Ed Gordon
31 May 2000Dessau, Germany - Earlier this week, Heike Drechsler proclaimed herself in
the same physical condition she was in at the start of the 1992 season. That year, she won
the Olympic long jump gold medal.
With her first competitive jump of the season Wednesday night--a 6.77 leap--she showed that these weren't just confidence-building statements without substance. Before the evening was over, she added a 6.73 in scoring her first win in what must certainly be her final Olympic season. A relative newcomer, Lisset Cuza of Cuba, was second at 6.59.
"A good beginning," said trainer Alain Blondel, with an obvious intent to understate. "To start the year this way is great for confidence."
Drechsler agreed. "I've had a slow build-up after the indoor season, and I think that there are even better jumps ahead."
She and Blondel have structured her early-season training differently, with more conditioning this year and almost no speedwork up to now.
"When I go to Sydney, I am going there to get a medal. I don't want to be a tourist."
The trackside interviewer started to ask her if "getting old" made a difference in her approach to the season. As soon as he said "old", the stadium erupted in whistles. But Drechsler knew what he meant to ask.
"At my age, it's normal to be a little more conservative. But I still like to take risks, just like a small girl."
Two reigning world champions scored wins in field events, but they went about it quite differently.
After an opening foul, Franka Dietzsch of Germany took the lead on her second throw and went on to win the the discus with 64.21, more than four meters ahead of Atlanta gold medalist Ilke Wyludda at 60.19.
Long jumper Ivan Pedroso of Cuba, however, needed a few rounds to get up to speed. Competing in his first European meet of the year, the Seville champ finally overtook countryman Luis Meliz's opening 7.87 in the fourth round with his eventual winner of 7.90.
Meliz's final-jump 7.89 nearly completed a dramatic comeback.
RESULTS
(Germans are listed without nationality)
MEN
100 METERS (0.7): 1. Saddler (US) 10.32; 2. Deerberg 10.64; 3. Gilpin 10.69; 4. Balin
10.91; 5. Schaefer 11.00; 6. Elmas 11.16.
400 METERS: 1. Clarke (Jamaica) 46.25; 2. Ochieng (Kenya) 46.69; 3. Dragu 47.44; 4.
Breitenstein 47.96; 5.
Mertens 48.51; 6. Giessler 49.19.
800 METERS: 1. P. Konchellah (Kenya) 1:47.19; 2. Lobo (Great Britain) 1:49.44; 3. McKay
(Great Britain) 1:49.69; 4. Jaworski 1:50.47; 5. Kelpien 1:51.20; 6. Poeschel 1:52.26; 7.
Babula (Poland) 1:52.37.
3000 METERS: 1. Deberework (Ethiopia) 7:51.35; 2. Kataron (Kenya) 7:52.17; 3. Mueller
7:52.46; 4. Hallmann
7:53.65; 5. Youcef (France) 7:55.15; 6. J. Killy (Kenya) 7:56.28; 7. P. Biwott (Kenya)
7:59.49; 8. Gottschalk 8:17.19; 9. Ganzmann 8:19.23; 10. Biba 8:36.10; 11. Geue 8:54.70;
12. Heydorn 9:04.23; 13. Prophet 9:18.48. 110 HURDLES: Race 1 (1.6): 1. Balzer
13.51; 2. Fenner 13.56; 3. Dees (US) 13.72; 4. Berlioz (Madagascar) 14.21; 5. Henschke
14.72; 6. Teske 14.96.
Race 2 (1.1): 1. Fenner 13.41; 2. Dees 13.52; 3. Buchholz 14.39; 4. Siebert 14.41.
Did not finish: Balzer (hit 9th hurdle and lost rhythm).
POLE VAULT: 1. Lobinger 5.70 [5.80 xxx]; 2. Blom (Holland) 5.70 [5.75 xxx]; 3. Boergeling
5.50; 4. Tivontchik 5.40; 5. Otto 5.40; 6. R. Spiegelburg 5.40; 7. Kusiak (Poland) 5.20.
