Robert Harting of Germany on his way to winning the gold medal in the men's Discus Throw in Berlin (© Getty Images)
Paris, FranceTeam U.S.A. won the 5th edition of SEAT Decanation held in Charléty Stadium on Wednesday night, consisting of the 10 events that form the Decathlon, contested by a male and a female team for each country. However, the best individual performance came in the Discus Throw by German Robert Harting with a 66.91m toss.
Exactly three weeks after his World title gained in front of an ecstatic home crowd, Harting sailed on his great shape to beat Spaniard Mario Pestano who threw 64.94m. Coming back after such a feat was not an easy task for the 24-year-old.
“The first week was ok, the second was hard, and now I’m just starting to feel good again,” confessed Harting. “My goal is to remain unbeaten, I have three more competitions left, the World Athletic Final in Greece, one meet in Poland and one in Estonia. I deserve to make the show during meetings now. I had a difficult season, with forced coaching changes, so victories are sweet now.”
Having reached the most intense emotions in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium last month, Harting feels he still has a lot to accomplish. “Winning Olympic Games, European Champs, breaking the 70m barrier, that will keep me plenty busy for the next few years!”
Team mate Christian Reif caused a surprise winning the Long jump with 8.18m (w+1.4) on his last attempt, only one centimetre shy of his 2007 personal best. Frenchman Salim Sdiri, who was leading the competition, eventually placed second with 8.05m.
“It’s really great!” said Reif. “Sdiri is a good competitor but I was still aiming for a win, but I didn’t expect to jump that far today.” Under a light rain and cold night in Paris, the performance is even more impressive. Reif has come a long way after various health problems which delayed his preparation, first a foot injury succeeded by a groin inflammation. As a result, he failed to set the qualification standard for the Berlin World championships. “It was really hard to recover, but quitting had never been an option,” he insisted. As he seems now fully healed and ready to compete, Reif still has other plans. “I have already booked my vacations, so Shanghai will be my last competition of the season.”
Team USA built their victory on a strong and well balanced contingent. Derek Miles took the best of the two French medallists in the Pole Vault (silver and bronze) Romain Mesnil and Renaud Lavillenie.
“There was a lot of chilly wind tonight, so I never felt great during the jumps. The best was probably the one I missed at 5.80m” said the winner who was the only one to be successful at 5.70m. “The crowd was fantastic, a lot of people went to attend the Pole Vault competition and provided a lot of energy.”
Mesnil commented on his second place with 5.60m: “That’s not so bad, I was surprised to feel the pole softer than what I thought. However, I was less fast during the run-up compared to Berlin. If I can find that same speed again, I will be able to jump very high, but that will be for next year!”
Lavillenie, jumping out of competition as only one athlete per country was eligible to score, complained about the weather as well. “My technique degraded with the rain. I was afraid that my hands ripped on the pole. This was my first competition since Berlin, and I was not in the shape I though I was, so I had to adapt myself and select softer poles.” All these jumpers will meet again at the World Athletics Final this weekend.
Mike Rodgers won the 100m dash in a fine style in 10.10 (w+0.8), resisting Frenchman Martial Mbanjock’s strong finish (10.16). In the 110m Hurdles, Americans did a sweep with Jo Brown 13.35 and Allen Johnson 13.51.
“It’s always exciting to run again a champion such as Allen,” said the winner. “It’s one of my greatest seasons ever, I had bad Trials in June but was able to come to Europe and lower my personal best to 13.20. Hopefully I will train hard this winter for U.S. Nationals and World Indoors.”
Women also had their share of wins. Hyleas Fountain, the Olympic Silver medal in the Heptathlon last year, took the long jump with 6.80m.
“At my last attempt, I told myself to really go for it. We athletes always expect more, but I’m satisfied today. I was able to bounce back after my neck injury at Trials, which prevented me to be selected for the World champs. Now, the season is almost over, I will maybe go to Asia to find some more meets.”
Other notable results included a French win by Mélina Robert-Michon, who threw 63.04m in the discus to defeat Olympic Champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton (61.55).
