Jason Gardener powering to 60m win in Glasgow (© Getty Images)
The LE Athletics meeting in Leipzig this afternoon capped off a busy weekend in eastern Germany, after the Erfurt and Arnstadt competitions the previous two days.
European leading 60m - 6.56
The biggest name on today’s afternoon card was Jason Gardener of Great Britain, the reigning World and European Indoor champion in the men’s 60 metres. Gardener had the field outclassed by a wide margin, so the race was always going to be man vs. clock.
The European record holder came away from the blocks crisply and had a commanding lead after 20 metres. He flew into the finish with 6.56 to move to the top of the European list for the year. Germany’s Marc Blume was second in 6.67, as Demario Wesley of the US clocked 6.71 for third.
Wignall maintains sharp shape
After running a world-leading 7.54 time in Erfurt on Friday, only to have it bettered by Allen Johnson at 7.53 a few hours later at New York’s Millrose Games, Jamaica’s Maurice Wignall gamely tried to regain the honour but fell marginally short. Following Elmar Lichtenegger’s early lead, the Athens fourth-placer charged over the final three hurdles for a 7.57 win, as the Austrian was second in 7.61.
Thomas Blaschek of Germany continued his recent consistent running and confirmed his position near the top of the European lists with a 7.63 for third.
After her training partner Nadine Hentschke won the race to the first barrier in the women’s 60 metres Hurdles, German champion Kerstin Bolm took over and powered her way to an 8.03 win, with Hentschke close behind in 8.09. Local hurdler Judith Ritz edged out American LoLo Jones for third, 8.24 to 8.25.
Short of target but Finnish & Swedish 2000m records netted
The rarely-contested women’s 2000 metres was put on the programme as an attempt on the German national record of Kathleen Friedrich (5:42.55). After Carmen Rüdiger had led the race for the first 900 metres, Sabrina Mockenhaupt took over as the front runner while Rüdiger continued to chase her.
The arena announcer had continually admonished the runners, starting shortly before the end of the first kilometre (2:53.85), that the tempo was “zu langsam”. Mockenhaupt eventually did pick up the pace, but only in the final 150 metres which wasn’t soon enough. Her final time of 5:44.98 missed the record by more than two seconds, as Rüdiger held second in 5:48.80.
Behind this pair, and not overly concerned that things were “zu langsam”, was Finland’s Johanna Risku who registered a third-place 5:50.26 for a new national record. Hanna Karlsson of Sweden likewise lowered that country’s record with a sixth-place 5:59.23.
The men’s 800 metres was comprised to a large extent of runners seeking a qualifying time to satisfy their respective federations for a European Indoor nomination. After Alexander Funke took the group through the first two laps in 26.35 and 53.51, Wolfram Müller took over, with Andreas Freimann following closely.
Hitting the 600 in 1:21.35, Müller steadily pulled away for a 1:48.05 win, as Steffen Co passed Freimann during the run-in, 1:49.47 to 1:49.49.
The men’s Long Jump featured much the same field as had competed Friday night in Erfurt. Again, James Beckford of Jamaica was the winner, falling short of the eight-metre mark with 7.94, as triple-jumper Melvin Lister was a distant second at 7.68.
Czyz at the top of his game
As it was on Friday night in Erfurt, the story of the event was amputee Wojtek Czyz, who three times broke through the benchmark six-metre barrier for the disabled event, peaking on his third jump with a world indoor best of 6.16. The three-time gold medallist (100, 200, Long Jump) in last summer’s Paralympic Games had previously set a goal of never being more than two metres behind the winner. Today, he was on top of his game.
The men’s Shot Put competition saw six throwers wedged into the nineteen-metre range, as Andy Dittmar won the competition at 19.98. Winning a close battle for second was Peter Sack at 19.78, ahead of Czech strongman Petr Stehlik (19.75). Germany’s best shot putter from last season, Olympic finalist Ralf Bartels, could do no better than sixth today with 19.32.
Otto beats Ecker on count-back as both clear 5.70
German pole vaulter Björn Otto, a resident of the Rheinland where Carnival celebrations are on high volume this weekend, celebrated the yearly event by tinting his hair blue and also clearing a first-attempt 5.70, which won on a countback against Danny Ecker at the same height. It was a season best for Ecker.
Gesell – women’s 800m in 2:02.05
Claudia Gesell moved to the top of the German list in the women’s 800 metres with her 2:02.05 clocking, defeating the person she displaced, Monika Gradzki, who was second in 2:02.73.
The European leader in the men’s 400 metres, David Canal, easily controlled that event with a 47.16 clocking. The Spaniard took the pole at the halfway mark (22.10) and was able to hold off a challenge by Dominican Chris Lloyd on the final back stretch.
Over the final metres, Germany’s Henning Hackelbusch out-sprinted Lloyd for second, 47.68 to 47.74.
The B-section was won by Thomas Wilhelm of Germany in 47.63.
Marx bests Breuer – 51.97 to 52.35
The women’s 400m was shaping up as a carbon-copy of last Friday’s close duel between German runners Claudia Marx and Grit Breuer. Marx had won that contest in Erfurt by 0.01 second.
Today, as on Friday, Breuer appeared content to let Marx have the pole at the halfway mark (24.73). But instead of letting the former two-time European champion get close again, Marx sprinted away to a season-best 51.97, as Breuer could get no nearer than 52.35.
The women’s 60 metres turned into a survival contest between the competitors and the starter. After Germany’s Franziska Bertenbreiter registered the first false start, first Nadine Hentschke and then Austria’s Bettina Müller became spectators with their own false starts.
Easy 7.27 win for Mayr-Krifka
That made things easier for Karin Mayr-Krifka, as the Austrian easily won in 7.27 ahead of Bertenbreiter 7.44 and Katja Wakan.
Injecting a bit of novelty into the programme was a match race over 200 metres between long sprinter Davian Clarke of Jamaica and Olympic cycling sprint champion Jens Fiedler of Germany, competing on a bicycle. Clarke, a finalist in the Athens 400, perhaps had a disadvantage with his lane two assignment on the six-lane track, while Fiedler could take advantage of the wider radius of lane three.
Although accelerating slowly, Fiedler had made up the stagger on Clarke within 75 metres and steamed ahead to win in 21.38, as the Jamaican dealt with the sharp curves as best he could for 22.30.
Ed Gordon for the IAAF
RESULTS (all GER unless noted)
MEN
60 Metres: Race 1: 1. M Blume 6.73; 2. Baumann (SUI) 6.78; 3. Kosenkow 6.80; 4. Broening 6.80; 5. Mathiszik 6.83; 6. Helmke 6.88; 7. Schulte 6.94. Race 2: 1. Gardener (GBR) 6.56 (European leader); 2. M Blume 6.67; 3. Wesley (USA) 6.71; 4. Goebel 6.75; 5. Baumann (SUI) 6.75; 6. Jarrett (JAM) 6.76; 7. Broening 6.77; 8. Schulte 6.81.
200 Metres: Race 1: Kosenkow 21.07; 2. van Balkom (NED) 21.58; 3. Mackie (GBR) 21.72. Race 2: 1. Unger 20.84; 2. Helmke 21.05; 3. Je Harris (USA) 21.31; 4. Muravyev (KAZ) 21.48; 5. Byrd (USA) 21.87.
400 Metres: Race 1: 1. Wilheom 47.63; 2. Kuschewitz 47.79; 3. Sattelmaier 47.87; 4. Hanzl (CZE) 48.27; 5. Breitenstein 48.44; 6. Mokdasi (SWE) 48.75. Race 2: 1. Canal (ESP) 47.16; 2. Hackelbusch 47.68; 3. Lloyd (DMN) 47.74; 4. Duma 48.03; 5. Gatzke 48.84.
800 Metres: 1. Müller 1:48.05; 2. Co 1:49.47; 3. Freimann 1:49.49; 4. Pell (SWE) 1:49.57; 5. Eberhardt 1:49.73; 6. Sneberger (CZE) 1:50.30; 7. Conrad 1:51.02; 8. Peter 1:51.82. Pace: Funke 26.35, 53.51.
60 Hurdles: 1. Wignall (JAM) 7.57; 2. Lichtenegger (AUT) 7.61; 3. Blaschek 7.63; 4. Edorh 7.78; 5. Mathiszik 7.82; 6. Doskozsynski 7.89 . . .
Heat 1: 1. Lichtenegger 7.63; 2. Edorh 7.77; 3. Doskozsynski 7.87 . . . Heat 2: 1. Mathiszik 7.88 . . .
Pole Vault: 1. Otto 5.70; 2. Ecker 5.70; 3. Jeng (SWE) 5.50; 4. Börgeling 5.50; 5. Lobinger 5.40; 6. Rans (BEL) 5.40; 7. Walker (USA) 5.40.
Long Jump: 1. Beckford (JAM) 7.94; 2. Lister (USA) 7.68; 3. Cools (NED) 7.63; 4. Winter 7.60; 5. Garenamotse (BOT) 7.53; 6. Pohle 7.42; 7. Czyz 6.16 (amputee) (world indoor handicapped best) [6.01 – 5.92 – 6.16 – 5.82 – p – 6.08].
Shot Put: 1. Dittmar 19.98; 2. P Sack 19.78; 3. Stehlik (CZE) 19.75; 4. Bock 19.58; 5. R Sack 19.34; 6. Bartels 19.32; 7. Pfingsten 17.68.
WOMEN:
60 Metres: 1. Mayr-Krifka (AUT) 7.27; 2. Bertenbreiter 7.44; 3. Wakan 7.52; 4. Ritz 7.57; 5. Fink 7.59; 6. Möllinger 7.61. Disqualified: Hentschke and Müller (AUT) (both on false starts).
400 Metres: 1. Marx 51.97; 2. Breuer 52.35; 3. Bejnar (POL) 53.31 . . .
800 Metres: 1. Gesell 2:02.05; 2. Gradzki 2:02.73; 3. Goldfuss 2:03.59; 4. Setowska (POL) 2:04.27; 5. Becker 2:04.37; 6. Oberstolz (ITA) 2:04.73; 7. Hartmann 2:05.92; 8. Serwaa (GHA) 2:06.77 . . .
2000 Metres: 1. Mockenhaupt 5:44.98; 2. Rüdiger 5:48.80; 3. Risku (FIN) 5:50.26 NR; 4. Möldner 5:55.13; 5. Karlsson (SWE) 5:59.23 NR; 6. Lustigova (CZE) 6:04.07.
60 Hurdles: 1. Bolm 8.03; 2. Hentschke 8.09; 3. Ritz 8.24; 4. Jones (USA) 8.25; 5. Smith 8.37.
