Laurien Hoos of the Netherlands in Erfurt (© Hasse Sjögren)
The first day of competition in Erfurt’s Steigerwaldstadion at the European Under-23 Championships was given mainly to elimination rounds yesterday. However, the two Combined Events moved through the first of their two-day programmes enroute to a Friday wrap-up.
242 point lead for Hoos
Laurien Hoos of the Netherlands appears to be unstoppable in the women’s Heptathlon as her first-day total of 3773 is a whopping 242 points ahead of her teammate, Jolanda Keizer, who is currently in second with 3531.
Hoos opened the competition by going straight to the lead, equaling her PB of 13.53 in the 100 Hurdles. After adding a PB 1.77 in the High Jump, the Dutch athlete exploded with the day’s top Shot Put of 15.03 - 1.35m ahead of the nearest competitor. She was unfortunate to have a headwind of 1.7 during the 200 Metres, and the resulting 24.61, considerably inferior to her PB of 23.97, may well have cost her a run at the Championships record of 6279.
Although Hoos may be destined for the gold, the rest of the medals are still up for grabs, as only forty-four points separate places two through seven.
Heated battle in the Decathlon
The men’s Decathlon had a exciting finish to the first day, as Germany’s Norman Müller powered to a PB 47.68 in the 400 metres. It was a mammoth lowering of his previous best of 49.16, and it brought him from fourth to second and within thirteen points of first-day leader Aleksey Sysoyev of Russia (4234).
One of the youngest competitors in the field and the silver medallist at last year’s World Junior Championships, Sysoyev started slowly, climbing from eighth place after the Long Jump (the second event) to fourth after producing the day’s best Shot Put mark of 15.45. A PB 2.16 in the High Jump propelled him into a 63-point lead over the erstwhile second-place Aleksey Drozdov, also of Russia.
Drozdov, who finished sixth in last winter’s European Indoor Championships, was eventually eclipsed by Müller’s run and despite a PB 50.67, he dropped to third at 4169 to end the first day, with Matthias Cerlati of Italy rounding out the top four at 4023.
In qualifying, no surprises
The remainder of the schedule involved only elimination rounds, several of them producing notable and/or predictable results.
Robert Tobin of Great Britain, the dominant U23 athlete this season in the men’s 400 metres, ran a relaxed 45.98 for the day’s fastest time. Also turning in quality performances were the European Indoor champion David Gillick of Ireland (46.25) and Russia’s Konstantin Svechkar (46.19 PB).
Although Manuel Olmedo appears to be the man to beat in the men’s 800 metres, the Spaniard coasted to an easy 1:50.85 in his heat, being pipped at the wire by Germany’s René Bauschinger (1:50.66). Kevin Hautcoeur of France had the fastest overall time with 1:48.87, as hometown Erfurt favourite Andreas Freimann was right behind in 1:49.08.
Radoslaw Poplawski of Poland, an Olympic finalist last summer, led the qualifiers in the men’s Steeplechase. He should find his principal challenger in the final to be Halil Akkas of Turkey, a finalist in last month’s Mediterranean Games. Akkas ran 8:43.36, being barely beaten at the finish by Britain’s Mark Buckingham (8:43.20).
A constant headwind kept the marks at a lower level in the women’s Triple Jump qualification, led by Simona La Mantia of Italy with 14.12. Despite the less than optimal conditions, six of the final twelve still bettered the automatic 13.50 qualifying mark.
Maria Karastamati of Greece had no real challenger as her 11.29, against a headwind of 1.2, led the women’s 100 metres. Jeannette Kwakye of Britain had the next fastest time with 11.66, as she followed Karastamati into the finish.
Ed Gordon for the IAAF
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