Franca Idoko in Osaka (© Getty Images)
Chemnitz, GermanyThe combination of the 13th edition of a meeting with the leap-year day of February 29 could mean either good or bad luck, depending on one’s feelings of superstition. For some athletes, it was an evening of extraordinary good luck at the LAC Chemnitz Erdgas Indoor Meeting on Friday (29).
Standing out from the crowd at the Chemnitz Sportforum Leichtathletikhalle were Nigerian sprinter Franca Idoko and German shot putter Christina Schwanitz, both of whom surpassed their career bests by large margins.
The men and the women competed together in the Shot Put. If tonight’s competition was intended to be a dress rehearsal for Valencia, Schwanitz certainly earned rave reviews in her preview performance.
In breakthrough, Schwanitz puts 19.68m
Emerging as probably the evening’s biggest surprise, the 22-year-old Schwanitz unleased a 19.68 on her fifth attempt, 110 centimetres better than her previous PB (18.58 in the third round tonight). It suddenly elevates her into the number-two position for the season among female shot putters with her biggest-ever competition upcoming. Before tonight’s competition Schwanitz, who was third in last weekend’s German Championships, had an indoor PB of 18.44.
The other German shot putter destined for Valencia, German indoor champion Denise Hinrichs, finished a weak fourth with an 18.08 as she registered only two legal throws out of the six. Sandwiched in between were two competitors with international credentials, Osaka bronze medallist Nadine Kleinert of Germany at 18.93 and current Olympic chamion Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba with 18.16.
The men’s competition was taken by Germany’s Andy Dittmar with 18.95, ahead of Detlev Bock’s 18.74.
7.09 PB by Idoko
Another quantum leap in PB improvement came in the women’s 60m, as Nigeria’s Franca Idoko sprinted to an equal world-leading 7.09 to win that event. It represented a significant lowering of her previous best of 7.19, which came two weeks ago in Leipzig.
“I knew I was ready to run fast,” she told the audience over the arena microphone. “I’m really happy!”
Finishing in a distant second-place tie at 7.25 behind Idoko were Verena Sailer of Germany and Cuba’s Virgen Benavides.
The men’s sprint was won by Poland’s Lukasz Chyla in a season-best 6.57, just off his PB of 6.56. Uche Isaac of Nigeria was second in a PB 6.62 as local Chemitz sprinter Martin Keller took third in 6.66.
Egyptian teenager takes the High Jump
It’s not often that an 18-year-old from Egypt can claim victory over a World Championships silver medallist, but Karim Lotfy had the right formula tonight in the men’s High Jump.
Coming at the end of his eight-meeting stay in Germany this winter, the African junior champion leaped 2.24 on his second attempt—his fifth result at 2.20 or better this indoor season—to win over Slovakia’s Michal Kabelka (=PB 2.21) and Helsinki runner-up Victor Moya (2.21). Kabelka’s compatriot Peter Horak took fourth at the same 2.21 height.
Speaking in fluent English, Lotfy explained how he came to find a sporting home in Germany this winter. “I found a tremendous coach - Wolfgang Ritzdorf from the German Sports School in Cologne - by searching on the IAAF website,” he revealed. In presenting his case to the Egyptian Federation, he found them eager to help his development, and the association funded his two-month stay in Germany.
Despite a PB of 2.17 from last year, Lotfy admitted that he was a “work-in-progress” when he arrived. “Mr. Ritzdorf changed a lot of what I was doing, but we didn’t have much time to work on some things,” he explained. “But now I think I’m headed in the right direction.”
Tonight, he passed 2.21 on the way to 2.24. And his first unsuccessful leap at 2.27 showed promise. “I know that 2.27 is there,” he said confidently, perhaps ruing the fact that the indoor season, for him, is now at an end.
Most important on his schedule for the year are the African Championships in Ethiopia this summer, as well as the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in July.
Whether Lotfy returns to Germany for study later is still an open question. “I don’t speak any German,” he said, with a sigh of resignation. But there was something in his answer that told the listener that he was willing to give it a try.
Near PB 6.91 leap by Gomes
Tonight also showed that the reigning European champion in the Women’s Long Jump, Naide Gomes of Portugal, is ready to make an improvement on the bronze medal she won at the last World Championships in Moscow. One week after her 6.93 PB in Stockholm, Gomes flew to a 6.91 win (backed up by a 6.89 leadoff attempt) for a strong win over South Africa’s Karen Mey at 6.65.
Osaka fifth placer Bianca Kappler of Germany rounded out the top three with 6.56.
Lobinger at 5.80 again
Two-time European indoor champion Tim Lobinger of Germany cleared a height of 5.80 or more for the fourth consecutive time this year in the men’s Pole Vault—and, by his own count, the 99th competition at that level during his career—to win that event at 5.80. Germany’s youth movement in the Pole Vault showed itself again as 22-year-old Tobias Scherbarth added ten centimetres to his career best with 5.75 for second place, as Fabian Schulze was third at 5.60.
Also tacking ten centimetres onto his indoor PB was Andrej Poljanec of Slovenia, whose 5.50 took fourth ahead of Lars Börgeling at the same height.
Former world youth Triple Jump champion Hector Fuentes of Cuba was the class of the men’s Long Jump. The 19-year-old posted a PB 7.95 on his final attempt to snatch the victory from veteran jumper James Beckford of Jamaica, who took second against Cuba’s Wilfredo Martinez on a countback as each had a 7.89 best for the evening.
Moscow indoor championships bronze winner Chris Brown of the Bahamas tore through the first lap in the Men’s 400m in 21.97 and then held off the man who finished just in front of him in Moscow, California Molefe of Botswana, for a 46.57 victory. Molefe’s runner-up time was 47.13.
The Women’s 400m was no contest as Christy Ekpukpon of Nigeria became the year’s top non-Russian in the event with her 51.75 win. Her victory margin was more than three seconds over Poland’s Bozena Lukasik (54.78).
After letting Guyana’s Marian Burnett set the pace (but not as a pacemaker) during the first three laps of the Women’s 800m, Mina Ait Hammou of Morocco moved to the front with 130 metres remaining and scored a 2:04.25 win over Burnett’s second-place 2:04.52. American Sasha Spencer, who had been running in second for most of the time that Burnett had held the lead, faded to third with 2:05.02, ahead of the 2:05.27 of Germany’s Jana Hartmann.
Roman Sebrle made the two-hour drive from his Prague home to Chemnitz today to check his condition in several disciplines prior to his trip to Valencia. The reigning Olympic and World Decathlon champion threw 15.27 in the Shot Put and reached 7.49 in the Long Jump.
Even since the 200m has been stripped of its world-championship status, the specialists in that event have salivated over any chance to run that race on a good track. No one was more excited than Poland’s Marcin Urbas, who circled the hall in a season-best 20.84, his best time in three seasons. The event was contested in sections of two or three runners, as Stefan Kuhlee of Germany had the next fastest time with 21.06.
The best result in the Women’s 200m was Nicole Marahrens with 24.39.
Edwin Letting might have run faster in his 1:51.61 win in the Men’s 800m had he turned it into a gun-to-wire race. The 23-year-old Kenyan had several aspirants for the lead behind him, but he never yielded his front-running spot, as Czech Michal Sneberger (1:52.01) and Hungary’s David Takacs (1:52.14) took the next spots, with former European indoor champion Pawel Czapiewski of Poland (1:52.19) and Latvia’s Dmitrijs Jurkevics (1:52.20) close behind in the blanket finish.
What the Men’s 3000m lacked in quality it made up for in audience appeal. In a race without a pacemaker, Isaac Sang found himself leading the pack the entire way until three laps were remaining. The Kenyan then yielded to Poland’s Rafal Snochowski for part of a lap before gaining the lead back again with two remaining.
Again, the Pole moved in front as if to start a final sprint. But Sang took over for the final time at the bell and coasted to victory in 8:01.97, as Snochowski and his countryman Lukasz Parszynski took the next two spots with 8:03.33 and 8:05.71, respectively.
Ed Gordon for the IAAF
