Russian Indoor Championships - PREVIEW

The Russian Indoor championships start today in the city of Volgograd, with team places for next month's European Indoor Championships in Spain on offer. 

The post-Olympic indoor season is usually considered not to be that important to many competitors. Some of the established stars who gained their Olympic laurels are in a habit of taking a short break from competition. Therefore it’s traditionally the time that the younger generation begin to raise their voice internationally for the first time, and the composition of medal podiums takes on a fresher, younger aspect. 

Already the focus is on China!

In Athens last summer Russian athletes set their own national record as far as the number of golden medals was concerned. So the chief coach of the Russian team Valeriy Kulichenko has surprised many by publicly declaring that the aim is to win even more golden medals in China in 2008. Preparations are even already in place with the national pre-Olympic training camps in far east of Russia, not far from the Chinese border.

So the powerful Russian Athletics locomotive is again in motion and the three-day 2005 Indoor Championships which begin today in Volgograd will be the first serious measure if the Olympic ambitions and dreams are to come true in Beijing in 2008.

Several big names will not appear on the championships’ start list. The biggest absentee being Olympic Long Jump champion Tatyana Lebedeva who is missing the indoor season and won’t compete even in her native city of Volgograd. But there are many young athletes who will not miss this chance to book air tickets to European Athletic Indoor Championships in Madrid, Spain (4-6 March) which is the principal prize at stake in the next few days.

WOMEN

Gushchina, the 200m favourite

In the women’s sprints Yuliya Tabakova is definitely missing the season, for according to some sources she is preparing to become a mother. In her absence her teammates Larisa Kruglova and Larisa Fedorova - and some others have already clocked in the region of 7.19 - 7.23 for the 60m.

Irina Khabarova has all the chances of winning 200m but she has many rivals. In Glasgow, the Russian team set the new World record in 4x200m relay and every participant of the quartet has a good chance of winning the 200m in Volgograd. One of them is the 22-year-old Yuliya Gushchina who was the first at this distance at the Russian Winter (IAAF Permit) meeting in 22.84. She is also doing pretty well at 400m.

400m - Krasnomovets to contend with Pospelova

The most well known 400m runners such as Natalya Nazarova, Olga Kotlyarova and Olesya Zykina haven’t made any appearance so far in 2005, so it looks like Olesya Krasnomovets has the best chance of winning that distance in their absence. But never to be discounted is Svetlana Pospelova who will hardly be willing to let her rival take the title easily.

Larisa Zhao (formerly Chzhao) heads the World indoor season list for 800m with her excellent 1:57.53 clocking. This distance will be one of the most interesting at the championships for Irina Vashentseva is only one second behind Zhao - 1:58.43 - and never forget that 5 to 6 Russian runners have clocked results in the vicinity of 2 minutes.

It is difficult to make the predictions as far as the 1500m and 3000m are concerned. It so happens that the competitions at these distances have been rather rare. But Anna Alminova who was second in Grosseto last year has surprised the specialists by clocking 4.10.62.

Shevchenko supreme

The success of Irina Shevchenko at 60m Hurdles is so evident that no serious rivalry is expected. She clocked 7.90 in Samara last week and looks so self confident. Her collision in the Olympic Final is forgotten once and for all.

Chicherova versus Kuptsova?

The jumping competitions will be marked by the absence not only of the above mentioned Lebedeva. Yelena Isinbayeva will compete in Donetsk (on Saturday), and neither Yelena Slesarenko, Irina Simigina or Tatyana Kotova will compete at the championships.

However, Anna Chicherova now fully healed after her injury last year has cleared 2.00m in the High Jump. Marina Kuptsova is also likely to make a comeback after her serious injury, and the ambitions of the young high jumper Lylya Novoseltzeva –Lilemyagi are evident.

The winner of the World Junior Triple Jump title last year in Grosseto Anastasiya Taranova is doing both - Long Jump and Triple Jump - thus proving that the example of Lebedeva is worth following. There will really be a battle in the Triple Jump for Anna Pyatykh, Victorya Gurova and Elena Oleinikova and some other rather well known jumpers will also strive for victory.

MEN

Unfortunately, the results of the men’s national team in the running events does not look so encouraging. Olympic 800m champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy looks like a giant and nobody can even match him. Looking forward one must frankly admit that apart from him there is only one hope for Russian men’s running at the moment and that is down to the fortunes of the 4x400m relay squad.

High Jump should be highlight

But the situation is absolutely different in men’s High Jump. Yaroslav Rybakov has just equalled the national record clearing 2.37. Aleksey Dmitrik in Glasgow defeated the Olympic champion StefanHolm and set his personal best of 2.34m. And do not forget about the 18-year-old Discus thrower Ivan Ukhov. One sunny day at the start of last year he made up his mind to try for his own pleasure the High Jump event, and unexpectedly for everybody at the beginning of January this year he set a Russian junior indoor best of 2.29m!.

There are also some evident leaders in other events too. In the Pole Vault, Igor Pavlov, in Long Jump Vitaliy Shkurlatov, and in Triple Jump Danila Burkenya.

Finally don’t forget about the Heptathlon. In this discipline the National Championships of Russia were held in Krasnodar (5/6 Feb). Aleksey Drozdov finished first with 5915 points. He is only 21-years-old and he is expected to be the inheritor of the famous Lev Lobodin who said his farewell to athletics last year. Drozdov had already recorded his personal best a few weeks before with 6195pts in Orel on 19 January.

The 25 year old Svetlana Ladakhina won the women’s Pentathlon at the national championships – 4301pts. Olga Levenkova who is five years younger was 56 points behind.

Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF