Eventual Decathlon winner Trey Hardee of the United States throws three personal bests in the men's Decathlon Javelin Throw in the Berlin Olympic Stadium (© Getty Images)
World champion Trey Hardee of the US capped an incredible win with his overall leading position in the IAAF Combined Events Challenge where as it was redemption time for Olympic champion Natalya Dobrysnka’s whose challenge win came after her medalless performance in Berlin.
Decathlon World champion Trey Hardee and Ukraine’s reigning Olympic champion Natalya Dobrynska were crowned as the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge winners.
This year’s Challenge featured five major IAAF meetings: the Multistars in Desenzano del Garda, the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, the Meeting International d’Arles, the Mehrkampfmeeting in Ratingen (valid also as selection for the German team for Berlin) and the Decastar in Talence. Athletes could also score in the Americas Combined Events Cup in Habana, the European Cup of Combined Events, the US Championships, the University Games, the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, the Jeux de la Francophonie and the Asian Championships.
Hardee produced an outstanding breakthrough season in which he won the World title in Berlin with a superb final score of 8790 points, took the US title in Eugene with 8261 points and finished runner-up in the world-class IAAF Challenge meeting in Götzis with 8516 points, just six points behind surprising German winner Michael Schrader. Hardee collected a total score of 25567 points to take the overall win in the Challenge earning 30,000 dollars. Cuban young talented decathlete Yordani Garcia took runner-up spot in the Overall Ranking with 25231 points thanks to an impressive 8496 points score in his opening competition on home-turf in Habana during the Americas Cup at the end of May, a winning score of 8348 points in Ratingen and 8387 points for eighth place at the World Championships in Berlin. Third place went to Ukraine’s Oleksiy Kasyanov, one of the revelations of the season, who totalled 25056 points. The Ukrainian started his season with a fifth place in Götzis with 8286 points, then finished fourth in Berlin with a new PB of 8479 points (after leading at the end of the first day with 4555 points) and capped it all with a win in the traditional season-ending Decastar meeting in Talence with 8291 points.
The 2009 season will be remembered for the breakthrough of 25-year-old Hardee who rose to the occasion in Berlin by winning the World gold medal improving his PB by 256 points. He moved up to ninth in the world all-time list and is now third in the US all-time list behind Dan O’Brien (8891 points) and Bryan Clay (8832 points). Hardee, whose name Trey is a nickname (his true name is James Edward Hardee III), scored a new World season best which was just one point off Clay’s winning score in Bejing.
The Berlin World Championships was one of the best competitions ever for depth and quality with 20 athletes able to score more than 8000 points. It was close to the all-time record set at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 where 22 decathletes scored more than 8000 points. Thirteen decathletes set PBs in Berlin.
The IAAF World Challenge and World Championships revealed new rising stars who are set to dominate on the world stage in the years to come. The Hypo-Meeting in Götzis in the Austrian region of Voralberg, featured the rise to the top of 21-year-old german Michael Schrader who set a then World season best of 8522 points and a new career best. The young german, who is coached by 1987 Decathlon World champion Torsten Voss, became the first German to win the famous Götzis meeting since Christian Schenk in 1990. Schrader, who emerged in 2008 as a great hope with his tenth place at the Olympic Games in Bejing, has become the first German to break the 8500 points barrier since Frank Busemann in 2000 when he totalled 8531 points in Götzis. “It is a dream for every decathlete to win in Götzis,” said Schrader.
Schrader’s win raised the hopes of German fans for a local triumph at the World Championships in Berlin. Unfortunately a stress fracture on his foot dashed Schrader’s hopes to fight for a medal. But Germany still found new stars like Pascal Berenbruch who scored a PB score of 8374 points in Götzis and went on to finish sixth in Berlin with a new career best of 8439 points.
The other new emerging force in combined events was represented by Cuba who placed three men in the top-ten in Berlin. Besides silver medallist Suarez, Cuba produced a major breakthrough thanks to 2005 World Youth champion and 2006 World Junior silver medallist Yordani Garcia, who totalled 8387 points (with an impressive 69.37 m in the javelin) and Yunior Diaz who placed ninth with 8357 points. Diaz, who was ranked second overnight with 4512 points, highlighted the first day in Berlin with a sensational 46.15 in the 400 metres.
The women’s Challenge went to Natalya Dobrynska who made up for the disappointment at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin where she finished fourth with 6444 points. The Ukrainian earned the prize of 30,000 Dollars with 19487 points. Two major wins in the top meetings of the IAAF circuit in Götzis and Talence proved to be decisive to win the Overall Ranking. In her first competition of the year the Ukrainian Heptathlon Olympic champion won the Hypo Meeting with 6558 points. In the famous Wustrian star-studded combined events meeting the Ukraine claimed a great sweep: Italian-based Hanna Melnychenko, wife of Italian decathlete William Frullani, finished runner-up with her PB of 6445 points ahead of overnight leader Lyudmila Yosipenko, who scored 6361 points. Despite post-Berlin tiredness Dobrynska scored a solid end-of-season score of 6485 points to take the win in the Decastar ahead of Yosipenko (6423 points) and Olympic bronze medallist and 2006 World Junior champion Tatyana Chernova from Russia (6306 points). The win in the French meeting was vital for Dobrynska who overtook German world silver medallist Jennifer Oeser who was in the lead in the Overall Ranking before Talence thanks to 6320 points in Götzis, a winning 6442 points score in Ratingen and a new PB of 6493 which earned her the World silver medal in Berlin. Oeser, however, did not make the trip to Talence and lost her first place to Dobrynska but managed to take runner-up spot in the Overall Ranking with 19255 points ahead of Melnichenko (19239 points) who was second in Götzis with 6445 points, won the European Cup of Combined Events in Scczecin (Poland) with 6380 points and finished sixth at the Berlin World Championships with 6414 points.
Berlin World champion Jessica Ennis had only two valid scores thanks to her fantastic wins in Desenzano del Garda with the then 6587 World season best and in Berlin where she smashed her previous best with 6731 points to win her first major title. After her Berlin triumph Ennis decided not to take part in Talence. Ennis was not eligible for the final ranking.
The popular young Briton made a sensational start to her successful comeback season in her favourite Italian meeting in Desenzano del Garda where she smashed her previous PB of 6469 points. Ennis won in her four strongest events in the 100m Hurdles in a remarkable 12.98 (missing her then PB by just 0.01 second), 1.90 in the High Jump, 23.49 in the 200m and set a new PB in the 800m with 2:09.88.
“Last year I missed everything. It was hard to miss the Olympic Games in Bejing. It was a long process of recovery from a serious injury but I had time to rest my body and be ready for this year,” said Ennis.
The remarkable comeback in Desenzano was just the beginning for the Sheffield graduate in psychology who sensationally won the World title in Berlin where the combined events were in the spotlight in the sport-mad german capital. Ennis set the second best performance in history in Great Britain behind 2000 Olympic champion Denise Lewis’s British record of 6831 points.
Ennis scored a hugely impressive first-day score of 4124 points, which was bettered only by former Olympic and World champion and World record holder Jackie Joyner Kersee several times and twice by European record holder Carolina Klüft in the history of Heptathlon. Overnight she had a lead of 307 points over Dobrynska. Ennis reached a final score of 6731 points, a new World season best.
But the challenge remained in Dobrysnka’s hands!
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
Final Standings
Men -
1. Trey Hardee, USA 25567
2. Yordani García, CUB 25231
3. Oleksiy Kasyanov, UKR 25056
4. Aleksandr Pogorelov, RUS 24987
5. Norman Müller, GER 24663
6. Pascal Behrenbruch, GER 24571
7. Romain Barras, FRA 24322
8. Andres Raja, EST 24241
9. Willem Coertzen RSA 24107
10. Jake Arnold, USA 24047
11. Vasiliy Kharlamov, RUS 23869
12. Mikalai Shubianok, BLR 23719
13. Eugene Martineau, NED 23640
14. Simon Walter, SUI 22998
15. Rudy Bourguignon, FRA 22950
Women -
1. Natallia Dobrynska, UKR 19487
2. Jennifer Oeser, GER 19255
3. Hanna Melnychenko, UKR 19239
4. Lyudmyla Yosypenko, UKR 19200
5. Tatyana Chernova, RUS 18980
6. Julia Mächtig, GER 18659
7. Diana Pickler, USA 18374
8. Sharon Day,USA 18366
9. Marisa De Aniceto, FRA 17976
10. Yvonne Wisse, NED 17790
11. Jessica Samuelsson, SWE 17768
12. Marina Goncharova, RUS 17719
13. Phyllis Agbo, GBR 17717
14. Jana Korešová, CZE 17715
15. Kaie Kand, EST 17684
Decathlon World champion Trey Hardee and Ukraine’s reigning Olympic champion Natalya Dobrynska were crowned as the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge winners.
This year’s Challenge featured five major IAAF meetings: the Multistars in Desenzano del Garda, the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, the Meeting International d’Arles, the Mehrkampfmeeting in Ratingen (valid also as selection for the German team for Berlin) and the Decastar in Talence. Athletes could also score in the Americas Combined Events Cup in Habana, the European Cup of Combined Events, the US Championships, the University Games, the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, the Jeux de la Francophonie and the Asian Championships.
Hardee produced an outstanding breakthrough season in which he won the World title in Berlin with a superb final score of 8790 points, took the US title in Eugene with 8261 points and finished runner-up in the world-class IAAF Challenge meeting in Götzis with 8516 points, just six points behind surprising German winner Michael Schrader. Hardee collected a total score of 25567 points to take the overall win in the Challenge earning 30,000 dollars. Cuban young talented decathlete Yordani Garcia took runner-up spot in the Overall Ranking with 25231 points thanks to an impressive 8496 points score in his opening competition on home-turf in Habana during the Americas Cup at the end of May, a winning score of 8348 points in Ratingen and 8387 points for eighth place at the World Championships in Berlin. Third place went to Ukraine’s Oleksiy Kasyanov, one of the revelations of the season, who totalled 25056 points. The Ukrainian started his season with a fifth place in Götzis with 8286 points, then finished fourth in Berlin with a new PB of 8479 points (after leading at the end of the first day with 4555 points) and capped it all with a win in the traditional season-ending Decastar meeting in Talence with 8291 points.
The 2009 season will be remembered for the breakthrough of 25-year-old Hardee who rose to the occasion in Berlin by winning the World gold medal improving his PB by 256 points. He moved up to ninth in the world all-time list and is now third in the US all-time list behind Dan O’Brien (8891 points) and Bryan Clay (8832 points). Hardee, whose name Trey is a nickname (his true name is James Edward Hardee III), scored a new World season best which was just one point off Clay’s winning score in Bejing.
The Berlin World Championships was one of the best competitions ever for depth and quality with 20 athletes able to score more than 8000 points. It was close to the all-time record set at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 where 22 decathletes scored more than 8000 points. Thirteen decathletes set PBs in Berlin.
The IAAF World Challenge and World Championships revealed new rising stars who are set to dominate on the world stage in the years to come. The Hypo-Meeting in Götzis in the Austrian region of Voralberg, featured the rise to the top of 21-year-old german Michael Schrader who set a then World season best of 8522 points and a new career best. The young german, who is coached by 1987 Decathlon World champion Torsten Voss, became the first German to win the famous Götzis meeting since Christian Schenk in 1990. Schrader, who emerged in 2008 as a great hope with his tenth place at the Olympic Games in Bejing, has become the first German to break the 8500 points barrier since Frank Busemann in 2000 when he totalled 8531 points in Götzis. “It is a dream for every decathlete to win in Götzis,” said Schrader.
Schrader’s win raised the hopes of German fans for a local triumph at the World Championships in Berlin. Unfortunately a stress fracture on his foot dashed Schrader’s hopes to fight for a medal. But Germany still found new stars like Pascal Berenbruch who scored a PB score of 8374 points in Götzis and went on to finish sixth in Berlin with a new career best of 8439 points.
The other new emerging force in combined events was represented by Cuba who placed three men in the top-ten in Berlin. Besides silver medallist Suarez, Cuba produced a major breakthrough thanks to 2005 World Youth champion and 2006 World Junior silver medallist Yordani Garcia, who totalled 8387 points (with an impressive 69.37 m in the javelin) and Yunior Diaz who placed ninth with 8357 points. Diaz, who was ranked second overnight with 4512 points, highlighted the first day in Berlin with a sensational 46.15 in the 400 metres.
