The qualifying distance was set at 8.05m and the first man to nail it was not one of the fancied pre-championship medal contenders but a man who instantly catapulted himself into local athletics folklore: Adrian Strzalkowski. Strzalkowski had not ventured beyond eight metres before but with his first-round effort, the 23-year-old Pole uncorked a stunning 8.18m.<o:p></o:p>It drew a huge roar from the home crowd in the Ergo Arena, and understandably so. It represented a national indoor record as well as a 22cm improvement for Strzalkowski, the 2013 Francophone Games champion.<o:p></o:p>Not until the third and final round did a second automatic qualifier emerge. Christian Reif, the 2010 European champion from Germany, uncorked an 8.13m, just two centimetres short of his indoor personal best.<o:p></o:p>With that, the floodgates opened somewhat. Greece’s Louis Tsatoumas jumped 8.10m then China’s Li Jinzhe and Sweden’s Michel Torneus leapt 8.08m.<o:p></o:p>The other three men in Saturday’s will include Russia’s world champion Aleksandr Menkov, who settled for an opening round of 8.04m and then declined to take another attempt,<o:p></o:p>Menkov heads the 2014 world indoor lists with 8.30m. Brazil’s defending champion Mauro Da Silva and Mexico’s world bronze medallist Luis Rivera complete the finalists.USA's Tyron Stewart and Zimbabwe's US-based Ngonidzashe Makusha have both jumped well beyond eight metres this year but that sort of form deserted them in Sopot and they failed to make the final.Simon Turnbull for the IAAF<o:p></o:p>

The qualifying distance was set at 8.05m and the first man to nail it was not one of the fancied pre-championship medal contenders but a man who instantly catapulted himself into local athletics folklore: Adrian Strzalkowski.

Report: men's long jump qualifying – Sopot 2014

World finalist Marion Lotout broke the championship record in the Pole Vault at the Francophone Games, bagging one of the five gold medals won by host nation France on 11 September, the second day of athletics action.The 23-year-old needed just two attempts to win the competition. She opened with a first-time clearance at 4.20m to steal the lead from Belgium’s Fanny Smets, then went clear at 4.40m at the first time of asking.Smets also cleared the same height, albeit on her second attempt. The pair then unsuccessfully attempted 4.50m, leaving Lotout to take the gold medal on count-back.Mediterranean Games champion Emmanuel Biron won the men’s 100m in 10.41 into a -1.4m/s wind, becoming the first French winner of the title since the inaugural event in 1989. Team-mate Ayodele Ikuesan took the women’s title in a photo finish from Romania’s Andreea Ograzeanu, both clocking 11.72 into a -2.1m/s wind.It’s the first time since 1989 that both Francophone Games 100m titles were won by athletes from the same nation.The fourth French athlete to strike gold was high jumper Melanie Melfort who won with 1.90m, beating Poland’s World finalist and pre-event favourite Justyna Kasprzycka, who jumped 1.88m.The fifth and final gold medal for the host nation was won by French teenager Laura Arteil, who became the youngest ever winner of the Heptathlon at the Francophone Games. Buoyed by a PB of 44.20m in the Javelin, the 19-year-old took gold with a score of 5534.The Heptathlon and Decathlon at the Francophone Games are part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.Qatar is competing for the first time at the Francophone Games, having joined the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) last year. Middle-distance runner Musaeb Balla duly became Qatar’s first ever Francophone Games athletics gold medallist in winning the 800m.The Asian champion, who won at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Rieti three days prior with a national record of 1:43.93, led at the bell in 52.64 and maintained his lead until the finish, winning in 1:46.57, just 0.04 outside the Games record set in 2001.Almost a second behind Balla, Moroccan athletes took silver and bronze with Samir Jamma just holding off team-mate Nader Belhanbel, 1:47.50 to 1:47.72.Qatar won two more medals in the Discus, though neither of them was gold. Romania’s Sergiu Ursu took the title with 62.87m, the second-best winning throw in the history of the Francophone Games, while Qatari pair Rashid Al Dosari (59.06m) and Ahmed Dheeb (58.65m) took the other places on the podium.In the men’s Long Jump, Polish champion Adrian Strzalkowski equalled his PB of 7.90m in round two to take the lead, then produced two wind-assisted jumps of 7.99m. France’s 2010 European silver medallist Kafetien Gomis took the silver with 7.81m.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Lotout sets championship record in Pole Vault at Francophone Games

World finalist Marion Lotout broke the championship record in the Pole Vault at the Francophone Games, bagging one of the five gold medals won by host nation France on 11 September, the second day of athletics action.