World indoor 4 x 200m record - Gushchina (on left) takes over on final leg from Pechonkina (on right) (© Mark Shearman)
Only Russian athletes participated in the first day of the “Russian Winter” indoor tournament, and some results led by Yuliya Gushchina’s 22.82 second run in the women’s 200m, and a women’s 800m with two athletes under two minutes, were very good indeed.
Despite the fact that the weather was freezing and the main international section of the meeting takes place today (25), two thousand spectators were still at the Vladimir Kutz Sport Complex yesterday and were not disappointed by the show.
MEN – Ushkov puts 20.27m and Frolov blasts 400m in 46.52 seconds
In the first event, the men’s 400m, the first heat winner Vladislav Frolov from Tambov surprisingly clocked 46.52 seconds which at this early stage of the indoor season is the world’s quickest time yet. The winner of the second heat Konstantin Svechkar (Novosibirsk) set his personal best – 46.72. The experienced Andrei Rudnitzkiy from Tumen was third – 47.11.
21-year-old Ivan Teplykh from Ekaterinburg won the 200m in 21.27. Roman Smirnov from Moscow finished second in 21.31, and Maksim Babarikin was third – 21.59.
Aleksandr Orlov (Moscow) clocked a rather good time for the beginning of the season in the 3000m. His winning time of 7:54.83 is only 0.05 seconds worse then current world season lead. Pavel Naumov from Belgorod was the runner-up in 7:55.00, and Aleksandr Reunkov (Chtliabinsk) was next in 7:56.95.
Three high jumpers cleared 2.28m, with the 21-year-old Andrei Silnov from Rostov winning on count-back. Mikhail Tzvetkov (Ryazan) was second, Ivan Ukhov (Ekaterinburg) who is only 19 was third. The Olympic champion Sergey Klyugin (Moscow) and the winner of the recent Moscow Cup “Jumps with the Music” Andrei Tereshin (Ivanovo) cleared 2.24m.
Sergei Ushkov (Irkutsk) demonstrated his excellent form in Shot Put. He started with a release of 19.72m and won the tournament with the good result of 20.27m. Pavel Sofin (Moscow) was second with 19.86, and another shot putter from Irkutsk Pavel Chumachenko was third with 19.72m.
WOMEN – 22.82 for 200m but some great 800m running too
The 22-year-old Yuliya Gushchina from Rostov clocked the best time in the world this season at 200m with a splendid 22.82 second run that is also her personal best. She also ran her qualifying round heat in 23.01. The well-known Yekaterina Kondratyeva (Nizhniy Novgorod) finished second in 23.54, and Yelena Novikova from Tula was third in 23.67.
Many times a World relay medallist at 4x400m, Olga Kotlyarova ran a superb 1:58.94 making her the 17th= quickest athlete in history for the women’s indoor 800m. In a remarkable race for so early in the indoor season Natalya Tsyganova was second in 1:59.18, and Irina Vashentseva was third in 2:00.67.
The 1500m were dominated by Olesya Syreva from Omsk – 4.11.86 – the third quickest time of 2006. Yelena Sidorchenkova from the Moscow region finished second (4:12.05) and the 21-year-old Anna Alminova was third in 4.15.45.
In the absence of the major Russian names in the Pole Vault and the Triple Jump, these events were won very well respectively by Yuliya Golubchikova (Moscow) with a vault of 4.30m and Oksana Rogova from Tambov with a leap of 14.24m.
Olga Ryabinkina from Petersburg dominated the Shot Put with an 18.69m release though 3 weeks ago she had reached 19.23m.
Later today the main international competitions of this IAAF indoor permit meeting will take place.
Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF
