Yelena Isinbayeva's 4.81 enough for the victory at Paris Bercy (© AFP)
A crowd of 8254 turned out for the premiere edition of the Seat Meeting at the Bercy (BOPB) arena in Paris on Friday (23), and were treated to yet another World record assault by Yelena Isinbayeva.
Isinbayeva 4.81, Murer improves South American record to 4.66
The women's Pole Vault was the premiere attraction on the compact seven event program, where Isinbayeva, Russia's Olympic, World and European champion again fell short of improving her 4.93 World indoor record set 13 days earlier in Donetsk, Ukraine, but the 24-year-old did nonetheless produce a victory with a 4.81 leap.
Isinbayeva, as usual, started her competition with a high bar, 4.66, and cleared on her second attempt, as did Fabiana Murer from Brasil who set a new South American record in the process.
“Murer did very well tonight, gave me some competition and pushed me to give it my all,” admitted Isinbayeva after the competition. The strategic Russian let the Brazilian try unsuccessfully at 4.71 before coming back at 4.81, which she cleared with her third and final attempt.
“The schedule was late and it was difficult for me to stay warm and wake up for each jump," Isinbayeva explained. "But there was a crazy atmosphere with all the music, the spotlights, the spectators shouting. It was even a little disturbing to keep focus at the start of the competition, but I used it to provide me with adrenaline and emotion.” After a long competition, finally at 11:40 pm, Isinbayeva narrowly missed 4.94.
“I will have now about ten days rest before resuming training for outdoor season, which means that I won’t go to the European Indoor Championships," Isinbayeva confirmed. "I don’t really have a favourite but the main contender for the title should be (Anna) Rogowska.”
Rogowska, the Polish record holder indoors at 4.80 from last year, was only fifth in Bercy with a 4.51 leap, cleared at her third attempt, a height she shared with Frenchwoman Vanessa Boslak who placed third after negotiating the height on her first try. Russian Tatyana Polnova finished fourth after a second round success at the same height.
Gevaert getting in the Birmingham groove
The women’s 60m provided a fast time with Belgian Kim Gevaert's 7.15 victory, just .02 seconds slower than Bulgarian Tezdzhan Naimova’s world-leading mark set two days earlier in Pireas. Gevaert, the double European sprint champion last summer, didn’t really know until November if she would run indoors. She said she chose to take time to recover from the emotions of her victories in Gothenburg, and to find renewed motivation.
"I’m very happy with my race today, because I fixed my start which wasn’t really good in my last race, said Gevaert, whose first outing of the season was in Birmingham last weekend, where she won in 7.22.
Johanna Manninen from Finland was second with 7.27, while Frenchwoman Muriel Hurtis-Houairi, who only managed a 7.44, said she won’t be going to the European Indoor Championships. "It’s not even worth it to try to run 7.3 in Birmingham," she said. "It will lead me nowhere. I prefer to have rest and come back training."
Comfortable wins for Robles and Fasuba
Hurdler Dayron Robles and sprinter Olusoji Fasuba also dominated their respective events. The 20-year-old Cuban won his 60m Hurdles heat in 7.57 and the final in 7.51. This time was quite far off his world-leading mark of 7.38 yet enough to easily secure victory from Colombia's Paulo Villar and Dutchman Marcel Van der Westen who each clocked 7.63.
Fasuba, after an easy 6.62 in the heats, came back less than 40 minutes later to win the 60m final in 6.54, one meter ahead of Canadian Anson Henry's 6.63 and another Nigerian, Chinedu Oriala, who clocked 6.64.
“I’m happy to win, the execution of the race was good even if I wasn’t really pushed since Ronald Pognon did not made the final,” Fasuba said.
Pognon, only fourth in his heat with 6.70, was a shadow of himself in Paris as he was left behind from the start, but promised to come back to his true level - he shares the European season best of 6.55 with Briton Craig Pickering - next weekend in Birmingham.
Lopes takes hotly-contested 60m Hurdles
The women’s 60m Hurdles was the most hotly-contested race of the evening. Nigerian Josephine Onyia won the first heat with 7.93, one tenth faster than former World champion outdoors Perdita Felicien of Canada. Legendary Gail Devers, now 40, easily took the second heat with 8.11, while the third went to Frenchwoman Reïna-Flor Okori in 7.97, just .01 ahead of Canadian Priscilla Lopes. In the final, the race was very close as the powerful Lopes created the surprise, crossing the line in 7.90 from Onyia's 7.96, and Felicien's 7.99, while Devers (8.00) finished fourth with Okori (8.05) fifth.
Mokoena takes a nail-biter in the men’s Long Jump
The men’s Long Jump also provided suspense. South African Godfrey Mokoena hammered the competition with an 8.18 leap on his first attempt, a mark he would match with his fourth. Luis Felipe Meliz from Cuban came close at his third and fourth jumps, reaching 8.08 and 8.06, while Frenchman Salim Sdiri had mark problems early on, reaching 7.96 on his first jump and 7.76 on his third, along with long fouls on this second, fourth and fifth efforts. But on his last try, he soared 8.13 to steal the runner-up spot from Meliz.
Olympic Champion Yelena Slesarenko won the High Jump with a 1.94, before just missing 1.97 three times.
[Click here for complete results]
Pierre Jean Vazel for the IAAF
