Yuriy Borzakovskiy after winning the Olympic title in Athens (© Getty Images)
This weekend’s “Russian Winter” competition in Moscow opens the 2005 season of ten IAAF indoor permit meetings. It is a two day event (Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 January) with the main international competitions taking place on Sunday.
The meeting which was launched in 1992 was the first to be held under the wings of the All-Russian Athletic Federation that was created immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union. The “Russian Winter” tournament was the first practical step or rather deed of the new athletic body.
The debut was really successful with three World indoor (both men’s and women’s 3000m Race Walk, and women’s 1000m) and one Russian national indoor record (women’s 1000m) being set. Since that time more than ten World records or bests have been established and it’s next to impossible to count the number of the continental and national records.
Full house of spectators and much media attention
It is expected that this year’s “Russian Winter” tournament will finally bring real winter to the snow-less Moscow region. It’s the first time in modern history that the weather is so warm at this time of year. The organisers of the tournament are trying to make it really enjoyable for the spectators and there is no doubt that as always there’ll be no spare places left on the spectator tribunes of the spacious indoor arena which is named after the double Olympic champion Vladimir Kuts.
The first major indoor athletic tournament of the post-Olympic season has attracted attention of eight TV companies. The number of written press accreditations has exceeded all expectations due to the fact that Russian athletes have already performed rather well at smaller meetings in Moscow, Samara, Volgograd, Chelyabinsk and other cities.
High Jump and 800m world season leads set the scene
For instance, the 18-year-old high jumper Ivan Ukhov cleared 2.29m on 7 January in Yekaterinburg improving his personal best by 14cm and by 1 cm the national junior indoor best. Another well-known high jumper European champion Yaroslav Rybakov cleared 2.33 in Lukasevich Chelyabinsk on 9 January, which is the current world season indoor lead.
Women’s 800m runner Larisa Chzhao clocked another world lead when she ran 1:59.58 at the Governor meet in Volgograd on 15 January. This event will be also be one of the most fascinating at the “Russian Winter” tournament for Chzhao will compete not only against her compatriots Natalya Tsyganova, Irina Veshenstseva, Svetlana Cherkasova but with foreign guests as well. Among them are the youngest of the Ait Hamou sisters – Sultana, Sandra Stals from Belgium, Nadia Semedo from Portugal and two strong Belarussian runners Natalya Dukhnova and Natalya Koleivo.
20 countries to be represented across 13 events
All in all there are 13 events in the official programme of the “Russian Winter” – six men’s and seven women’s. The representatives of 20 countries are expected, and it looks like that all of the events will be of great interest.
One of the most promising events is the women’s High Jump. The 2004 World indoor silver medallist Anna Chicherova is the obvious favourite. She has already cleared 1.95 this season in Cheliabinsk but will face opponents in Irina Mikhalchenko from Ukraine and Olga Kaliturina (Russia).
Quality women's vault
Tatyana Polnova who was the 4th highest women’s Pole Vaulter of 2004 with 4.78m outdoors at the World Athletics Final is the main name. Her most important rivals in Moscow are Anzhela Balakhonova from Ukraine and Nastia Ryshich from Germany. Both of them started their sport careers in Russia but then Balakhonova left the country for Ukraine, and Ryshich, who was born in the distant Siberian city of Omsk, emigrated to Germany at the age of 16 with her parents, and the ‘Russian Winter’ will be her first start in her historic Motherland since her departure.
The Olympic women’s Long Jump champion Tatyana Lebedeva has already decided to miss the entire indoor season and it also looks like the two other Olympic medal winners Irina Simagina and Tatyana Kotova will follow her example. So Zita Ajkler from Hungary (6.76 in 2004) and Irina Melnikova (Russia) are the favourites. But may be Anna Pyatykh – the three-time winner of the European Cup in the Triple Jump – will try to follow Lebedeva’s example and succeed in both events.
All the strongest Russian male triple jumpers headed by Danila Burchenya will perform in Moscow, with their international opponents being Phillips Idowu (Great Britain), Dmitriy Valyukevich (Belarussia) and Victor Yastrebov (Ukraine).
Borzakovskiy makes first 800m outing
There are also men’s events at 60, 400, 800 and 3000 metres. The 800m event will be the most attractive for the Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy will make his first 800m start of the year. He has so far raced over 400m (46.5 PB in Shchelkovo on 16 Jan) and 1000m (2:21.46 in Yekaterinburg on 7 Jan). His principal rival will be Isaac Songok from Kenya.
Sprinters from USA, Cuba, Poland, Italy, Ghana and other countries are due to start. There are no evident leaders in these events. In 60m Hurdles Yevgeniy Pechonkin and a bunch of his Russian compatriots are due to compete with Olympic 110m Hurdles fifth placer Stanislav Olijar from Latvia.
One other event which will be sure to attract the attention will be women’s 400 metres with 11 of the entrants having results better than 51 seconds in 2004, of these Olesya Krasnomovets looks to be the favourite.
Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF
