An emotional Irina Shevchenko after being knocked over in the Olympic 100m Hurdles final (© Getty Images)
Samara, RussiaThe eleventh edition of the famous Governor’s Cup meeting was held last night in the ancient city Samara which is situated on the banks of Russia’s famous Volga river. The highlight was a return to form and fitness for Russia's Irina Shevchenko in the women's 60m Hurdles, who clocked a world season’s lead of 7.90 seconds.
“The Cup of the Governor” or “The Governor’s Cup” meeting as it is more commonly known, is an annual indoor tournament with long-rooted traditions, and at last night’s event athletes from 12 countries from across four continents took part. The meeting received it’s name because of the promotion and support of Konstantin Titov, Governor of the Samara region, who in his youth had been an athlete, with his favourite event being the Triple Jump.
Fine Triple Jump tradition
It is not surprising then that the men’s Triple Jump has a proud history at this meeting. Jonathan Edwards competed in Samara in 2001 and leapt to a 17.60m win which was the world's best for that entire indoor season. The following year Brazi’s Jadel Gregorio took the win with 17.35m, and in 2003 another outstanding triple jumper Christian Olsson won with a 17.14 performance.
The Olympic bronze medallist Danila Burchenya was this year’s standout athlete winning with a 16.88m jump, and it was quite a contest with Ukraine’s Victor Yastrebov finishing as runner-up just one centimetre behind.
Statistically the women’s Triple Jump was much stronger with Viktoriya Gurova the victor (14.22m) finishing ahead of Olympic 8th placer Anna Pyatykh, who was also over 14 metres (14.08) in second. Gurova’s mark was only two centimetres shy of Yelena Oleynikova’s current world lead.
Vitaliy Shkurlatov won the men’s Long Jump with 8.05, though the women’s event was much more entertaining with both Anastasia Ilyina and Irina Melnikova having best jumps of 6.59m, with the latter proclaimed the winner due to a better second effort.
World season’s best in women’s 60m Hurdles
“I’m cured,” declared Irina Shevchenko after clocking 7.90 seconds - a new personal best and the world season’s lead - to win the women’s 60m Hurdles.
“In Athens after the collision that occurred (in the Olympic final) I experienced deep emotional and physical stress. Now I feel that all my troubles are in the past. I do hope that the new season will bring me a lot of luck and I’m trying very hard to get at the peak. Even today I could have run faster but several false starts made me a little too careful."
At the start of last summer's Olympic 100m Hurdles final Shevchenko was tragically knocked to the ground when World champion Perdita Felicien hit her first hurdle and tumbled across into the Russian's lane.
The 29 year-old has now run six times since the Olympics and prior to last night’s competition she had won her first four races in Volgograd and Moscow, before coming second last weekend in Glasgow. Her previous best this season had been a 7.96 clocking, while her old personal best had been a 7.95 win at this same meeting but way back in 1999!
There was another quick run in the flat women's sprint. In the 60m Larisa Kruglova finished first in 7.16 just 1/100th of a second slower than the current world lead which is held by Belarussia’s Yelean Nevmerzhitskaya. In second place last night was Gusell Khubbieva from Uzbekistan who clocked 7.19, with third placer Marya Bolikova running a creditable 7.25.
Cup record run by Junior star
A “Governor’s Cup” record was set in the women’s 1500m, with the young Anna Alminova winning in 4.10.62. She was the World Junior silver medallist last summer in Grosseto and is only 19-years-old and is one of the most talented runners of the new Russian generation. The experienced Alesya Turova from Belorussia was second – 4.11.50.
In women’s High Jump Tatyana Efimenko from Kirgizstan who is the champion of Asia, and Valentina Seregina both cleared 1.88m but Efimenko was proclaimed the winner on count-back at earlier heights.
Olesya Krasnomovetz clocked 52.33 in the women’s 400m, while in the men’s event the 33-year-old veteran Ruslan Maschenko unexpectedly won in 47.92, leaving behind the World University Games winner Vladimir Demchenko of Ukraine, second in 47.99, and Dmitriy Forshev, third 48.39.
The 5km Race Walk was won by former 20km World champion Ilya Markov in 19.09.48, with Yuriy Andronov, second in 19.14.45.
In the absence of the Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy his friend Dmitriy Bogdanov controlled the men's 800m to the joy of their joint coach Evstratov. Bogdanov’s winning time was 1.49.68.
The 20-year-old Evgeniy Borisov won men’s 60 m Hurdles in 7.78, while the flat men’s 60m sprint went to Konstantin Vasukov in 6.61.
Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF
