Jaakko Ojaniemi of Finland competing in the 2002 Desenzano Decathlon which he won (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)
eight Heptahletes from twenty-two nations will take part in the 16th edition of the Multistars Combined Events meeting at the tre Stelle Stadium in the Italian town of Desenzano del Garda on 10 and 11 May, the first meeting of IAAF World Combined Events Challenge 2003.
Finland’s 22-year-old Jaakko Ojaniemi of Finland, last year’s winner with 8092 points, and fifth placer at the European Championships in Munich (PB 8192) is the leading player in this year’s Decathlon too. Finnish athlete who took the World Junior bronze medal in 1998, won in Desenzano last year with the following series - 10.71- 7.48 - 15.97- 2.03- 49.77 / 14.84- 43.55 -4.50 -66.24 -5:04.78.
The other leading contenders this weekend come from the Czech Republic. Jiri Ryba, won the Multistars in 2000 with a score of 8339 (still his PB), which included a 5.20m Pole Vault, a 61.55m Javelin Throw and 4:12.14 for the 1500 metres. Ryba is joined by countryman Jan Podebradski who has a personal best of 8314 set in 1998).
** NB. as per latest start list 9 May 2003 - both Ojaniemi and Ryba are now NOT competing **
Estonia, a country where multi-events are a “religion” especially after Erki Nool’s Olympic victory in Sydney, will be represented by Indrek Kaseorg (PB 8179 set in 1998). USA’s Paul Terek (PB 8041 set last year) and Pierre-Alexander Vial of France (PB 8070 set in 1997) are the other men to have scored more than 8000 in the entry-list at Desenzano.
Italy will be represented among others by Paolo Casarsa, third at the Multistar last year with his PB of 7918 and tenth at the Europeans in the Munich last summer with 7807, and by Marzio Viti, thirteenth at Munich with 7632. Casarsa, a former javelin thrower with a PB of 67.06m as a junior, who turned to the Combined Events after an injury, has the potential to approach the 8000 barrier. His strongest events are the 110 hurdles (PB 14.07 – 965), javelin (PB 68.92 – 873), the discus (PB 50.51- 880).
The women’s Heptathlon will feature the Italian Gertrud Bacher, a ninth placer at the World Championships in Edmonton in 2001 with 6010 points (her PB is 6185, set in 1999). The Italian is one of the best 800 metres runners among the world’s multi-event athletes, with a PB of 2:08.09 for the last event of the two-day programme.
Bacher’s main contenders will be Michaela Hejnova (Czech Republic), seventh at the European Championships in Munich with her PB of 6032, Finland’s Tiia Hautala, fifth at the World Championships in Sevilla 1999 with her PB of 6369, and Cuba’s Magays Garcia (PB 6352, 1996).
Also in the frame could be Margaret Simpson of Ghana, the Commonwealth games bronze medallist, who was thirteenth at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, and sixth at Desenzano in 2002, the Czech Sarka Berankova (PB 6079), and Soma Biswas of India (PB 6186). Britain’s Julie Holmen, winner with 6093 points in 2002, will not be among the contenders this year.
Among the most notable Heptathletes to win in Desenzano in the past years are the 1991 World Heptathlon silver medallist Liliana Nastase of Romania, who was three times a winner (1990, 1991, 1992), and Svetlana Kazanina (KAZ) who won in 2000 and 2001. Bulgaria's Svetlana Dimitrova, won in 1993 with a remarkable score of 6470, and she was also one of the best 100m Hurdles specialists, taking two European titles in Helsinki 1994 and Budapest 1998, and a silver at the 1997 Athens World Championships in 1997.
Of the notable past men’s winners there is the Decathlete Robert Zmelik who won at Desenzano in 1991 and 1992, only three months before capturing the 1992 Olympic title at Barcelona. Zmelik took a third win in 1996.
