Alexandra Wester wins the German indoor long jump title (© Getty Images)
Less than 24 hours after winning the German indoor 60m title in a national record of 6.52, Julian Reus completed a sprint double at the German Indoor Championships in Leipzig on Sunday (28).
Racing over 200m for only the second time this winter, Reus wasn’t too far short of the German indoor record which stands to Sebastian Ernst at 20.42.
Running his fifth race of the weekend from the outside lane, the 27-year-old stopped the clock at 20.55 in his secondary event to remove 0.35 from his indoor lifetime best and seal the sprint double.
Having improved her lifetime best from 6.59m to 6.95m this winter, long jumper Alexandra Wester has been one of the breakthough performers of the indoor season and the 21-year-old claimed her first domestic title.
Wester, coached by 1999 world triple jump champion Charles Friedek, saved her best jumps for the latter stages of a depleted competition with only five jumpers taking part.
Wester improved her lead to 6.74m in the fifth round before finishing with a 6.75m jump to confirm her credentials as a medal contender at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016 next month.
Rebekka Haase finished second to Tatjana Pinto’s breakthrough performance of 7.07 in the 60m final but the triple European under-23 champion won her third successive indoor title over 200m, shaving 0.02 from her best with 23.10 coming home ahead of 19-year-old Lisa Mayer who was second in a 23.30 personal best.
There was also a breakthrough performance in the triple jump courtesy of 19-year-old world junior silver medallist Max Hess, who set three lifetime bests in today’s final: 16.70m, 16.72m followed by 17.00m in the fifth round to move to second on the world list. Before Sunday, Hess’s season’s best stood at a modest 16.30m.
Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch dominated the high jump with a season’s best of 1.95m, clearing all six of her heights with her first attempts before failing at a world-leading 1.98m.
Mateusz Przybylko equalled his lifetime best of 2.29m to win the men’s high jump.
The pole vault took place without 2013 world champion Raphael Holzdeppe, who was forced to withdraw after twisting his ankle during warm up. In his absence, Carlo Paech took the honours with a 5.60m clearance.
The pick of the distance action came in the women’s 3000m which was dominated by European junior cross-country champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who recently celebrated her 19th birthday.
Klosterhalfen, who has set bests of 2:03.37 for 800m and 4:08.38 for 1500m this winter, followed suit by winning the 3000m title in a lifetime best of 8:56.36 ahead of European junior 3000m and 5000m champion Alina Reh, 18, who clocked a best of 9:00.58.
Christina Hering took a gun-to-tape win in the 800m in 2:02.48 after passing the halfway point in 59.81.
Steven Mills for the IAAF
