News03 Aug 2003


German team warms up for Paris in Leverkusen

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Alexander Kosenkow after his win in Leverkusen (© copyright Dirk Gantenberg)

The raison d’être of this year’s annual fixture was to put the finishing touches on the German team roster for the upcoming World Championships.  And the capacity audience at the Bayer Leverkusen club’s Manfort Stadion for the 9th Bayer meeting on this warm (ca. 28C) evening, gave the German National Team an unofficial send-off for Paris. 

The land of strudel, schnitzel and beer is not usually the place one encounters outstanding male sprinting these days, but Alexander Kosenkow brought the stadium alive with a most unexpected 10.14 win in the men’s 100 metres, the fastest recorded by a German since Marc Blume’s 10.13 seven years ago in the Atlanta Olympics.

Chasing the Russian-born Kosenkow all of the way was Eric Nkansah of Ghana, whose final push at the end brought a 10.15 clocking, just 0.01 off his season best.

The obviously ecstatic Kosenkow was left almost speechless by his achievement. “I had never counted on such a fast time.  I really don’t know what I should say.”

But after collecting his thoughts, the 26-year-old continued, “The jump from a 10.25 [his previous PB, set while winning this year’s German Championships] to 10.14 is naturally an enormous one, but with such good weather and enthusiastic spectators, I knew I had a good time in me. But I must not let this go to my head, and hope that I can run under 10.20 in Paris.” 

Forty-five minutes later, Kosenkow came back as part of the top German 4x100 relay team - this time handling the curve as the third runner - and led his quartet to a 38.70 performance, currently putting his relay team in the fifth position on this season’s national team performance list. 

The men’s Discus bronze medallist in the Edmonton World, Michael Möllenbeck, waited until his win was assured to let loose with his day’s best of 66.21, easily outplacing the best of Belgium’s Jo Van Daele (63.88). He will join Lars Riedel to form the most formidable national pair contesting the event in Paris. 

“The distance was OK today, but it took me a little while to get into the competition,” said Möllenbeck. “It could be because I had been making some technical changes in my training. Eventually, I’ll be throwing farther. It will take 67 or 68 metres to get a medal in Paris, after all.”

By coincidence, the men’s Triple Jump was a reunion of three of the top four placers from the Seville World Championships in 1999.  The champion of that competition, Charles Friedek of Germany, was one of those seeking a qualifying mark for Paris, but at 16.11 - his final jump of the day after five fouls - his quest fell markedly short.

More successful was Andrew Murphy, who had taken fourth in Seville behind Friedek’s gold-medal performance. The 33-year-old Australian slipped marginally past the Paris “B” standard of 16.80 with 16.81 on his final jump and will presumably be wearing the green and gold in Paris. 

Rudolf Helpling, Germany’s bronze medallist two weeks ago at the U23 European championships, was a distant second behind Murphy at 16.27, just ahead of Seville silver medallist Rostislav Dimitrov of Bulgaria at 16.26. 
 
Well into his third decade of international competition, 41-year-old Peter Blank retired from the competition after an 80.57 on his second throw in the men’s Javelin, assuming that no one would challenge his team place in that event, which would have required a performance in excess of 84 metres. The gambling German won that wager, as his early toss ended up as the winner, with Peter Esenwein in second at 79.26. 

Selection of Germany’s third pole vaulter for the World Championships was part of today’s business, and after his countback win over Björn Otto at 5.50, Lars Börgeling saw his season fortunes turn around with a Paris nomination after his no-height performance at the German Championships.  

The European silver medallist last summer had some thoughts about his up-and-down season. “I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself, and sometimes I think too much. I simply have to become looser and more relaxed going into Paris. There, I hope to jump something in the range of my lifetime best.  If I do that and it isn’t enough, then that’s OK.  But a performance like today’s would be really unsatisfactory,” the newly-coiffed Börgeling said. 

One could forgive Tim Lobinger for his own no-height today, as the “iron man” of pole vaulting was competing in his third competition in three different countries in the past four days. He too will be in Paris, and as one of the top medal contenders. 

Claudia Marx earned her Paris ticket with a 51.68 win in the Women’s 400 Metres, as Grit Breuer’s current physical condition makes her available only for possible relay duty at the World Championships. 

But for all of those coming to Leverkusen to earn a ticket to Paris, many of those already nominated confirmed their team positions with wins.

Former World champion in the Men’s Hammer, Karsten Kobs, threw 78.88 and was almost three metres better than Australia’s Stuart Rendell at 76.17. Potential Paris medallist in the women’s Hammer, Susanne Keil, took that event with 68.72, ahead of 19-year-old Betty Heidler (68.02). 

The Shot Put performance of Ralf Bartels (19.76) bettered the brothers Sack - Peter in second at 19.43 and René in third with 18.55.

Steffi Nerius, a finalist in the most recent Olympics and World Championships, dominated the women’s Javelin with 62.50, and European indoor silver medallist Yvonne Buschbaum was tops in the Women’s Pole Vault with 4.50. 

Although off her season best of 2.00, Daniela Rath was the women’s High Jump victor at 1.92, and Claudia Gesell was first to cross the line in the women’s 800 Metres (2:00.87). 

The day was very much a very large German family picnic, but several foreigners added their touch to the competition. With the aforementioned Murphy the triple jump winner, Jamaica’s James Beckford won the other horizontal jump event with a wind-aided 8.27 in the men’s Long Jump. 

Double European junior champion Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria took the women’s 100 metres in a close race with Germany’s Marion Wagner, 11.34 to 11.36. 

And the men’s middle-distance events went to a pair of Kenyans, with Kennedy Kimwetich (1:46.27) and Suleiman Simotwo (3:36.98) taking the 800 and 1500, respectively.

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