byLarry EderWorld Indoor record holder Yelena Soboleva runs with abandon. Her 1:54.85 at the Russian Nationals is the fastest 800 meters for women since 1997! Soboleva will double in Beijing in the 800 meters and the 1,500 meters!
Soboleva 1:54.85
KAZAN (RUS, July 18): World indoor record holder at 1500 m Yelena Soboleva confirmed that she is ready this summer for special things. At Russian Championships in Tatarstan she improved the world leading time to 1:54.85 what is the fastest since 1997 (1:54.82 by Cuban Ana Quirot), all the other faster times are coming from eighties. Next three clocked sub 1:57 PB´s with Helsinki 2005 medalist Tatyana Andrianova 1:56.00 qualifiyng to Olympics and possibility also for Svetlana Klyuka 1:56.64 and former hurdler Yekaterina Kostetskaya 1:56.67. Soboleva hopes she will not need to run the 1500 m at Nationals. Still open remians whether she wants to double at Olympic Games with the expectation the she will also qualify at 1500 m. “I hope that after such time I will be able to pass the 1500 m here. I was faster than I expected. I was hoping for something in range of 1:56, but not 1:54. My main aim was to win. I do not know about the double at Olympics yet, but it would be nice to meet with the Kenyan Jelimo at the Games,” she was quoted by All-Sport.
Used with permission of Alfons Juck, EME News publisher.
