Sebastian Bayer sails 8.49m in Ulm (© Getty Images)
5 July 2009On the final day of the European Indoor Championships in Turin in March Sebastian Bayer had caused the sensation of the weekend with a 8.71m Long Jump, a European indoor record. Now on day one (4) of the German Championships in the southern city of Ulm it was again Bayer who produced the highlight.
There was a lot at stake for Germany’s newest athletics star and he showed that he can handle quite a bit of pressure. When he started the competition he had not yet achieved the qualification standard for the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Berlin, Germany, (15 – 23 August). But with a superb 8.49m leap Bayer left no doubts: he is back in top form just in time.
Meanwhile Ariane Friedrich showed another solid performance, taking the High Jump with 2.01m. In fine and warm weather conditions there was a very good atmosphere in Ulm. About 15,000 spectators witnessed day one of the championships during which Germany’s athletes showed that they are well on their way to Berlin in August.
Bayer approaching Dombrowski’s national record
Bayer opened with an 8.14m jump, which left him just one centimetre short of the qualification standard but still put him in control since no other German had jumped further this season. He passed his second and third attempts and then jumped 8.00m in round four. Getting some extra motivation by seeing his girl friend Carolin Nytra winning the 100m Hurdles in a personal best of 12.78, Bayer then flew to 8.49m in round five with a legal tail wind of 1.6. He then passed his final jump. Nils Winter took second place with 8.04m.
Bayer missed Lutz Dombrowski’s 29-year-old German outdoor record by just five centimetres. Dombrowski won Olympic gold in Moscow with 8.54m back in 1980. He then jumped 8.50m in Dresden in 1984. But since then no German long jumper has sailed as far as Bayer on Saturday, who is now ranked number two on the national outdoor list (with the third longest outdoor jump by a German).
“My girlfriend Carolin gave me huge motivation with her performance,” Bayer said. “That really pushed me and I was able to forget about the pressure. I did not expect to jump that far, I had expected something between 8.15 and 8.20.”
Straub takes heated Pole Vault title, but Berlin spots still unclear
Usually the men’s Pole Vault is one of the strongest German disciplines. But this year the Germans are under par for some reason. Additionally Danny Ecker, who had been the best asset in recent major championships, had to withdraw from the Ulm event due to an injury. The bronze medallist of the World Championships in Osaka will now miss this year’s event in Berlin.
But there was still some drama in this event. Tim Lobinger is another experienced and successful athlete who will miss out on Berlin. Having had difficulties in finding his form this season he finally cleared the required standard of 5.70m in Ulm on Saturday. But that was only good enough for fourth place.
Lobinger was just beaten by Björn Otto, who had cleared 5.70m at his second attempt while Lobinger needed three jumps. World junior champion Raphael Holzdeppe was another prominent victim of these Pole Vault ,trials’. He was fifth with 5.60m. Otto should now get selected for Berlin. But the officials will have some headache regarding the nomination. It is obvious that the new national champion Alexander Straub will get the Berlin ticket. He jumped 5.70m at his first attempt but so did Tobias Scherbarth. After a strong indoor season during which Scherbarth had just missed qualification for the European Indoors he did not do too well recently. But in Ulm Scherbarth was strong enough to force Straub into a jump-off. There was no decision until Straub finally cleared 5.60m. Scherbarth should normally be given the ticket, but Malte Mohr had cleared 5.80m earlier in the season. Mohr however had to be content with 10th place and 5.40m in Ulm.
While Tobias Unger clocked a fine 10.18 to take the 100m (there were doubts regarding the wind gauge which read -2.5) Mark Frank took the javelin with 82.08m. Both will get a ticket for Berlin, but there is another difficult situation regarding selection for the 110m Hurdles. This one is even trickier than the Pole Vault since four athletes have achieved the standard twice (which is what the federation had asked for), but the fastest of them, Alexander John, had to withdraw from Saturday’s final. To make things more complicated Thomas Blaschek, who had been Germany’s number one in recent years, came back from injury problems in the final with a third place in 13.53 – with this he had just beaten the Berlin qualifying time for the first time. Matthias Bühler took the title with 13.36 from Helge Schwarzer (13.39), both clocking personal bests.
Women’s events - Heidler again beyond 74m, Dietzsch disappointed
Friedrich started the defence of her High Jump title at 1.90m, which she cleared at her first attempt. She then went over 1.95m with her second and needed three jumps for 2.01m. After that she missed 2.04 three times.
“I had some problems with the run-up, because the surface is a quick one and there was some wind as well,” Friedrich said. “But I am very happy to have jumped 2.01 today.” Meike Kröger took second with a season’s best of 1.93m, which could open the door to the World Championships for her.
Carolin Nytra had caused the biggest surprise in the women’s events by taking the 100m Hurdles with a personal best of 12.78 seconds. “I have trained very well in recent weeks but I did not expect such a time,” said Carolin Nytra. 100m sprinter Verena Sailer also did very well with a winning time and personal best of 11.18. “It is a dream come true to have finally clocked a sub-11.20 time,” said Sailer.
The women’s throwing events are a traditional stronghold of German athletics. The only two reigning German World champions are throwers. They were both in action on Saturday, but with different results. Betty Heidler dominated the Hammer Throw. Opening her competition with a 74.25m toss she had already done enough to secure another national title. She then showed good consistency and produced five more throws beyond the 70m mark: 72.04m, 71.46m, 73.35m, 71.87m and 71.67m. Kathrin Klaas took second place with 72.76m while Andrea Bunjes was third (64.49m).
“I am happy to be German champion for the fifth time,” said Heidler, who had thrown beyond 74 metres for the fifth time this year. “Of course I would have liked to improve after my opening throw. Now I will compete at the World University Games and then we will go to a training camp in Kienbaum.” Her season’s best stands at 74.97m from Leiria.
After ongoing health problems discus thrower Franka Dietzsch seemed to be on her way back to top form at the recent meeting in Schönebeck, wher she threw a season’s best of 62.50m. But in Ulm the Osaka World champion suffered another setback. Nadine Müller won the competition with 59.98m while Dietzsch was second (59.09.
“Of course I am disappointed. If I would have taken second place throwing 65 metres, that would have been better,” said Dietzsch, who is now able to train twice a day again. “I have no idea what went wrong today. But I will go to Berlin as the defending champion and it is my goal to be among the very best. I know that I have to improve.”
Denise Hinrichs caused a surprise by taking the Shot Put, beating Nadine Kleinert. Hinrichs achieved 19.06m and was six centimetres ahead of her rival. Christina Schwanitz took third place with 18.77m. Earlier in the week European Indoor Champion Petra Lammert had to withdraw from the championships and the rest of the season due to an elbow injury. “I never expected that 19.06m would be enough to win the title. Nadine was under par today,” Hinrichs said.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
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