Ivan Ukhov is unchallenged in his quest for European Indoor gold as he sails over 2.32m with ease (© Getty Images)
Thessaloniki, GreeceThe Kaftatzoglio Stadium of Thessaloniki, where the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final will take place later this year, hosts the EAA premium Meeting “Thessaloniki 2009” on Wednesday 10 June.
Thessaloniki 2009 is part of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 12-13 September in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The high jumping of Blanka Vlasic and Ivan Ukhov, the opening 110m Hurdles race of Olympic champion Dayron Robles, and the latest battle between the reigning World Triple Jump champion Yargelis Savigne and Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Chrysopigi Devetzi promise to provide the highlights of the meeting.
Vlasic and Ukhov in the High Jumps
Blanka Vlasic, the Olympic silver medallist and reigning World indoor and outdoor champion, cleared 2.05m in Doha on the 8 April and now tries to reach new heights in Thessaloniki.
According to the official site of the Greek Athletics Federation, Vlasic has an agreement with the meeting organisers for a special performance bonus in case of a new world leading mark or even a World record. Her personal best is 2.07m since 2007, which makes her the equal second best performer of all-time.
Two Russians are among Vlasic opponents: the 2005 European Junior champion Svetlana Shkolkina (PB 1.98m) who has cleared 1.92m this season and Viktoriya Klyugina who cleared 1.91m in Turin on 1 June.
Kazakhstan’s Marina Aitova, winner of Kalamata meeting with 1.94m and experienced Canadian Nicole Forrester who broke her personal best in Thessaloniki last year with 1.97 are also in the entry list, along with the second all-time Greek high jumper, Antonia Stergiou whose career best stands at 1.97 since last year.
The men’s competition highlights Russia’s Ivan Ukhov who last February, cleared 2.40m in Athens to set a national indoor record for Russia, a few days before winning the gold medal of the European Indoor Championships in Turin. The outdoor season started for Ukhov with a winning leap at 2.34m in Castellon on 30 May, a height he matched when winning in Eugene last weekend (7 June).
Cyprus’ Kyriakos Ioannou, Ukraine’s Yuriy Krymarenko and Czech’s Jaroslava Baba will be among the main opponents of the European Indoor champion.
The Cypriot who was second in Turin, but also is World bronze medallist indoors (2008) and outdoors (2007), opened the season in the Small States Championships held in Larnaca, Cyprus which he won with 2.25m.
Krymarenko, the 2005 World champion, has already exceeded 2.30m this season, winning the Ukrainian Cup in Yalta at the beginning of the month, while his personal best stands at 2.33m since 2005. Furthermore, the bronze medallist of Athens’ Olympic Games, Jaroslav Baba, though with only a 2.22m best so far this outdoor season has a career best of 2.36m (2005).
Three more participants of the event are Russia’s Aleksey Dmitrik, Italy’s Filippo Cambioli and Ukraine’s Oleg Protsenko, all who have personal outdoor bests at 2.30m or higher.
Greece’s Konstantinos Baniotis, sixth in the European Indoor Championships in Turin, has jumped 2.24m this season, and Serb veteran Dragutin Topic has cleared 2.24m twice this season in Kalamata and Chania are also entered.
Robles opens his season
The Olympic Champion and World record holder in the 110m hurdles, Cuba’s Dayron Robles opens his season in Thessaloniki, after finishing a 2-week preparation in Ecuador focusing on the improvement of his technique. He was to have started in Turin, Italy, last week, but a bag containing his running spikes hadn't turned-up in time after his transatlantic flight, so he couldn't compete.
The women’s 100m Hurdles race will be the first of the season for Jamaica’s Dellorren Ennis-London, who has a personal best of 12.50 sec and closed the 2008 season with the 5th place in the Olympics final. It will also be the opening competition for the 2008 World indoor silver medallist Candice Davis, who finished last season with 12.71sec.
Czech Lucie Skorbakova is currently the fastest this season among all the entrants, having run a 12.97 at the end of May, while Canada’s Angela Whyte, and Cuba’s national record holder Anay Tejeda, the World Indoor bronze medallist are among the others who will run.
Devetzi vs Savigne once more
Greece’s Chrysopigi Devetzi and Cuba’s Yargelis Savigne have already a long tradition of meeting each other. In 2008 they met each other 5 times; Savigne won three and Devetzi the other two. Both competed in Thessaloniki last year where the Greek won with 15.22m, leaving the Cuban at 15.15m.
The reigning World Indoor and outdoor champion, Yargleis Savigne, tops the world list this season with the 14.73m she jumped in Fortaleza in May, while Devetzi, twice an Olympic’s medallist, started the season in Yalta where she jumped a wind assisted 14.67m.
In Thessaloniki, both athletes will be challenged by a veteran of the event. Sudan’s Yamile Aldama not only goes on competing at the highest level at 37 but also holds the second spot on the world list this season with the 14.48m she set in Chania, Greece last week.
Two more Greek jumpers will participate, 20-year-old Paraskevi Papachristou (PB 14.47m) and Athanasia Perra (PB 14.39m), as well as Slovak Dana Veldakova, the European indoor bronze medallist at the long jump who has a Triple Jump season’s best of 14.27m.
Tsatoumas the home hero in the Long Jump
The winner of Venizelia 2009 in Chania (7.96m), Poland’s Marcin Starzak, who was seventh the 2008 World indoor Champs takes on Greece’s Luis Tsatoumas in the men’s Long Jump. The Greek holds a national record of 8.66m from 2007, and while he jumped in a domestic club meet in Athens on 25 April (7.74), the Thessaloniki meeting marks his major outdoor debut of this year.
Botswana’s 2007 African Games champion Gable Garenamotse, a finalist in Beijing, has the best season’s mark of all participants having jumped 8.11m in Hengelo. Among the other participants of the meeting are Senegal’s Ndiss Kaba Bagji who jumped 8.10m in Stellenboch, Brazil’s Mauro da Silva (PB 8.20m) and Ukrainian Andriy Makarchev, who was third in Kalamata with 7.98m.
Fast 400m race expected
The men’s 400m race includes six runners with personal bests under 45 seconds.
Congo’s Gary Kikaya has the best season’s performance (45.30) of the entry list which also includes Jamaica’s Athens Olympic finalist Michael Blackwood (45.54 this year), his compatriot Ricardo Chambers who was a finalist in Beijing, and Ireland’s David Gillick, the 2005 and 2007 European Indoor champion.
Australia’s Commonwelath champion John Steffensen has run the distance in 45.35 this year, while aother significant entry is Britain’s 2005 World finalist Tim Benjamin who came back to form from persistent injury last week to win in Turin in 45.80.
Elsewhere…
In the men’s 100m the winner in Chania, Ghana’s Aziz Zakari competes among others with the 2007 World Championships silver medallist Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas, Jamaican Steve Mullings, and one of the better Europeans in recent years Slovenia’s Matic Osovnikar.
In the women’s 100m, the main entrants are Tahesia Harrigan from the British Virgin Islands, USA’s Stephanie Durst and Jamaican Sheri Ann Brooks.
Ukraine’s Tetyana Petlyuh, fourth in the European Championships in 2006, is the most significant 800m woman runner of the meeting. Italy’s Elisa Cusma Piccione and two Russians, Yevgeniya Zinurova and Irina Maracheva seem to be the main opponents for the Ukrainian.
Finally the entry list of the men’s 1500m includes the names of Bahrain’s Bilal Mansour Ali who has a personal best of 3:31.49, and kenyan Gideon Gathimba who opened his season in Doha with 3:33.97.
Michalis Nikitaridis for the IAAF
