Kravets blown to
longest jump of the year
Phil Minshull (Reuters)
25 July 2000 – Barcelona - Ukrainian long jumper Inessa Kravets was blown to the longest mark of the year when she leapt out to 7.10 metres at an International Amateur Athletic Federation Permit meeting on Tuesday.
The performance will sadly not count as anything other than a statistical curiosity because the following wind was just over the allowable limit.
Kravets’ enormous effort was aided by a 2.1 metres-per-second breeze. The legal allowable wind is 2.0 mps. However the excessive wind could not dull Kravets’ joy.
She made a triumphant return to the stadium where she had won a 1992 Olympic long jump silver medal.
"I’m just so happy. This is obviously a very lucky track for me," she said.
In recent years she has become better known as triple jumper and won the 1995 world championship in her ‘other’ event, taking the gold medal that year in a world best of 15.50 metres—a record that still stands.
However since serious injury in 1997 - which saw her sidelined for two years—she has failed to return to the top of the three-phase event.
Nevertheless Kravets said that she was not planning give up the triple jump and concentrate solely on the long jump.
"I’m going to do both events this year. I have technical problems still with the triple jump but I hope they will soon be solved," she told Reuters.
Kravets flew out to 7.10 metres in the third round - one of only three jumps in the entire competition to be declared windy - before fouling her fourth attempt and passing the remaining two rounds.
Spain’s reigning long jump world champion Niurka Montalvo finished second with a season best jump of 6.84 metres.
Lithuania’s Virgilius Alekna confirmed his position as favourite for the Sydney Olympic men’s discus title with a sixth and final round heave of 68.21 metres.
Alekna, the only man over 70m metres this year, beat the second-placed Estonian thrower Alexsander Tammart by nearly three metres.
Tammart threw 65.28 metres.
The best track performance of the night came from Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova.
The 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold medallist over both 800 and 1,500 metres contested the longer event on Tuesday and sprinted away with ease from her challengers off the final bend, crossing the line in four minutes 2.78 seconds.
Wilson Boit Kipketer lead home a Kenyan clean-sweep of the podium positions in the Catalan capital in the 3,000 metres steeplechase.
The 1997 world champion and former world record holder at the event won in 8:12.64.
Spain’s Alberto Garcia gave the home crowd plenty to cheer, winning the men’s 3,000 metres in an impressive 7:40.82.
Men’s 200 metres
1. Patrick Stevens (Belgium) 20.62 seconds
2. Joseph Batangdon (Cameroon) 20.63
3. Matt Shirvington (Australia) 20.74
Men’s 400 metres#
1. Patrick Dwyer (Australia) 45.25 seconds
2. Hamdan al Bishi (Saudi Arabia) 45.41
3. Jude Monye (Nigeria) 45.54
Men’s 800 metres
1. Jose Antonio Redolat (Spain) 1 minute 45.39 seconds
2. William Yiampoi (Kenya) 1:45.70
3. Trinity Townsend (U.S.) 1:45.78
Men’s 1,500 metres
1. Rui Silva (Portugal) 3 minutes 35.19 seconds
2. Andres Diaz (Spain) 3:35.66
3. Tony Whiteman (Britain) 3:36.39
Men’s 3,000 metres
1. Alberto Garcia (Spain) 7 minutes 40.82 seconds
2. Fabian Roncero (Spain) 7:41.48
3. Jose Rios (Spain) 7:42.51
Men’s 400 metres hurdles
1. Hadi Soua’an (Saudi Arabia) 48.87 seconds
2. Dinsdale Morgan (Jamaica) 49.11
3. Rohan Robinson (Australia) 50.16
Men’s 3,000 metres steeplechase
1. Wilson Boit Kipketer (Kenya) 8 minutes 12.64 seconds
2. Abraham Cherono (Kenya) 8:13.22
3. Jonathan Kandie (Kenya) 8:14.47
Men’s pole vault
1. Danny Ecker (Germany) 5.80 metres
2. Lars Borgeling (Germany) 5.70
3. Gregory Yegorov (Kazakhstan) 5.60
Men’s shot put
1. Manuel Martinez (Spain) 19.57 metres
2. Yoel Medina (Venezuela) 19.01
3. Saulius Klieza (Lithuania) 18.64
Men’s discus
1. Virgilius Alekna (Lithuania) 68.21 metres
2. Alexsander Tammert (Estonia) 65.28
3. Vladimir Dubrovshchik (Belarus) 62.94
Women’s 200 metres
1. Lauren Hewitt (Australia) 22.72 seconds
2. Katherine Merry (Britain) 22.76
3. Muriel Hurtis (France) 22.91
Women’s 400 metres
1. Grit Breuer (Germany) 51.10 seconds
2. Maicel Malone (U.S.) 51.55
3. Norfalia Carabali (Spain) 51.77
Women’s 800 metres
1. Ivonne Teichmann (Germany) 2 minutes 00.89 seconds
2. Yelena Buzhenko (Ukraine) 2:01.42
3. Glady Wamuyu (Kenya) 2:01.57
Women’s 1,500 metres
1. Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) 4 minutes 02.78 seconds
2. Helen Pattinson (Britain) 4:04.82
3. Sinead Delahunty (Ireland) 4:05.28
Women’s 100 metres hurdles
1. Glory Alozie (Nigeria) 12.80 seconds
2. Keturah Anderson (Canada) 12.97
3. Linda Ferga (France) 13.03
Women’s 400 metres hurdles
1. Ulrike Urbansky (Germany) 54.57 seconds
2. Heike Meissner (Germany) 54.84
3. Susan Smith-Walsh (Ireland) 55.69
Women’s pole vault
1. Emma George (Australia) 4.31 metres
2. Tatiana Grigorieva (Australia) 4.21
3. Tanya Koleva (Bulgaria) 4.16
Women’s high jump
1. Hestrie Cloete-Stobeck (South Africa) 1.93 metres
2. Zuzana Hlavonova (Bulgaria) 1.90
3=. Marta Mendia (Spain) 1.85
3=. Nele Zilinskiene (Lithuania) 1.85
Women’s long jump
1. Inessa Kravets (Ukraine) 7.10 metres
2. Niurka Montalvo (Spain) 6.84
3. Sharon Jaklofsky (Netherlands) 6.42
Women’s javelin
1. Felicia Tilea (Romania) 59.97 metres
2. Rita Ramanauskaite (Lithuania) 58.85
3. Ana Mirela Termure (Romania) 54.62
