News05 May 2009


Sebrle and Dobrynska confirmed for Götzis - World Combined Events Challenge

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Defending champion Roman Sebrle in action during the decathlon discus (© Getty Images)

The Götzis organizers have confirmed some top names who will take part in the 35th edition of the Hypo Combined Events Meeting, the second leg of the 2009 IAAF World Combined Events Challenge, which promises to be another spectacular meeting with the best combined events specialists in the world.

Roman Sebrle, World record holder with 9026 points set in this meeting in 2001, reigning World champion from Osaka 2007 and the 2004 Olympic champion, will return to the Mösle Stadium in the Austrian region of Voralberg after being forced to skip last year’s edition due to injury problems. Sebrle will be looking to win his sixth Götzis meeting in his twelfth participation in the annual Combined Events Festival.

“It is like a return home. This competition is very important in a World Championship year. The bronze medal won at the European Indoor Championships in Torino has boosted my confidence especially because I was not completely fit. I will be looking to win for the sixth time in Götzis. I am fit after training periods in South Africa and Lanzarote,” said Sebrle.

Sebrle will face 2008 Olympic bronze medallist and 2007 Hypo meeting winner Andrei Krauchanka from Belarus (PB 8617 points), 2007 World Championships silver medallist Maurice Smith from Jamaica (PB 8644 points), and US shooting star Trey Hardee, third in the 2008 Decathlon world list with 8534 points. He has great potential in the sprint events as shown by his PBs: 10.28 in the 100 metres, 47.51 in the 400 metres and 13.71 in the 110 metres hurdles.

The women’s Heptathlon field is led by 2008 Olympic gold medallist Nataliya Dobrynska, who was voted the Ukraine’s Athlete of the Year. “This first start in the World Championships is very important and shows how good I have trained this winter. I love this meeting, its nice atmosphere, the Mösle Stadium and the wonderful landscape in Götzis”, said Dobrynska.

The other top names announced by the Götzis organizers are 2009 European Indoor Championships medallists Jolanda Keizer from the Netherlands (silver) and Antoinette Nana Djimou from France (bronze) and Karolina Tyminska, seventh at the Olympic Games in Bejing and fourth in Götzis 2008.

Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

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