The women’s Challenge went to Natalya Dobrynska who made up for the disappointment at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin where she finished fourth with 6444 points. The Ukrainian earned the prize of 30,000 Dollars with 19487 points. Two major wins in the top meetings of the IAAF circuit in Götzis and Talence proved to be decisive to win the Overall Ranking. In her first competition of the year the Ukrainian Heptathlon Olympic champion won the Hypo Meeting with 6558 points. In the famous Wustrian star-studded combined events meeting the Ukraine claimed a great sweep: Italian-based Hanna Melnychenko, wife of Italian decathlete William Frullani, finished runner-up with her PB of 6445 points ahead of overnight leader Lyudmila Yosipenko, who scored 6361 points. Despite post-Berlin tiredness Dobrynska scored a solid end-of-season score of 6485 points to take the win in the Decastar ahead of Yosipenko (6423 points) and Olympic bronze medallist and 2006 World Junior champion Tatyana Chernova from Russia (6306 points). The win in the French meeting was vital for Dobrynska who overtook German world silver medallist Jennifer Oeser who was in the lead in the Overall Ranking before Talence thanks to 6320 points in Götzis, a winning 6442 points score in Ratingen and a new PB of 6493 which earned her the World silver medal in Berlin. Oeser, however, did not make the trip to Talence and lost her first place to Dobrynska but managed to take runner-up spot in the Overall Ranking with 19255 points ahead of Melnichenko (19239 points) who was second in Götzis with 6445 points, won the European Cup of Combined Events in Scczecin (Poland) with 6380 points and finished sixth at the Berlin World Championships with 6414 points.
Berlin World champion Jessica Ennis had only two valid scores thanks to her fantastic wins in Desenzano del Garda with the then 6587 World season best and in Berlin where she smashed her previous best with 6731 points to win her first major title. After her Berlin triumph Ennis decided not to take part in Talence. Ennis was not eligible for the final ranking.
The popular young Briton made a sensational start to her successful comeback season in her favourite Italian meeting in Desenzano del Garda where she smashed her previous PB of 6469 points. Ennis won in her four strongest events in the 100m Hurdles in a remarkable 12.98 (missing her then PB by just 0.01 second), 1.90 in the High Jump, 23.49 in the 200m and set a new PB in the 800m with 2:09.88.
“Last year I missed everything. It was hard to miss the Olympic Games in Bejing. It was a long process of recovery from a serious injury but I had time to rest my body and be ready for this year,” said Ennis.
The remarkable comeback in Desenzano was just the beginning for the Sheffield graduate in psychology who sensationally won the World title in Berlin where the combined events were in the spotlight in the sport-mad german capital. Ennis set the second best performance in history in Great Britain behind 2000 Olympic champion Denise Lewis’s British record of 6831 points.
Ennis scored a hugely impressive first-day score of 4124 points, which was bettered only by former Olympic and World champion and World record holder Jackie Joyner Kersee several times and twice by European record holder Carolina Klüft in the history of Heptathlon. Overnight she had a lead of 307 points over Dobrynska. Ennis reached a final score of 6731 points, a new World season best.
But the challenge remained in Dobrysnka’s hands!
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
Final Standings
Men -
1. Trey Hardee, USA 25567
2. Yordani García, CUB 25231
3. Oleksiy Kasyanov, UKR 25056
4. Aleksandr Pogorelov, RUS 24987
5. Norman Müller, GER 24663
6. Pascal Behrenbruch, GER 24571
7. Romain Barras, FRA 24322
8. Andres Raja, EST 24241
9. Willem Coertzen RSA 24107
10. Jake Arnold, USA 24047
11. Vasiliy Kharlamov, RUS 23869
12. Mikalai Shubianok, BLR 23719
13. Eugene Martineau, NED 23640
14. Simon Walter, SUI 22998
15. Rudy Bourguignon, FRA 22950
Women -
1. Natallia Dobrynska, UKR 19487
2. Jennifer Oeser, GER 19255
3. Hanna Melnychenko, UKR 19239
4. Lyudmyla Yosypenko, UKR 19200
5. Tatyana Chernova, RUS 18980
6. Julia Mächtig, GER 18659
7. Diana Pickler, USA 18374
8. Sharon Day,USA 18366
9. Marisa De Aniceto, FRA 17976
10. Yvonne Wisse, NED 17790
11. Jessica Samuelsson, SWE 17768
12. Marina Goncharova, RUS 17719
13. Phyllis Agbo, GBR 17717
14. Jana Korešová, CZE 17715
15. Kaie Kand, EST 17684
