Yulia Pechonkina of Russia in action in the women's 400M heats (© Getty Images)
After flirting with World records twice earlier in the week, Stacy Dragila finally had to face both fatigue and the ever-changing weather.
Although her 4.55 best today was an easy winner in the women’s Pole Vault, the stratospheric jumps which many had expected were not part of her programme as the headliner of the DLV Gala meeting in Erfurt, Germany.
“I had some good runs today, but they didn’t come in warm-ups. Perhaps I wasn’t quite as ready as I should have been,” said the Sydney Olympic champion.
“When the light rains began, I found that I didn’t trust my takeoff and then I didn’t trust my grip. Obviously, that’s not good for my confidence. It’s too bad, because we were getting a nice tailwind today, and the rain didn’t last very long.”
Dragila returns to her Arizona training base on Monday to prepare for next weekend’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, followed by a rest period prior to the US Olympic Trials in July.
Behind Dragila’s victory, Carolin Hingst confirmed her claim as the best German of the season with a 4.40 for second, ahead of her countrywomen Nastja Ryshich and Annika Becker, who were third and fourth, respectively, at 4.20.
Pechonkina fills the gap
Dragila’s inability to provide some of the expected firepower of the afternoon opened the door for Yuliya Pechonkina to lift the crowd in the Steigerwald Stadion.
The World record holder in the women’s 400m Hurdles quickly gained the lead and sailed away to her season-best 53.78, as Sandra Glover of the US vainly gave chase down the final straight in 55.32 for second.
Despite her best of the year, the Russian claimed not to be satisfied. “I wanted to run 52.30,” she said, indicating that a further lowering of her own World record may be imminent.
Baala makes season's debut at 800
Paris 1500 silver medallist Mehdi Baala chose this competition for his season outdoor debut but in the men’s 800 Metres rather than in his speciality. The Strasbourg runner started to power away with 250 left, taking Germans René Herms and Nico Motchebon with him as the trio entered the final curve.
Down the final straight, Herms challenged Baala with a strong kick and came within an eyelash of scoring an upset. But the Frenchman held on for a 1:45.52 victory to Herm’s season-best 1:45.54, both times coming well inside the Olympic A-norm of 1:46.00.
Motchebon faded down the stretch but still held on for third (1:46.94) ahead of Kenya’s John Litei (1:47.15).
“This was really only a training race for me,” said Baala. “The important thing was only to win.”
The goal he had set for the day was an easily-achieved 1:45, but winning the race appeared to be more difficult than he may have thought. “I didn’t see him [Herms] at the end, but I knew something was happening because of the crowd noise. I pushed a little harder at the end, but I wasn’t too worried.”
Next on Baala’s schedule is a 1500 race at the European Cup next weekend in Bydgoszcz. His first outing at this distance in an invitational meeting will come either in Rome or in Lausanne.
Ceplak - dominant
The women’s 800 metres was the antithesis of the men’s event, as Jolanda Ceplak crossed the finish line in 2:00.36, almost two seconds ahead of Claudia Gesell (2:02.16). The Slovenian expectedly held the lead at the bell and lengthened her advantage with every step until Gesell realised her resources would permit an all-out sprint at the end. It came too late to make much of a difference.
45.06 for Canal
David Canal was in top form in the Men’s 400 metres as he converted a substantial lead after 150 metres into a 45.06 victory as the Spanish runner zoomed to the top of the European list and continues to chip away at a sub-45 time.
Reigning European champion Ingo Schultz waited until the final 100 metres to attack Canal, but the German’s efforts fell short despite a season-best 45.49. Another German, Bastian Swillims, joined with Schultz in the late chase and gained a PB 45.83 in third.
Dramatic hurdles
The men’s 110 Hurdles saw the top two competitors in the field sprawled on the ground well before the halfway point. Reigning European silver medallist Stanislav Olijar of Latvia (first hurdle) and Seville bronze medallist Duane Ross of the US (fourth hurdle) failed to finish, leaving it to Sweden’s Robert Kronberg to mop up with a season-best 13.50. Marcio de Souza of Brazil completed a long-distance tripleheader this weekend (Kassel-Leiden-Erfurt) by holding off Germany’s Thomas Blaschek for second, 13.62 to 13.64.
