News11 Jun 2008


Meet records for Moreno, Kozmus in Ostrava - Ostrava Hammer Throw and athletes press conference

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Yipsi Moreno with her victor's golden spike in Ostrava (© Bob Ramsak)

A rain delay did little to dampen competition in the Hammer Throw at the Golden Spike Grand Prix - IAAF World Athletics Tour - with Yipsi Moreno and Primoz Kozmus producing meet records.

Big opener sets the tone for Moreno

Moreno, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, set the tone early on, nailing a 76.16m throw with her first attempt, just three centimetres shy of the world lead. Her effort supplanted her own meet record of 74.69m set two years ago, and was the second farthest of her career. Only her Central American & Caribbean record of 76.36 from last year was better, but throughout the competition she seemed determined to take down that record as well.

Unfortunately for the 27-year-old Cuban, she had some control problems and only produced one other fair effort, a 71.87 in the third round.

Finishing second was Martina Hrasnova, who extended her own Slovak national record for the second time in four days. After reaching a near-PB 74.47m in the second round, the 25-year-old improved to 74.81m in the third, to easily clinch the runner-up spot on the day.

Well back in third was Pole Anita Wlodarczyk, who edged compatriot Kamila Skolimowska 70.66 to 70.50.

Consistency reaps dividends for Kozmus

Unlike the women's contest, the men's competition saw the lead change a few times before Slovenia Kozmus, the Osaka silver medallist, took command with his 80.27m throw in the fifth round, ultimately the only effort to land beyond the 80m barrier.

“Maybe I expected a little more, maybe about 81 metres,” said Kozmus, whose 82.30 national record was the fourth farthest throw in the world last year. “But everybody had some problems today.”

World leader Krisztian Pars took the early with a 77.73 in the first round, but Kozmus took control in the third, reaching 79.04. He improved to 79.21 in the fourth before his 80.27 in the fifth, breaking Ivan Tikhon’s year old meet record of 80.19m.

“I’m satisfied for now. The most important thing was that threw over 80 metres.”

Pars improved to 78.29 in the fifth round but was overtaken by Libor Charfreitag, who reached 79.18m with his final effort, only one of two fair throws he managed.

Szymon Ziolkowski of Poland (75.94m) and Mohamed Al-Zankawi (75.76m) of Kuwait were the only others to throw beyond 75m, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Bolt, Dibaba cautiously optimistic - press conference

Speaking with reporters this afternoon, freshly-minted 100m World record holder Usain Bolt, and Tirunesh Dibaba, who ran a stunning 14.11.15 World record in the 5000m in Oslo four days ago, expressed a cautious enthusiasm for their eagerly anticipated follow-up outings.

On the heels of his world record, Bolt believes he can run very fast in his first 200m of 2008, but refused to say just how fast.

“I’m feeling pretty good right now, being the (100 meter) world record holder. But I’m not ready to predict any times for the 200.”

Dibaba too didn’t predict any records, but did say that she has to produce a very fast 10,000m performance to ensure selection to the Ethiopian Olympic team.

“After the world record last week it’s not easy to run again,” said Dibaba, who arrived from her home in Addis Ababa early this afternoon. “But I need to run well to get my qualification for the Olympics.” She said that a time between 30:40 and 31:00 should be sufficient for her to be considerated for selection.

Four days after his world-leading 43.98 400m run in Oslo, Jeremy Wariner said he was looking forward to his first try at the rarely-run 300m.

I’m pretty excited,” he said, adding that he asked him manager Michael Johnson about how he should tackle the distance. Wariner will be aiming for Johnson’s world best of 30.85 set in Pretoria in 2000.

“I asked Michael how he ran his, and he said he ran it just like a 200; to start and just go.”

Another World champion on the start list, Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic will be aiming for her 27th consecutive victory, and hopes that her fifth appearance in Ostrava would include another attempt at Stefka Kostadinova’s 2.09 World record.

“I’ll be very happy if I have that opportunity tomorrow. Right now it depends on the weather. But I do think it’ll be a good competition for me.”

Perhaps attracting the most attention will be Czech star Barbora Spotakova, who run towards the World title in the Javelin Throw went through Ostrava last year. But this year she’s looking for a performance that’s much better than the one which brought her the win last year.

"Last year I threw 64.94, but this year will not be happy with that kind of result,” she said. “I already threw 69 metres this year, so I can think about 70 metres now.”

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

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