by Larry Eder
Just how good is Christian Cantwell? One Olympic and World champ thrower has told me that if he had Cantwell’s talent he could rule the shot put world. One day, Christian will believe that! Nice start to the Indoor season!
EME NEWS (JAN 23, 2009) UPDATE
Cantwell 21.47 in Shot Put
NORDHAUSEN (GER, Jan 23): 1800 spectators saw the world indoor champion Christian Cantwell from USA to win the 9th Nordhausen Shot Put Indoor Meeting and defend his last year win. His last round effort was worth of world lead and meet record 21.47 m. He beat clearly 2007 World Champion Reese Hoffa who was second with 20.34 ahead of European Champion Ralf Bartels with 20.14 (also Torino standard). Peter Sack was fourth (19.21). In junior competition World Junior Champion David Storl improved the German record in this category to 21.10 with 6 kg implement. Without injured Petra Lammert and Nadine Kleinert the women winner was Denise Hinrichs with 18.36. Sweden national record holder Helena Engman was second (16.96).
Spank 230 in season opener
DRESDEN (GER, Jan 23): Olympic fifth placer Raul Spank started the indoor season with excellent 230 to win the 4th Springer-Meeting in Dresden. Anna Battke was the best in women Pole Vault with clearing 460 and trying at new national record height 471. Some 1620 spectators saw 2005 world champion Yuri Krimarenko of Ukraine beeing second with 225 and European Junior champion Oleksandr Nartov also from Ukraine third with 221. In women Pole Vault second place for Russian Anastasiya Shvedova (450) and third Kristina Gadschiew (445, indoor PB).
Viljonen and Mokoena with world standards
POTCHFSTROOM (RSA, Jan 23): Despite the overcast and windy conditions, both the athletes and the capacity crowd exceeded expectation in Potchefstroom on Friday night during first Yellow Pages series meeting. Sunette Viljoen achieved 62.15 in javelin what means world championships A-standard. World Indoor Champion Khotso Mokoena was another world qualifier with 815 in Long Jump. South African record holder Janus Robberts proved he is making a comeback when he started off the season with a throw of 19.60 in Shot Put. Former world medalist Llewellyn Herbert had a catastrophic start to his campaign in the 400m Hurdles. Planning to accelerate at the sixth hurdle, he hesitated slightly while deciding with which leg to lead. But that moment of hesitation proved to be costly. Herbert fell clumsily and now requires X-rays for suspected damage to his knee. The event was won by Pieter Koekemoer clocking 50.20. One other notable performance was from Shaun Downes (38) who ran the 110m Hurdles in 13.84 seconds.
Robles postpones European debut
HABANA (CUB): Olympic champion Dayron Robles will have to delay his winter debut, originally scheduled for next Thursday in Göteborg and continuing on Feb 3 in Malmo. “He injured his thigh last Saturday and doctors ordered full rest for one week” his management informed. Stuttgart (February 7) is still on the agenda but it is fifty-fifty. Robles’ ambition for the season is Colin Jackson’s world record of 7.30. He plans also another races in Europe (Dusseldorf, Karlsruhe, Praha).
Okori is out
PARIS (FRA): French hurdler Reina Flor Okori will be out of action in 2009. The athlete ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in a fall during a training session. Okori, who already underwent surgery to her Achilles in 2007, recorded the 3rd best French performance ever last season (12.65), l’Equipe informs.
Herms natural death
NEUSS (GER): German 800 m runner Rene Herms died because of double-sided, virus-related heart muscle inflammation. As German media are informing it was a natural death.The funeral will be held on Monday, January 26 at 10 am at the Pirna cemetery.
Through the tunnnel
ZURICH (SUI): Athletes competing in the 7th annual Zürich Marathon on Sunday, April 26, will be the first amongst the public to pass through the new Uetliberg Tunnel, a 4.4 km engineering marvel which links the Birmensdorf bypass to the west of the city with the existing Zurich-Chur motorway to the east. The tunnel will open to cars the following day. Informs Race Results Weekly. During the event, Runners will encounter the tunnel very early in the race, passing through through in a westerly direction before emerging on the other side, going to a turnaround, and coming back. Race organizers have pointed out that the tunnel offers superior ventilation, a steady temperature and protection from the weather should it rain. The tunnel will only be used for the 2009 edition of the race, according to DataSport, the company which will time the race. The tunnel project began in 2000 and cost CHF 1.12B (USD 1.04B), according to a report published at the website roadtraffic-technology.com. Last year’s Zürich Marathon had 4600 finishers and was won by Oleg Kulkov of Russia in 2:11:16 and Adelech Birra of Ethiopia in 2:32:09. The event records are 2:08:20 by Viktor Röthlin in 2007 and 2:30:07 by Annemette Jensen of Denmark in 2004.
Special thanks to Alfons Juck, EME News.
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