Vadims Vasilevskis of Latvia reaching 88.12 in Dessaug (© Chai von der Laage)
Dessau, GermanyA pair of throwers provided the highlights for the nearly six thousand spectators at the Anhalt 2006 meeting Friday evening (26 May) in the Paul-Greifzu-Stadion in Dessau, Germany.
Vadims Vasilevskis of Latvia put on a javelin clinic and moved to the number-three spot on the season list with a splendid 88.12 throw. Only Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, at 90.13, and Finn Tero Pitkämäki (88.41) have better marks this year.
Backing up his big throw with an earlier 85.55, the 24-year-old twice bettered his old PB of 84.95 which came two years ago in his Olympic silver-medal performance in Athens.
All evening long the competitors fought against the elements, as spring seems still reluctant to arrive in middle Europe. Temperatures not exceeding 16C, along with a strong headwind on the home stretch, made for uninviting conditions. And the predicted rain, arriving just as the international program got underway, continued throughout the competition.
But this seemed not to bother Vasilevskis, who found a way to catch the right aiding winds on the way to a dominating win against four other competitors with bests of 84 metres or more. After his big throw, he passed his final three attempts.
“I’m a little surprised to get to this level in only my second competition of the year,” an excited Vasilevskis said later. (He opened his season last week in Tartu with 82.56.) But he was without an explanation for his stagnation last season. “This winter, I concentrated on technique training,” he added, “not as much time spent in the weight room in comparison with previous seasons.” Tonight was a big payoff for that change in training strategy.
Christian Nicolay was the only other javelinist to break the 80-metre level, as the German ended in second with a final-effort 80.71 after his second-round 80.60 produced a short-lived lead.
66.85 Discus Throw World lead for Sadova
Natalya Sadova, the Olympic champion in the women’s Discus, had no less of a challenge. In addition to the inclement weather, the Russian was up against a formidable field including two-time World champion Franka Dietzsch of Germany.
Sadova set the tone early, opening with 63.98 and then posting a world-leading 66.85 in her first competition of the season to repeat her win from last year. As it developed, any of her series of four throws (she passed her final two) would have been sufficient to win.
The woman Sadova displaced as world leader, Poland’s Wioletta Potepa, was second at 63.57, while Dietzsch finished third with 63.02.
In the women’s Javelin, Christina Obergföll perhaps drew on her rainy experiences in Helsinki last summer which ended in a silver-medal performance. Throwing tonight with the wind at her back—disadvantageous for the women’s implement— the German posted the only 60-metre efforts of the evening, with all four of her legal attempts over that benchmark. Her leadoff 61.84 was the best of all, and it won by more than five metres over the 56.58 of Urszula Jasinska of Poland.
The men’s Shot Put was a mostly German affair. With 20.26, Detlef Bock headed the tightly-bunched trio which punched through the twenty-metre level, as Ralf Bartels (20.15) and Peter Sack (20.11) followed.
Reigning World indoor and Commonwealth champion in the men’s Long Jump, Ignisious Gaisah of Ghana, would undoubtedly have preferred better conditions, but his 7.95 best still prevailed over the last-jump 7.84 of Jamaica’s James Beckford. Gable Garenamotse, who briefly had the lead with a second-round 7.78, was not able to improve on that attempt, and the Botswanan ended in third.
The women’s Triple Jump went to Yelena Olyenikova of Russia with 13.89, as Aneta Sadach of Poland (13.45) and Iryna Beskrovnaya of Slovakia (13.32) took the next two places.
Wilfred Bungei was running under conditions quite dissimilar to those of his native Kenya, and it was all he could do to hold off a determined René Herms in the men’s 800 Metres. The tall German stayed close to the diminutive Bungei throughout the final back stretch and final curve. Only in the final thirty metres of the race was the ultimate result certain as Bungei’s 1:46.55 won over the 1:46.89 of Herms.
Yanna Smolina of Russia was fading at the end of the women’s 800 Metres, but she held on for a win in 2:02.92, ahead of Germany’s Monika Gradzki (2:03.46) and Tamara Tverdostup of Ukraine (2:03.82). Gradzki was in no better than fifth place with 150 metres left, and despite a strong finish, she was not quite able to catch the Russian, who had built a lead of more than ten metres on the final backstretch.
Considering the weather, Danielle Carruthers must have been pleased with her soggy 13.02 win in the women’s 100m Hurdles while fighting a headwind of 0.8. The American pipped Kirsten Bolm in the final metres as the German clocked 13.03. Josephine Onyia of Nigeria was third in 13.09.
The men’s hurdle race was easily won by American Robby Hughes with 13.63 ahead of Shaun Bownes of South Africa in 13.95.
Dorota Dydo of Poland clawed her way past Endurance Ojokolo of Nigeria twenty metres before the finish to win the women’s 100 Metres, 11.75 to 11.86, as a headwind of 2.3 made things more difficult than usual.
John Woods of the US had earlier posted a gun-to-tape win in the men’s event with 10.38, ahead of compatriot Jerome Avery (10.41).
Johan Cronje of South Africa ran much of the first half of the men’s 1500 Metres in the middle of the 22-runner pack. But his patience paid off as the 24-year-old slowly clipped off those ahead of him and then sprinted past Morocco’s 2004 World junior champion Abdelaati Iguider on the final straight for a 3:38.77 win. Iguider’s 3:39.42 barely held off the surprising third-place performance of Germany’s Carsten Schlangen in a PB 3:39.59.
The women’s 1500 Metres went to Krisztina Papp in 4:13.58. Over the final fifty metres, the Hungarian sprinted past Justyna Lesman of Poland, who finished second in 4:14.48 ahead of third-place Eleonora Berlanda of Italy (4:16.09).
The men’s Pole Vault was declared a tie between Germans Tim Lobinger and Richard Spiegelburg after each had cleared 5.40 on a third attempt and followed with three failures at 5.60. Understandably, neither was too excited about an up-and-down jumpoff situation on this cold, clammy night.
Complete results may be found here.
Ed Gordon for the IAAF
