Terrence Trammell blazes to a 7.37sec victory in Boston (© Kirby Lee)
Leipzig, GermanyWorld leads by Terrence Trammell and Malte Mohr along with a very good showing in the Shot Put by Christian Cantwell produced the highlights of a fine Erdgas Athletics Meeting in Leipzig on Saturday (13).
In front of a crowd of 3,113 spectators – the best in the event’s history – Trammell stormed to a 7.43 win in the 60m Hurdles while Mohr showed that German Pole Vaulting still is world-class with a 5.83m clearance.
Trammell pleased with progress
Already in the qualifying round Trammell had been superior. Clocking 7.53 in his heat the American’s was the only sub-7.60 time in round one. In the final the silver medallist from last year’s World Championships in Berlin, who was greeted by popular mascot ‘Berlino’ in Leipzig again, dominated once more. Storming away from his rivals Trammell improved his first round time by one tenth of a second. Crossing the line in 7.43 he had improved the world leading time of Olympic Champion Dayron Robles (Cuba) by 0.05.
“I had felt that I was ready to run fast, because my training had gone very well,” said Trammell, who had jetted over from the States just for this meeting. “This was still not a perfect race, because I made quite a mistake at the fourth hurdle. So I will now go home and work on this and then will hopefully be able to run even faster. I am here only for two days, but it was worth the effort. I am happy with my result.”
While Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic) took second with a personal best of 7.54 seconds Gregory Sedoc (Netherlands) was third in 7.61. Trammell as well as the second American in the race Jeff Porter, who took fourth in 7.65, will now both concentrate on the US Championships in two weeks.
“It will be more difficult to qualify for the World Championships than winning a medal in Doha,” said Porter, who hopes to improve to 7.50. “I will now prepare for the trials and go back home to Ann Arbor, Michigan.”
There was an upset for Allen Johnson (USA), who had been presented as one of the stars before the start of the event. But then Johnson picked up an injury during the warm-up and was not able to compete.
Mohr clears 5.83m
Mohr saved a Pole Vault competition that had looked below par for a long time. Aleksandr Gripich of Russia had cleared 5.50m and then missed 5.60m three times, which was still good enough for third place. While the German made no mistake at 5.60m and at the following height of 5.71m, Sergey Kucheryanu went for a different approach after clearing 5.60m at his first attempt. He passed 5.71m but then the Russian missed 5.76m three times though he had looked capable of jumping that. Kucheryanu took second while Mohr went one higher, improving the world lead by one centimetre to 5.83m at his final attempt.
“I hope this was a breakthrough for me this season. At least this gives me some confidence regarding the German championships in two weeks time,” said Mohr, who tried 5.90m but missed three times. “I hope to further improve at the nationals and qualify for the World Indoors.”
Cantwell overcomes travel woes with solid series
With Berlin’s World champion Christian Cantwell, who is also the reigning World champion indoors competing, there were hopes that even a result of 22 metres might be possible in the Shot Put. It was not getting that far, but Cantwell showed that he can reach this mark during the coming weeks. With a series of 20.90m, 20.83m, 21.61m, 21.43m, 21.26m and a fault he dominated the competition, winning from Dylan Armstrong (Canada/20.85m) and Germany’s Ralf Bartels (20.66m). Cantwell had a very good final attempt, but stepped over by a very tiny margin.
“That was very, very close and they measured the throw to let me know. It was 21.81m. I am happy with my series – especially if you take into account that I had a nightmare of a journey to get here,” Cantwell said. Coming from Bydgoszcz in Poland via Munich by car, plane and train in the extreme winter conditions it took him 30 hours to finally reach his destination. “Before the competition I would have been happy with 20.90m,” said Cantwell, who thinks that he is in even better shape than before the Berlin World Championships 2009.
Clarke takes down Jelks in 60m
The men’s 60m final produced a close and very fast race. Mark Jelks (USA) and Lerone Clarke (Jamaica) were in the lead in adjoining lanes after 40 metres with Peter Emelieze (Nigeria) pushing from close behind. The 28-year-old Jamaican had the best finish, clocking a personal best of 6.55, a meeting record. Just a week ago in Stuttgart he had improved to 6.57. A month before the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha he confirmed his position as Jamaica’s number one indoor sprinter this season. Clarke now is in a joint fifth position in the world list 2010 and could well be in contention for a medal. Jelks was second in Leipzig with 6.58 and Emelieze took third place with 6.61. Samuel Francis ran 6.62 for fourth.
The women’s 60m sprint winner was Ivet Lalova. The Bulgarian clocked 7.24 and was ahead of Mariya Bolikova (Russia/7.26) and Ruddy Zang Perennes (Gabon/7.28).
Final round effort propels Klishina to victory
Overall the women’s events were weaker than those of the men’s in Leipzigs’s Arena. But the women’s Long Jump turned out to be a surprisingly close and good quality competition. European Junior Champion Darya Klishina (Russia) snatched victory only at her final attempt. After lying in third position until the last round with 6.62m she finally achieved 6.74m.
But the real surprise was Germany’s Sosthene Moguenara, who improved her overall best (indoors and out) twice during the competition. The 20-year-old, who had come to Germany from Chad at the age of nine and so far had a PB from last summer of 6.61m, opened her campaign with 6.63m. In round four she improved to 6.69m.
“It is my aim to jump 6.80m during this indoor season,” Moguenara said. But her qualification for Doha is far from secure, since three (!) other German Long Jumpers achieved the qualifying standard in Leipzig. Before Saturday no German women had reached the required mark of 6.60m, now suddenly there are four beyond that mark. Berlin’s Melanie Bauschke set a personal indoor indoor best with her second best jump ever (including outdoors) of 6.67m. She took third place while Sophie Krauel (6.62m) and Bianca Kappler (6.61m) followed in fourth and fifth places. The four Germans will now fight for two tickets to Doha at the German championships in Karlsruhe in two weeks.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
Click here for full results
In front of a crowd of 3,113 spectators – the best in the event’s history – Trammell stormed to a 7.43 win in the 60m Hurdles while Mohr showed that German Pole Vaulting still is world-class with a 5.83m clearance.
