Craig Mottram running 1500m in Gothenburg (© Hasse Sjögren)
On a windy and somewhat chilly evening (24) at the revered Slottsskogsvallen track the top performances of the "Göteborg Grand Prix" were provided by Australia's Craig Mottram in the 1500m and Belgium's Tia Hellebaut in the High Jump.
The men's 1500m was planned as an exciting match-up between the youthful speed of 800m world leader Abubaker Kaki and the strength and experience of 5000m specialist Mottram with the track record of 3:34.3 – set 33 years earlier by legend John Walker en-route to history's first sub 3:50 mile – under serious threat. Unfortunately Kaki woke up on Tuesday morning with a sore throat and as it stayed on during the day he had to cancel his participation.
But Mottram still chose to challenge Walker's record and paced by countryman Nick Bromley went through 400m in 56.9 which was on target. Unfortunately Bromley slowed a little bit too much on the second lap (1:56.7). On his own Mottram then displayed his trademark strength and determination raising the pace (2:54.5) and finishing off with a 56.1 last lap.
Walker's stadium record 3:34.3 probably only survived thanks to the stiff headwind (3-5 mps) the runners faced on every backstretch. Mottram in the end recorded 3:36.66 in this solo run - won by over six seconds – and one can but speculate about the times and the outcome had Kaki not been forced to cancel his participation.
Green pushes Hellebaut all the way
Tia Hellebaut on the other hand didn't lack challenging opposition: Actually Emma Green competing on her home track was leading most of the way having a clean sheet up to and including 1.90 while the Belgian favourite looked somewhat rusty technically and needed two attempts at each of the heights she attempted (1.84, 1.87 and 1.90).
But Hellebaut's jumping seemed to improve by each height and when Green got her first failure at 1.94 the 2006 European champion in Gothenburg (in the Ullevi Stadium) took full advantage of this opportunity to grab the lead by an impressive first attempt clearance. Green followed suit with an ever better clearance in the third round.
At 1.96 Green – the 2005 World Championships surprise bronze medallist - almost struck back being very, very close on her first attempt. In the end Hellebaut sealed her win sailing over the bar by a good margin on her third attempt. Despite being a new personal best for this summer 1.96 still means that Hellebaut has to raise her game another decimetre to become a serious challenger in Beijing to event dominator Blanka Vlasic.
Swedes over Germans
The men's Pole Vault also became quite competitive. Despite the presence of three of the best Germans, the experienced Tim Lobinger and Danny Ecker plus recent 5.76-vaulter Malte Mohr, and Australian Paul Burgess it was the Swedish vaulters that provided the most impressive vaults. While Mohr missed his opening height 5.45 and Ecker and Burgess went out at 5.60 only Lobinger joined Alhaji Jeng and Jesper Fritz making 5.60.
Hometowner Jeng finally won on the countback but it actually was only Fritz – the 2007 silver medallist at the European U23 Championships – that came close to making 5.70 in the quite chilly conditions (13 degrees??) during the closing stages of the meet.
German pole vaulting got some redemption thanks to Martina Strutz who had earlier won the women's competition at 4.30 ahead of Vicky Parnov and Aleksandra Kiryashova (both 4.20).
Good throws in difficult conditions
Despite the strong winds – mostly at a right angle to the throwing direction – that must have been tough to master both the men's Javelin Throw and women's Discus Throw provided good marks:
South Africa's Hardus Pienaar took an early lead in the Javelin with his first 80m throw of the year (80.49) but in the end Latvia's Eriks Rags prevailed with his 81.42.
In the Discus home thrower Anna Söderberg got a surprising challenge from Poland's Zaneta Glanc who raised her PB to 61.42 in the third round. But Söderberg, who is rapidly approaching the 100th 60m competition of her career, used her experience and consistency to respond and with 61.42 she also got her 4th 61m meet within the last four weeks.
Also notable this Tuesday at Slottsskogsvallen (in 1942 the site of the first sub-14 minutes 5000m!) was the sprint double by Poland's Marta Jeschke (11.76/23.49) and Australia's Collis Birmingham's somewhat "Mottram-esque" powerful winning finish in the 3000m (7:56.17).
Lennart Julin for the IAAF
Click here for FULL RESULTS
