (CZE) at 5.00; Schulze at 5.40.
Shot Put: 1. Sack 20.43 [x – 19.34 – 19.82 – 20.43 – x – 20.38]; 2. Bartels 20.16 [19.95 – x – 20.00 – 20.16 – x – x]; 3. Bock 19.66; 4. Stehlik (CZE) 19.04; 5. Pfingsten 18.93; 6. Machura (CZE) 18.77; 7. Dittmar 18.65; 8. Götz 16.78.
WOMEN:
60m: 1. Dowdie (JAM) 7.29; 2. Koj 7.33; 3. Wakan 7.39; 4. Kedzierski 7.40; 5. Möllinger 7.46; 6. Möller 7.54; 7. Börner 7.59. Did not compete: Durst (USA)
Heat 1: 1. Dowdie 7.37; 2. Wakan 7.44; 3. Kedzierski 7.46; 4. Möller 7.58; 5. Börner 7.61; 6. Stade 7.71. Heat 2: 1. Durst 7.37; 2. Koj 7.39; 3. Möllinger 7.51; 4. Strecker 7.61. 5. Dombrowski 7.64.
400m: Race 1: 1. Fink 53.69; 2. Kunz 54.17; 3. Kalid 54.58; 4. Oberstolz (ITA) 54.82; 5. Gundert (SWE) 54.85. Race 2: 1. Amertil (BAH) 51.71; 2. Marx 52.45; 3. Bejnar (POL) 52.77; 4. Prokopek (POL) 53.26; 5. Raftaki (GRE) 1:00.41.
800m: 1. Setowska (POL) 2:04.57; 2. Lochmanová (CZE) 2:05.48; 3. Hartmann 2:07.92; 4. Spencer (USA) 2:29.52 (pushed to infield with 250 remaining, but finished race) . . . did not finish: Raftaki (GRE), Oberstolz (ITA), Cusma (ITA). Pacemaker: Opong.
2000m: 1. Janowska (POL) 5:43.62 (national best); 2. Möldner 5:47.66; 3. Trauth 6:01.56; 4. Ptacková (CZE) 6:07.22; 5. Järvenpää (FIN) 6:11.15; 6. Becker 6:12.89; 7. Kuncová (CZE) 6:14.49. Pacemaker: Capková (CZE).
60mH: 1. Golding-Clarke (JAM) 7.83 (world leader); 2. Perry (USA) 7.86; 3. Jones (USA) 7.92; 4. Bolm 7.97; 5. Kirkland (USA) 8.12; 6. Ritz 8.27; 7. Funck 8.36; 8. Klein 8.38.
Heat 1: 1. Golding-Clarke 7.96; 2. Bolm 8.03; 3. Kirkland 8.23; 4. Klein 8.40; 5. Bloch 8.55 . . . did not finish: Wolf. Heat 2: 1. Perry 7.95; 2. Jones 8.03; 3. Ritz 8.19; 4. Funck 8.35; 5. Senkel 8.68 . . . disqualified (false start): Stade.
Long Jump: 1. Gomes (POR) 6.70 =NR [6.49 – 6.70 – 6.49 – 6.51 – x – x]; 2. Veldáková (CZE) 6.47; 3. Edwards (BAH) 6.33; 4. Darmovzalová (CZE) 6.20; 5. Schulte 6.17; 6. Halkoaho (FIN) 6.12; 7. Naumann 5.76.
