Russia's Darya Klishina successfully defends her European indoor Long Jump title (© Getty Images)
Severe thunder storms forced the organisers of the World University Games to suspend the second day’s programme in Kazan, Russia, for more than 30 minutes but that didn’t distract Russian long jump star Darya Klishina on Monday (8).
As in the qualification rounds on Sunday, Klishina and her Russian compatriot Yelena Sokolova dominated the final and although the worse of the deluge had abated, there was still steady rain.
The 22-year-old Klishina, the two-time European indoor champion, started with a leap of 6.72m and, despite sodden sand and a watery runway, produced her longest distance of 6.90m in the fourth round while Sokolova took the silver medal, just like at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with a leap of 6.73m in the third round.
Another one-two for the host country came in women’s Discus. Vera Ganeeva won with a distance of 61.26m and was more than four metres ahead of her nearest rival and compatriot Yelena Panova, who was second with 56.86m.
The hammer throwers finished their final just before the downpour.
In the first round, Poland’s Pawel Fajdek opened with a throw of 76.96m but Russia’s Sergey Litvinov overtook him with 78.08m in the third round. Fajdek then responded in the next round when he equalled his season’s best of 79.99m to secure the victory.
In the last round, Slovakia’s Marcel Lomnicky produced a personal best performance of 78.73m to snatch the silver medal from Litvinov.
South African men's double in 100m and 10,000m
The women’s 100m final saw USA’s Aurieyall Scott, who had run this distance earlier this year in 10.96, secure the title with a run of 11.28, ahead of Lithuania’s Lina Grincikaite, who was second in 11.32.
In the men’s race, Japan’s Ryoto Yamagata had the best start but he was caught at the halfway mark by South Africa’s Anaso Jobodwana, who crossed the finish line in 10.10 to equal his best.
The next three athletes crossed the line together and were given the same time of 10.21 but, after studying the finish photo, the silver medal went to Yamagata, with Ivory Coast’s Hua Wilfried Koffi and Ukraine’s Serhiy Smelyk third and fourth respectively as both got personal bests.
In the 10,000m, the Russian twin brothers Anatoliy and Yevgeniy Rybakov controlled the race for 24 laps. However, in the home straight of the last lap, South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka caught up with them and possessed the stronger finish, winning in 28:45.96.
Anatoliy beat his sibling to the silver medal by 0.01, clocking 28:47.27 to Yevgeniy’s 28:47.28.
Belgium’s 2011 European Under-23 champion Thomas Van Der Plaetsen started a Decathlon for the first time in almost two years. His last appearance was at the 2011 World Championships and injuries prevented him from combined events competitions last year.
However, the 22-year-old athlete showed no signs of ring rust in Kazan. In the first three events, he produced personal best performances of 11.12, 7.80m and 13.48m.
The Decathlon High Jump was delayed for almost one hour due to the adverse weather conditions and moved indoors but Van Der Plaetsen cleared 2.07m and ended the day with 49.37 in the 400m for a total of 4253 and a lead of 118 points from Russia’s Sergey Sviridov.
The combined events at the World University Games are also part of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.
The fastest athletes in the 400m semifinals were Ireland’s Brian Gregan with 45.91 and Russia’s Kseniya Ustalova in 51.71.
Ukraine’s Hana Titimets was the fastest in the 400m Hurdles semifinals with 55.38 while the 800m semifinals were dominated by the Russian pair, with Yekaterina Kupina winning her race in 2:00.76 and Yelena Kotulskaya taking the second semifinal in 2:01.23.
Hans van Kuijen for the IAAF
