2011 European Indoor Champs, Session 2, Day 1, by Larry Eder

Carolin Nytra of Germany won the first heat, hurdling well to a fine 7.94. Alina Talai of Belarus finished second in 7.95. Derval O’Rourke of Ireland finished third in 7.98 and Lucie Shrobokova of the Czech Republic was the fourth and last qualifier in the first semi, in 8.00.

“It was an excellent performance and I am well prepared for this championship. I have more to get in the final, so I will do my best!” noted an ecstatic Tifany after her race!

In second, Christina Vukicevic of Norway ran 7.93. Aleksandra Antonova of Russia was third in 7.96 and Sandra Gomis of France was fourth in 8.00. Four moved on to the final!

Christine Schwanitz of Germany took only one throw to qualify, hitting 18.39 in her first and only attempt. In second qualifying position, Anita Marton of Hungary threw 17.54m, then 18.11m, and it was her second and longer throw that gave her the second position in the shot put qualifying food chain. In third, Josephine Terlecki of Germany threw 18.01m in her first and only attempt to take the third qualifying position.

In fourth, Anna Avdeyeva of Russia threw 17.91m for the fourth qualifying position. (Auto qualifiers were throws over 17.90m).

In fifth, with the next longest throw was Chiara Rosa of Italy, who threw 17.16m, 17.83m and then, fouled.  Irina Tarasova of Russia threw 17.17m, 17.35m and 16.59m, with her 17.35m second throw getting her the sixth position.

In seventh, Jessica Cerival of France kept the crowds happy with her 16.38m, 17.26m and final attempt of 17.05m.

The final qualifying position was taken by Sophie Kleeberg of Germany, who threw had two fouls bookmarking a 17.25m, which made the final!

After the shot put qualifying, Christina Schwanitz of Germany had this to say, :” Done! I hoped it would be quick and “without pain” and so it was! Last year, I was not this lucky when I did not get through qualification. So now, I am very satisfied even though the attempt did not look very good to me. I have a little cold but I do not have the time to think about a cold now. Maybe next week….”

semi final 1

Dimitri Bascou of France, running a fine 7.62, took the first semi, with Yevgeniy Borisov of Russia hurdled 7.68 to take the second qualifying position and moved on to the final.

semi final 2

Felipe Vivancos of Spain won the second semi in 7.56, his personal best! In second, Garfield Darien of France ran 7.60 to move to the final. Based on time, Adrien Dashelt of Belgium moved on to the final, running 7.62.

semi final 3

Pietr Svoboda of the Czech Republic won semi three in 7.55, the fastst time of the day. In second, Konstantin Shabanov of Russia ran a personal best of 7.63 to take second and move to the final as the last top two qualifier. Samuel Coco-Viloin of France was the final qualifier, running 7.68, as the final qualifier on time.

Heat 1

Tatyana Paliyenko of Rusia ran 2:03.24 for first place. Egle Balciunaite of Lithuania took second in 2:03.74, taking the second qualifying place (first two, next four fastest) in each round. On basis of time, Marilyn Okoro of Great Britain, took third in 2:03.86.

Heat 2

Yegenivay Zinurova of Russai took the second heat in 2:01.07. Linda Marguiet of France nabbed the second position, running 2:02.21. And qualifying by time, Yeliz Kurt of Turkey ran 2:03.02.

Heat 3

Yuliya Rusanova of Russia won heat three in a pedestrian 2:05.17. Liliya Lobanova of the Ukraine, took second here, running 2:05.41.

Heat 4

Jenny Meadows of Great Britain, lead from start to finish, hitting 200 m in 29.33, 400 meters in 60.58 and 600 meters in 1:31.82, finishing in 2:02.96. In second, Tetyana Petlyuk of the Ukraine took second in 2:03.02. Qualifying on time were Elian Perez of Spain in 2:03.56, and Jana Hartman of Germany in 2:03.58.

Semi final 1

Kseniya Zadorina of Russia took the first semi final, running 52.88. Janin Lindenberg of Germany ran 53.12 for second. In third, Marta Milani of Italy took the third and final position from this semi final, running 53.44.

Semi final 2

Olesya Krasnomovets of Russia earned this one, running a fine 52.53, after some real racing over the second lap. Denisa Rosolova of the Czech Republic finished second in 52.81, with Vania Stambolova of Bulgaria taking the final position in the final, running 52.89!

heat 1

Marcin Lewandowski of Poland won here in 1:48.81, with Mario Scapini of Italy in second in 1:48.92, David Bustos of Spain in third in 1:49.04, his seasonal best, and Darren McBrearty of Ireland in fourth in 1:49.74. All four qualified, two fastest and first two finishers.

heat 2

Robin Schemera of Germany took heat two in 1:50.54, with Luis Alberto Marco o
f Spain in second, running 1:50.71. They were only qualifiers from heat 2.

heat 3

Adam Kszczot of Poland won heat three in 1:51.02 with Hamid Oulach of France took second in 1:51.13, both qualifying as first two finishers.

heat 4

Oleksandr Osmolovych of the Ukraine took the fourth heat, running 1:50.99, with Andrew Osage of Great Britain running 1:51.09 for second, both moving on.

heat 5

Teddy Tamgho of France, the indoor world record holder, and current world leader, took just one jump, at 17.06m and made the final. In second, Yoann Rapinier of France jumped a personal best of 17.04m. Marian Oprea of Romania, a veteran of this event, jumped 17.00 to take the third best qualifier. In fourth was Fabrizio Donato of Italy, jumping 15.96m and then, 16.99 to get the auto qualifier of 16.95m.