Trammell pleased with progress
Already in the qualifying round Trammell had been superior. Clocking 7.53 in his heat the American’s was the only sub-7.60 time in round one. In the final the silver medallist from last year’s World Championships in Berlin, who was greeted by popular mascot ‘Berlino’ in Leipzig again, dominated once more. Storming away from his rivals Trammell improved his first round time by one tenth of a second. Crossing the line in 7.43 he had improved the world leading time of Olympic Champion Dayron Robles (Cuba) by 0.05.
“I had felt that I was ready to run fast, because my training had gone very well,” said Trammell, who had jetted over from the States just for this meeting. “This was still not a perfect race, because I made quite a mistake at the fourth hurdle. So I will now go home and work on this and then will hopefully be able to run even faster. I am here only for two days, but it was worth the effort. I am happy with my result.”
While Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic) took second with a personal best of 7.54 seconds Gregory Sedoc (Netherlands) was third in 7.61. Trammell as well as the second American in the race Jeff Porter, who took fourth in 7.65, will now both concentrate on the US Championships in two weeks.
“It will be more difficult to qualify for the World Championships than winning a medal in Doha,” said Porter, who hopes to improve to 7.50. “I will now prepare for the trials and go back home to Ann Arbor, Michigan.”
There was an upset for Allen Johnson (USA), who had been presented as one of the stars before the start of the event. But then Johnson picked up an injury during the warm-up and was not able to compete.
Mohr clears 5.83m
Mohr saved a Pole Vault competition that had looked below par for a long time. Aleksandr Gripich of Russia had cleared 5.50m and then missed 5.60m three times, which was still good enough for third place. While the German made no mistake at 5.60m and at the following height of 5.71m, Sergey Kucheryanu went for a different approach after clearing 5.60m at his first attempt. He passed 5.71m but then the Russian missed 5.76m three times though he had looked capable of jumping that. Kucheryanu took second while Mohr went one higher, improving the world lead by one centimetre to 5.83m at his final attempt.
“I hope this was a breakthrough for me this season. At least this gives me some confidence regarding the German championships in two weeks time,” said Mohr, who tried 5.90m but missed three times. “I hope to further improve at the nationals and qualify for the World Indoors.”
Cantwell overcomes travel woes with solid series
With Berlin’s World champion Christian Cantwell, who is also the reigning World champion indoors competing, there were hopes that even a result of 22 metres might be possible in the Shot Put. It was not getting that far, but Cantwell showed that he can reach this mark during the coming weeks. With a series of 20.90m, 20.83m, 21.61m, 21.43m, 21.26m and a fault he dominated the competition, winning from Dylan Armstrong (Canada/20.85m) and Germany’s Ralf Bartels (20.66m). Cantwell had a very good final attempt, but stepped over by a very tiny margin.
“That was very, very close and they measured the throw to let me know. It was 21.81m. I am happy with my series – especially if you take into account that I had a nightmare of a journey to get here,” Cantwell said. Coming from Bydgoszcz in Poland via Munich by car, plane and train in the extreme winter conditions it took him 30 hours to finally reach his destination. “Before the competition I would have been happy with 20.90m,” said Cantwell, who thinks that he is in even better shape than before the Berlin World Championships 2009.
Clarke takes down Jelks in 60m
The men’s 60m final produced a close and very fast race. Mark Jelks (USA) and Lerone Clarke (Jamaica) were in the lead in adjoining lanes after 40 metres with Peter Emelieze (Nigeria) pushing from close behind. The 28-year-old Jamaican had the best finish, clocking a personal best of 6.55, a meeting record. Just a week ago in Stuttgart he had improved to 6.57. A month before the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha he confirmed his position as Jamaica’s number one indoor sprinter this season. Clarke now is in a joint fifth position in the world list 2010 and could well be in contention for a medal. Jelks was second in Leipzig with 6.58 and Emelieze took third place with 6.61. Samuel Francis ran 6.62 for fourth.
The women’s 60m sprint winner was Ivet Lalova. The Bulgarian clocked 7.24 and was ahead of Mariya Bolikova (Russia/7.26) and Ruddy Zang Perennes (Gabon/7.28).
Final round effort propels Klishina to victory
Overall the women’s events were weaker than those of the men’s in Leipzigs’s Arena. But the women’s Long Jump turned out to be a surprisingly close and good quality competition. European Junior Champion Darya Klishina (Russia) snatched victory only at her final attempt. After lying in third position until the last round with 6.62m she finally achieved 6.74m.
But the real surprise was Germany’s Sosthene Moguenara, who improved her overall best (indoors and out) twice during the competition. The 20-year-old, who had come to Germany from Chad at the age of nine and so far had a PB from last summer of 6.61m, opened her campaign with 6.63m. In round four she improved to 6.69m.
“It is my aim to jump 6.80m during this indoor season,” Moguenara said. But her qualification for Doha is far from secure, since three (!) other German Long Jumpers achieved the qualifying standard in Leipzig. Before Saturday no German women had reached the required mark of 6.60m, now suddenly there are four beyond that mark. Berlin’s Melanie Bauschke set a personal indoor indoor best with her second best jump ever (including outdoors) of 6.67m. She took third place while Sophie Krauel (6.62m) and Bianca Kappler (6.61m) followed in fourth and fifth places. The four Germans will now fight for two tickets to Doha at the German championships in Karlsruhe in two weeks.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
Click here for full results
