Last weekend (2 / 3 Feb) in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, was held the winter Athletics Championship for the long throws (outdoor) and also Indoor Championships (all other events).
Nearly 400 athletes took part in the event, with one National record established during the competition.
Hammer thrower Zalina Marghieva who will turn 20-years-old in a few days time gave herself an early birthday present by sending the hammer to 69.20m, which is more than 1.5m further than the last year’s national record held by her elder sister Marina, 22.
Zalina had one more good result in the series 68.01m, while Marina, who was the 2nd, reached 67.34m.
Soslan Marghiev, father and coach of the sisters, hopes that his daughters Zalina and Marina will manage to improve their results in March in Split, Croatia, during the European Throwing Cup or later in summer, reaching the ‘A’ qualifying standard for the Olympic Games so that both will be able to compete in Beijing in August.
During the Moldovan championship one more athlete reached the ‘B’ qualifying standard for Beijing. Vladimir Letnicov produced a 16.85m performance in the Triple Jump.
This result was a pleasant surprise for the Moldovan Federation, other athletes and coaches, because Letnicov, 26, has been unlucky of late. Five years ago he jumped 17.06m, but since then he hasn’t been able to reach the same level.
Firstly his coach left Moldova, then his training sessions with another coach were unsuccessful and in addition he got a serious injury. It seemed that his career was over, but last summer Vladimir Letnicov left his house in Chisinau, moved to Tiraspol and began training with a new coach Vitalii Arhilei, and step by step his results have improved.
Two more results should be noted. In the Shot Put, Ivan Emilianov, thrice reached the 19 metres mark and won with 19.26m. Emilianov was completely unsatisfied with this result and plans to improve by qualifying for the Olympics during the World Indoor Championship in Valencia this March.
Radu Tucan, 21, won the High Jump with 2.20m. He is very talented, but unfortunately he has stopped progressing not only because of the lack of training conditions in the country, but also because of the absence of a highly qualified coach in this discipline in the Moldovan capital.
Serghei Donets for the IAAF
