Natalya Nazarova (RUS) celebrates winning the women's 400m (© Getty Images)
The leading Russian athletes use every competition as an opportunity to improve their results. One of the occasions to show their best was the Indoor Moscow Championships on 17-18 January.
This weekend it was Natalia Nazarova who made an attempt at the world record for the 400 m, but she was disappointed when she showed ‘only’ the best in the world season 50.75.
Nazarova says that she is at the top of her form but it is impossible to run very fast without pressure from rivals. The organisers of the Moscow Championships failed to provide Nazarova with the partners she needed to support her pace.
In the Pole Vault Tatiana Polnova cleared 4.60 at her first attempt, but she failed to get over with the bar at 4.70. She said that on the eve of the championships she had caught a cold that affected her jumps.
In men’s Pole Vault there is a new leader in Russia. Igor Pavlov jumped his personal best – 5.75 at his first attempt. Two years ago he was badly injured at the indoor meeting in Taipei. He suffered a double compound fracture of his left leg. Some people thought that it would be impossible for him to return to competition. But in half a year he had resumed training and last year Igor jumped 4.75 at a competition held in an Italian city square.
“My injury was just bad luck,“ says Igor. “I made a mistake at the moment of my jump.
“Now I do not feel any fear during my jumps. I think that I can jump 5.80 – 5.85 at the indoor competitions this winter and be a contender for the medal at the World Indoor Championships.
“My coach says that I have a potential to jump 6.00. I jumped now 5.75 in accordance with our plans, I hope to do more at the meeting “Russian winter” and then to be selected in the national team.”
Igor has not yet fully recovered his potential to jump after this accident in Taipei; his coach says that his is using now only 85 % of his potential.
Triple jumper Danil Burkenia produced an early season’s best with a leap of 17.25. In 1995 he changed his citizenship and left the capital of Turkmenistan Ashkhabad in order to study at the Moscow institute of oil and gas and to compete for the Russian team.
“I am jumping better and better at each competition,” says Danil. “I do not think that 17.25 in my limit for today, but I’ll be a very happy man if I manage to jump 17.20–17.25 at the World Championships. I think that such a jump will give me a medal.” Second-placed Igor Spasovkhodskiy, jumped 17.09.
Again there is a strong rivalry between Marina Kuptsova and Anna Chicherova in the High Jump. Anna has already twice jumped at 2.00 this season, whereas, Marina first competition in Moscow gave her only a clearance of 1.94. She was jumping alone without rivals and was very disappointed that Anna did not join her at the Championships. Marina says that she considered her performance at the Championships to be training jumps on her way from the morning strength training. She says that everything was going as she and her father were planning. But now there is a possibility that she can lose her place in the national team for the meeting in Glasgow, as Chicherova also wants to compete there.
In the 800m, the women were just exploring their possibilities. They ran slowly but with a very fast finish. The winner Olga Raspopova came home in 2:02.85.
