Natalya Dobrynska of Ukraine throws the Javelin in Talence (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)
Talence, FranceDimitry Karpov from Kazakhstan notched up his second win in the IAAF Combined Events Challenge 2006, scoring 8438 points with reigning Olympic and European champion Roman Sebrle, third with 8170 points behind European bronze medallist Aleksey Drozdov from Russia (8208 points).
Ukraine’s Natalya Dobrynska claimed victory in the women’s Heptathlon with 6256 points beating Great Britain’s Kelly Sotherton (6186 points) and Jennifer Oeser from Germany (6184 points).
Men’s Decathlon
Karpov, who ended day one with a margin of 247 points over Sebrle, increased his gap to 265 point by running 14.19 in the 110 metres Hurdles (950 points). Ryan Harlan won this event with a solid 14.02 regaining second place over Sebrle, who clocked 14.64.
The overall ranking underwent a significant change after the Discus Throw when Drozdov threw a solid winning mark of 50.46 metres (880 points) and moved up into third place with 5900 points just six points behind Harlan (44.04m.) but ahead of Sebrle (5870 points). Karpov, who threw 47.72m, brought his total score to 6247 points, 341 points more than Harlan.
Behind Karpov who cleared 4.90m in the Pole Vault and maintained a solid leading gap of 347 points with 7127 points, Drozdov moved up further by one place into runner-up place with a vault of 4.90m.
Alexander Pogorelov finished second with 5.10m climbing from fifth into third with 6743 points, 37 points behind Drozdov. Still in contention for the overall podium were Harlan (6725 points) and Sebrle (6719 points). Distant in sixth place was German Stefan Drews who claimed victory in the vault with a clearance of 5.40m.
Sebrle speared 63.32m with the Javelin to regain third place with 7507 points with just the final 1500 metres to be contested. The Javelin did not produce any changes in the top two positions with Karpov (54.44 metres) first with 7782 points ahead of Drozdov (62.15), second with 7550 points. Pogorelov remained in contention for the podium in fourth place with 7493 points ahead of Harlan (7480 points).
The final standing remained unchanged after the 1500 metres with Karpov the winner with 8438 points after the second place in Götzis and the win in Ratingen.
“I cannot explain with my words how I feel. I don’t realize what happened because I am too tired. But I am very happy especially with my pole vault result (4.90). My season is not over. I will compete in the Asian Games in Doha in December”, said Karpov.
“My motivation was down after winning the European title in Gothenburg,” said Sebrle. “I wanted better weather conditions this weekend. Now I take three weeks off with my family before starting the preparation for next season. I want to compete until Beijing.”
Women’s Heptathlon
Commonwealth Games champion and overnight leader Kelly Sotherton began day two on a high note leaping to a winning 6.48m in the Long Jump (1001 points), a mark which increased her lead from 86 points to 106 points. The major change to the overall standing was the move of reigning World Indoor champion Lyudmila Blonska who climbed from overnight ninth to third place behind compatriot Natalya Dobrynska (second in the long jump with 6.41) thanks to her best leap to 6.31m.
The Briton lost the lead at the end of the Javelin, her weakest event in which she threw 31.67 fading into third place behind new leader Dobrynska who marked 43.65m with the spear. European championships fourth placer Jennifer Oeser, sixth on day one, made a big step forward to fourth place jumping 6.16 in the long jump and then went to second place with 5298 points (six points more than Sotherton) thanks to a solid 48.39m, the second best result of the day behind Marie Collonville. The French athlete won the event with a 48.41 release improving by two places into fourth position overall, just 10 points (5292 to 5282 points) behind Sotherton. In the battle for the podium there was also Lyudmila Blonska, fifth with 5234 points with just one event to be contested.
The 800 metres race was run in pouring rain after a warm and sunny morning. Sotherton finished second in the final 800 metres heat behind Karolina Tyminska from Poland and claimed overall runners-up place with a final score of 6186 points. Dobrynska defended her overall first place at the end of the 800 metres run in 2:19.26.
Oeser finished just two points behind Sotherton in third place, running 2:15.45. In a close contest for the minor placing, the german prevailed over fourth placer Collonville (6170 points). Tyminska, a good 800 metres runner, made up with three positions thanks to her good 2:07.95 and finished a overall fifth with 6096 points.
“The competition was fine for me. The rain was not a problem. The spectators were fantastic”, said Dobrynska.
Sotherton was also delighted with her second place. “It was a tough competition especially yesterday because of the difficult weather conditions. Many of the best athletes from the European Championships were here. I am delighted to finish in the top two. My season which started in March with the Commonwealth Games was very long. My form was not great but I am happy that I finished my season injury-free after suffering from back problems at the beginning of the summer”.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
