Christian Olsson leaps to 17.64 in Stockholm (© Hasse Sjögren)
Stockholm, SwedenThe majority of the ten thousand people that filled the stands at the 2004 edition of the GE Galan last night, had come to the Stockholm Globe Arena to see some very long jumps and some very high jumps and they certainly got their money’s worth – mainly thanks to Christian Olsson and Stefan Holm.
Olsson puts the form guide straight
Olsson really wanted to prove that the “mere” 17.16 triple jump with which he was credited with last week in Gothenburg was due to the runway and in no way reflected his true capacity. The spectators didn’t have to wait for that proof: On his first attempt Christian – despite taking off well before the board – landed at 17.64!
The previous world leading mark by Danila Burkenya (17.41m) had been surpassed, and the effective distance from take-off to landing clearly signalled to everyone in the arena that the World Indoor Record (17.83) would be under serious threat during the five remaining rounds during the evening! Accompanied by thunderous support from the stands Christian progressed with 17.52 – 17.56 – 17.34 – X – 15.28 (aborted)!
Thus no new World Record this time but any doubts concerning Olsson’s 2004 form were completely eradicated. Just like last summer he displayed consistency at the 17.50-level and had a winning margin of the order of half-a-metre. Aslo this was not for lack of world class opposition: 2nd at 17.17 Paris number 5 Jadel Grégorio (BRA), 3rd at 17.08 Marian Oprea (ROM) and 4th at 17.06 Paris silver medallist Yoandri Betanzos (CUB).
Holm moves world lead up another centimetre
In spite of this magnificent display by Christian Olsson he still probably would not have been voted “Athlete of the evening” by the spectators. That title would instead have been attributed to high jumper Stefan Holm, who for the fourth straight meet this winter improved the World leading mark: After 2.31 in Glasgow followed 2.34 in Göteborg, 2.36 in Arnstadt and now 2.37!
The 2.37-jump (third attempt after two very narrow failures) was probably Holm’s best ever so far. He wasn’t even close to the bar on this new personal best increasing his “above-own-head” differential to 56 centimetres! When the bar was raised to 2.40 it meant that Holm (1.81m tall) not only would be attacking a very exclusive numerical barrier but also making an attempt at equalling the “world record” differential of 59 cm belonging to Franklin Jacobs (1.73m tall)
Not just once but twice it looked for more than a moment as if Stefan had succeeded in his quest but after brushing the bar ever so slightly it decided to fall to the ground on both his first and second attempt, at a height that has only been cleared once in the last nine years! It was the third meet this winter that Stefan has tried 2.40m and he has come closer to success every time, so ….
Bergqvist 2.00 metres but Klüft has run-up problems
With hometown hero Kajsa Bergqvist following her 2.02 debut in Arnstadt, with 2.00 to win over Vita Palamar and Marina Kuptsova the spectators were almost certainly so satisfied with this evening that they were not overly bothered by the fact that Carolina Klüft finished only 4th in the women’s Long Jump twenty centimetres behind resurgent Italy’s former twice World Champion Fiona May’s winning 6.61. It appeared that Carolina had problems getting to grips with her run-up on the built-up runway.
Turova takes Holmes at 1500m
The 15th edition of this meet also had much more to offer the athletics fans. For example there were two more new world leading marks besides the 17.64 and the 2.37.
In the women’s 1500m only Alesya Turova (BLR) followed the pacemaker and when passing 800m in 2:10 had about two seconds advantage on pre-race favourite Kelly Holmes (GBR). This proved to be a fatal tactical error for the Briton. Although she closed the gap considerably she never managed to reach the Belarus runner who won by four tenths in 4:04.42. Dipping under the old world leading mark of 4:07.9 was also Hayley Tullett and Judit Varga.
Borzakovskiy’s new world lead of 1:44.58
In the men’s 800m the winning tactics were opposite but the outcome was still a new top time for 2004. While William Yiampoy passed 400m in 50.77 Yuriy Borzakovskiy was buried in the middle of the pack at 52.36. But while Yiampoy faded the Russian gradually moved up and with half a lap to go he launched a finishing kick that no one could match, not even Wilfred Bungei who finished seven tenths behind Borzakovskiy’s new world lead of 1:44.58.
Also in the men’s 3000m the pacesetter was overzealous (57.1 – 1:59.6) and thus was of no assistance to the main contenders. However, the race still produced no less than nine runners under 7:50 with Kenyan Mark Bett winning a sprint finish versus Rui Silva in 7:43.38.
The 400m races provided excellent winning times as Davian Clarke led from start to finish in 46.21 and as Ionela Tirlea hunted down fast starting Svetlana Goncharenko to clock 51.71. The hurdle races were highly competitive with Yoel Hernandez (7.64) and Lacena Golding-Clarke (7.98) barely “surviving” spirited finishes by Swedes Robert Kronberg and Susanna Kallur respectively.
“Highly competitive” is an epitet well suited also for the men’s Pole Vault with Denys Yurchenko, Aleksandr Averbukh and Romain Mesnil at 5.71, Rens Blom and Patrik Kristiansson at 5.66 and Oscar Janson at 5.61.
But everyone last night were but bit part players in the shadows of Stefan Holm and Christian Olsson who sent the 10,000 spectators home in a mood that made the cold February night feel like a warm summer evening! The organisers will have no problems selling the tickets for the 16th edition of “GE Galan.”
Full RESULTS click here
