by Alfonz Juck
Ekaterini Stefanidi, photo by PhotoRun.net
Stefanidi 4.86m WL
ATHÃNA (GRE, June 8): EkaterÃni StefanÃdi was the star of the 17th edition of Filothéi Women Gala. In an emotional homecoming to the small stadium of her club where she spent her formative years, she delivered a rousing performance with perfect clearances at 4.60, 4.74 and WL 4.86, all in first tries with several cms to spare. But the swirling, unpredictable wind was not in her favour during her attempts at 5.00m, forcing her twice to abandon her approach. Her third attempt was the best, though not entirely close. Last time she competed at Filothéi was in 2008. Huge mark and pb for Paraskevà PapahrÃstou with a first-round 14.73 against a 1.3 m/s wind, she only jumped again in the third round with a marginal foul at around 14.40. It is European lead 2016. In high jump Svetlana Radzivil from Uzbekistan cleared 1.95 and tried unsuccessfully for WL 1.97, beating her compatriot Nadezhda Dusanova who managed 1.93. Good race at 100m hurdles with Finn Nooralotta Neziri edging local Elisávet PesirÃdou for 9/1000ths. Both were credited with 13.15 (+0.2), while third was U20 Elvira Herman from Belarus with 13.34. Ukraine’s Nataliya Pohrebnyak benefited from a 1.9 tailwind and clocked a fast 11.18 in the 100m, while in long jump Greek Háido Alexoúli was the winner with a wind-assisted 6.50 (+2.5).
