Christina Obergföll prevails in the rain at the German Champs (© Bongarts / Getty Images)
Christina Obergföll produced one of the few standout performances at the first day of the German National Championships in Erfurt (21).
Obergföll, who had recently improved her European record in the Javelin Throw to 70.20m, did very well in the rainy conditions. She took the event with 66.59m. While Steffi Nerius was absent Obergföll had an advantage of almost ten metres. Annika Suthe took second with 56.88.
Ulrike Urbansky also produced one of the best results. The 400m hurdler clocked 55.44 seconds to qualify for Sunday’s final. Time was important for Urbansky since this is the last chance to qualify for next month's World Championships in Osaka. The 30-year-old made sure in round one and now can go relaxed into tomorrow’s final. “I am happy that I did it today since you never know how the weather might affect the race tomorrow,” Urbansky said.
Weather on day one was far from ideal with rain and cool temperatures of 17° Celsius. The rain became so bad the the men’s Pole Vault had to be withdrawn at a height of 5.40m. None of the favourites had jumped but they all had spent three hours in the stadium. The men’s Pole Vault is probably the most thrilling event of the championships since there is a group of athletes fighting for two remaining tickets for Osaka. Tim Lobinger is already qualified after winning the European Cup. The competition will now take place on late Sunday morning.
Thomas Blaschek was a clear winner in the 110m Hurdles final with 13.59 seconds from Paul Dittmer (13.85).
“It had been my goal to clock a time of sub 13.40 but that was washed away in the rain," Blaschek said. "I will now do some proper training and hopefully be ready for those times in Osaka. It will not be easy to achieve my goal of reaching the final of the World Championships since there are a number of others who constantly run good times."
Results from the field events all suffered in the poor weather conditions. Markus Esser took the hammer with 78.48m to beat Karsten Kobs (75.61m). Robert Harting won his first national senior title in the Discus Throw, throwing 63.79m and beating Michael Möllenbeck (60.42) to make sure that he will travel to Osaka.
“I did not want to take a risk in the rain – that is why I stopped competition after the third round,” said Petra Lammert. She nonetheless still won the Shot Put with 19.30m. Nadine Kleinert was second with 17.90.
Jörg Wenig and Marisa Reich for the IAAF
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