No height: Kristianson (Sweden) at 5.20.
LONG JUMP: 1. Pedroso (Cuba) 7.90 (0.0); 2. Melis (Cuba) 7.89 (0.0); 3. Prah 7.88 (0.1);
4. Garcia (Cuba) 7.79 (-0.9); 5. Williams (Trinidad) 7.78 (0.0); 6. Krause 7.51 (0.0); 7.
Schmidt 7.51 (-0.2); 8. Duncan (Canada) 7.48 (-0.1); 9. Fivaz (Switzerland) 7.05 (-0.1).
No legal mark: Rieger
JAVELIN: 1. Gonzalez (Cuba) 84.83; 2. Blank 82.62; 3. Rigondeaux (Cuba) 81.43; 4. Hecht
79.92; 5. Linden 79.90; 6. Nau 77.58; 7. Lange 72.85.
WOMEN
200 METERS: Race 1 (0.7): 1. Mani (Cameroon) 23.35; 2. Jett (US) 23.94; 3. Ekpo-Umoh
24.04; 4. Suchovska (Czech Republic) 24.05; 5. Hennagan (US) 24.17.
Race 2 (0.7): 1. Tinser 24.60; 2. Schoenenberger 24.76; 3. Wolf 24.95; 4. Dlouha (Czech
Republic) 25.08.
800 METERS: 1. Rainey (US) 2:02.44; 2. Kumpan (Ukraine) 2:03.70; 3. Schott 2:07.11; 4.
Schimmer 2:08.01; 5. Sakara (Zimbabwe) 2:08.94; 6. Kasalova (Czech Republic) 2:09.33; 7.
Ehrlich 2:14.88; 8. Richter 2:18.66.
1500 METERS: 1. Kuehnemund 4:10.03; 2. Pattinson (Great Britain) 4:10.54. 3. Hirpassa
(Ethiopia) 4:10.73; 4. Zaituc 4:11.18; 5. Muraguri (Kenya) 4:11.72; 6. Mikitenko 4:12.40;
7. Friedrich 4:12.99; 8. Modahl (Great Britain) 4:14.41; 9. Francenz 4:21.62; 10. Drews
4:24.43; 11. Walter 4:27.38; 12. Shendyuk 4:39.23.
POLE VAULT: 1. Adams 4.30; 2. Schulte 4.30; 3. DeWilt (Holland) 4.30 NR; 4. Hamackova
(Czech Republic) 4.20; 5. Pyrek (Poland) 4.10; 6. Gerryts (South Africa) 3.80. No
height: Mladkova (Czech Republic) at 3.90.
LONG JUMP: 1. Drechsler 6.77 (1.6) [6.77 (1.6) - 6.65 (0.8) - x - 6.73 (0.5) - 6.65w (2.3)
- x]; 2. Cuza (Cuba) 6.59 (0.0); 3. Golding (Jamaica) 6.45 (0.2); 4. Burrell (US) 6.37
(1.7); 5. Schulte 6.27 (1.0); 6. Dezebe-Dezaud (Switzerland) 6.25 (0.5); 7. Komrskova
(Czech Republic) 6.17 (1.3); 8. Albert 6.05 (1.5).
SHOT PUT: 1. Kleinert-Schmidt 19.12; 2. Kumbernuss 19.02; 3. Cumba (Cuba) 18.31; 4.
Zakowicz (Poland) 18.15; 5. Peters (Nigeria) 17.33; 6. Kluge 16.50; 7. Beyer 16.26.
DISCUS: 1. Dietzsch 64.21 (x - 61.51 - 64.21 - 62.48 - 64.09 - 62.88); 2. Wyludda 60.19;
3. Moellenbeck 59.87; 4. Goormachtigh (Holland) 58.12; 5. Hering 58.09; 6. Krol
53.16; 7. Reiber 51.89; 8. Frauendorfer 50.86; 9. Nakanishi (Japan) 49.79.