Back to the carnage on the track, Olijar attributed his first-hurdle problems with some current experimentation with a seven-step approach to the first barrier.
“Today, I wanted to do eight steps, but I felt my stride length was more like a seven-step approach,” he said. “The main thing is that I’m still healthy after this. It’s all a matter of getting my rhythm back.”
For Ross, the problems of Budapest appeared again, just as he was beginning to return to form after suffering a fractured wrist. A disc problem caused his lead leg to momentarily go numb - just as had happened at the World Indoor - and he nicked the first hurdle before fully crashing into the fourth.
Preliminary medical examination indicates the American hurdler suffered a broken finger. His manager, Robert Wagner, does not expect this to change his status for next week’s Prefontaine Classic.
The women’s 100m Hurdles was dominated by Russia’s Irina Shevchenko. After riding a 3.3 wind to a 12.80 in the heats, the Russian successfully held off Yolanda McCray in the wind-aided (2.8) final, 12.88 to 12.91.
Markov - 5.75m win
After a rare no-height two days ago in Kassel, Edmonton Pole Vault champion Dmitriy Markov of Australia returned to form with a 5.75 win, with American Jeff Hartwig (5.65) and Lars Börgeling of Germany (5.50) taking the next two spots.
Gardener third
Returning to active competition for the first time since double groin surgery in March, Jason Gardener of Great Britain watched Aaron Egbele of Nigeria (10.25) and Germany’s Ronny Ostwald (10.25) hit the finish before his 10.29.
The World Indoor sprint champion was inexplicably assigned lane ten (of the twelve-lane straightaway) and well isolated from the rest of the field, despite having won his preliminary heat.
“It’s very disappointing when you win a race. This is supposed to guarantee you a better lane,” he said diplomatically. “But we learned about our lanes for the final so late, there was no point in arguing about it.”
Regarding his season debut, the Bath sprinter continued, “I’m never satisfied to lose. But I know it will come.” Trainer Malcolm Arnold concurred. “Jason just needs to race.”
James Beckford pulled out a win in the Men’s Long Jump on his last attempt with 8.09. Until then, the Jamaican had been on the losing end of a countback at 7.95 with Britain’s Chris Tomlinson until the final round.
Tomlinson was fortunate to hang on to second, as Germany’s Nils Winter, the current season’s European leader, almost snared the runner-up spot with a 7.94 on his final trip down the runway.
The women’s Long Jump was the expected duel between Germans Bianca Kappler and Sophie Krauel, won by Kappler with 6.64 to the 19-year-old Krauel’s 6.59. Hungary’s Tünde Vaszi’s threatened to break into the Germans’ dominance as her 6.58 took third, while four-time World and Olympic Long Jump champion Heike Drechsler finished fifth at 6.39.
Möllenbeck - 66.36
Michael Möllenbeck led off the Men’s Discus with his season-best 66.36, and this evolved into the winning throw as five-time World champion Lars Riedel was more than three metres back with his second-place 63.26.
The men’s Shot again showed Ralf Bartels as Germany’s best, as the Paris sixth-placer tossed a 20.52 in the fourth round to win over Peter Sack (20.18) and Slovakia’s Milan Haborak (20.04).
After a slow start, Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus finally found her form in the women’s Shot Put and took the event with a fourth-round 19.12, ahead of Germany’s Nadine Kleinert (18.83) and Krystyna Zabawska of Poland (18.22).
Nerius succumbs to Hungarian challenge
Nikolett Szabo of Hungary eked out a narrow win in the women’s Javelin over Paris bronze medallist Steffi Nerius, 62.34 to 62.15.
Germany’s best middle-distance runner of the moment, Wolfram Müller, held off challenges by young compatriot Toni Mohr and Russia’s Vyacheslav Shabunin to score a 3:40.80 win in the men’s 1500 metres under breezy conditions.
Shabunin (3:40.82) and Michal Sneberger of the Czech Republic (3:41.20) followed Müller into the tape, as Mohr faded to sixth with 3:42.63.
Other wins during the afternoon were recorded by Germans Thomas Moede in the men’s Triple Jump (16.56), Sina Schielke in the women’s 100 Metres (11.21) and Claudia Marx in the Women’s 400 metres (52.40).
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