Pierre-Jean Vazel for the IAAF
Click here for full results
Decanation Match Results:
1. USA 136 points
2. GER 105
3. FRA 91
4. RUS 83
5. ITA 59
6. ESP 54
7. FIN 51
Exactly three weeks after his World title gained in front of an ecstatic home crowd, Harting sailed on his great shape to beat Spaniard Mario Pestano who threw 64.94m. Coming back after such a feat was not an easy task for the 24-year-old.
“The first week was ok, the second was hard, and now I’m just starting to feel good again,” confessed Harting. “My goal is to remain unbeaten, I have three more competitions left, the World Athletic Final in Greece, one meet in Poland and one in Estonia. I deserve to make the show during meetings now. I had a difficult season, with forced coaching changes, so victories are sweet now.”
Having reached the most intense emotions in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium last month, Harting feels he still has a lot to accomplish. “Winning Olympic Games, European Champs, breaking the 70m barrier, that will keep me plenty busy for the next few years!”
Team mate Christian Reif caused a surprise winning the Long jump with 8.18m (w+1.4) on his last attempt, only one centimetre shy of his 2007 personal best. Frenchman Salim Sdiri, who was leading the competition, eventually placed second with 8.05m.
“It’s really great!” said Reif. “Sdiri is a good competitor but I was still aiming for a win, but I didn’t expect to jump that far today.” Under a light rain and cold night in Paris, the performance is even more impressive. Reif has come a long way after various health problems which delayed his preparation, first a foot injury succeeded by a groin inflammation. As a result, he failed to set the qualification standard for the Berlin World championships. “It was really hard to recover, but quitting had never been an option,” he insisted. As he seems now fully healed and ready to compete, Reif still has other plans. “I have already booked my vacations, so Shanghai will be my last competition of the season.”
Team USA built their victory on a strong and well balanced contingent. Derek Miles took the best of the two French medallists in the Pole Vault (silver and bronze) Romain Mesnil and Renaud Lavillenie.
“There was a lot of chilly wind tonight, so I never felt great during the jumps. The best was probably the one I missed at 5.80m” said the winner who was the only one to be successful at 5.70m. “The crowd was fantastic, a lot of people went to attend the Pole Vault competition and provided a lot of energy.”
Mesnil commented on his second place with 5.60m: “That’s not so bad, I was surprised to feel the pole softer than what I thought. However, I was less fast during the run-up compared to Berlin. If I can find that same speed again, I will be able to jump very high, but that will be for next year!”
Lavillenie, jumping out of competition as only one athlete per country was eligible to score, complained about the weather as well. “My technique degraded with the rain. I was afraid that my hands ripped on the pole. This was my first competition since Berlin, and I was not in the shape I though I was, so I had to adapt myself and select softer poles.” All these jumpers will meet again at the World Athletics Final this weekend.
Mike Rodgers won the 100m dash in a fine style in 10.10 (w+0.8), resisting Frenchman Martial Mbanjock’s strong finish (10.16). In the 110m Hurdles, Americans did a sweep with Jo Brown 13.35 and Allen Johnson 13.51.
“It’s always exciting to run again a champion such as Allen,” said the winner. “It’s one of my greatest seasons ever, I had bad Trials in June but was able to come to Europe and lower my personal best to 13.20. Hopefully I will train hard this winter for U.S. Nationals and World Indoors.”
Women also had their share of wins. Hyleas Fountain, the Olympic Silver medal in the Heptathlon last year, took the long jump with 6.80m.
“At my last attempt, I told myself to really go for it. We athletes always expect more, but I’m satisfied today. I was able to bounce back after my neck injury at Trials, which prevented me to be selected for the World champs. Now, the season is almost over, I will maybe go to Asia to find some more meets.”
Other notable results included a French win by Mélina Robert-Michon, who threw 63.04m in the discus to defeat Olympic Champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton (61.55).
Pierre-Jean Vazel for the IAAF
Click here for full results
Decanation Match Results:
1. USA 136 points
2. GER 105
3. FRA 91
4. RUS 83
5. ITA 59
6. ESP 54
7. FIN 51