Dzimitriy Dziatsuk of Belarus jumped 16.77m, 16.87m and then finally, 16. 16.11m to take the sixth qualifying position. In seventh, Daniele Greco of Italy cleared 16.75m on his third jump (16.19m, foul) to make the final.

In the final position, Anders Moller of Denmark cleared 16.67 m on his second jump (15.74m, 16.67m, 16.60m) to take the final spot in the final.

Think you have pressure? Teddy Tamgho has the entire media of France watching his every move! He also qualified in the long jump and the triple jump today! Here were his comments:

“Today, I guess that I have done the job 100 %. I am happy and relieved to have survive at these two qualifications. It was maybe most difficult part of the competition. I was a little bit nervous at the beginning of qualification because the judege did not want us to go on the track. But doing 17.06m at my first attempt was not so hard. Now, I am gonna take all the risks on the long jump, even on the first attempt. Ivan Pedroso was happy with my day, but he told me that he wourld have preferred to see me qualify with the long jump on only one jump!”

And note, Phillip Odowu was not planning on competing in Paris.

Marco Fassinotti of Italy cleared 2.12m, 2.17m, 2.22m, then took two attempts to clear 2.27m, his PB and made one attempt at 2.30m. In eighth was Raul Spank of Germany who cleared 2.17m, 2.22m, took two attempts to clear 2.27m and then making one attempt at 2.30 before calling it a day.

Among the victims in the high jump were Osku Torrru of Finland, who cleared 2.22m and did not make the auto height of 2.30m. In fact, no one did, and seven tied at 2.27m.

Torro said this in the mixed zone: ” I felt good but I had heavy legs. I just could not jump. I lost my shape like 2 weeks ago, after the meeting in Birmingham. Maybe, 4 weeks of competing were too much for me and I started to feel tired. I tried to take a rest but it did not help. I think it can be something with my nerves. I have to discuss it with my coach and take a few days off. I can watch the final now and I expect Ivan Ukhov to jump pretty high because of this bouncy surface!”

400 meters, Men, Semi-finals

Semifinal 1

These were difficult, and exciting. Leslie Djhone ran like a man possessed as he and Ansoumane Fofana of France came off the break with Djhone getting a bit ahead by 200 meters in 21.84. Fofana drifted back to sixth place, finishing in 48.19.

Djhone took the energy from the partisan French (what would one expect? they were very good with all the competitors, but loved their country people!), and ran 46.26, a decisive win over Thomas Scheider of Germany, who ran 46.72. Dmitriy Buryak of Russia was third in 47.09 and made the final. Nigel Levine of Great Britian, running 47.17 for fourth place, did not move on!

This is Renaud Lavillenie’s event. He owns this baby. Renaud used two jumps, clearing 5.55m and 5.65m to be the best per
former of the day. Tim Lobinger of Germany opened at 5.40m, and then cleared 5.55m and 5.65m on his first attempts to be numero deux, and a seasonal best.

Pawel Wojciechowski of Poland cleared 5.40m, 5.55m and 5.65m to be the third qualifier. In fourth, Jerome Clavel of France opened well, clearing 5.40m, then having trouble at 5.55m, taking two attempts there, and clearing 5.65m on his first.

Fifth qualifier was Malte Mohr or Germany, who mimicked Clavel, taking two jumps to clear 5.55m, but cleared 5.65m on his first attempt. Igor Pavlov of Russia cleared 5.40m, then too two attempts to clear 5.55m and 5.65m.

Konstandinos Filippidis of Greece cleared 5.20m, 5.40m, 5.55m, and took three attempts to clear 5.65m to be the seventh qualifier.

Final qualifier was Fabian Schulze, of Germany, who cleared 5.40m, and 5.55m on his first and missed three times at 5.65m.

1,500 meters, Women, round 1

heat 1

This was simply,  one tough event. Ioana Doaga of Romania lead through the 400 meter sin 65.85, the 800 meters in 2:14.26 and the 1,200 meters in 3:22.40. Yelena Arzhakova of Russia, Sylwia Ejdys of Poland, Stacey Smith and Ingvill Makestad Bovim were right there. Makestand Bovim was moving between third and fifth.

As the final lap started, Makestad Bovim got cut off for the third time in the race, and started to slide back a bit, even though she made a strong move with 600 to go. Doaga dropped back as first Sylwia Ejdys took the lead, then Yelena Arzhakova gave everyone a lesson in semi finals running, winning in 4:10.29. Also qualifying was Sylwia Ejdys of Poland, in 4:11.04.
In third, but not qualifying for the final, was Stacey Smith of Great Britain (4:11.95), who had moved past Makestand Bovim, along with Charlotte Schonbeck of Sweden (4:11.96), with Ingvill Makestad Bovim in fifth in 4:12.13. Romania’s Ioana Doaga ran a pb of 4:12.26 in sixth.

heat 2

Renata Plis of Poland and Macias Isabel of Spain took the qualifiers here, running 4:12.15 and 4:13.26, with Isabel hitting her personal best. All had followed Fanjanteino Felix of France, who lead through 400m in 69.85, 800 meters in 2:18.23 and 1,200 meters in 3:24.56, and held onto third in 4:13.31.  Yelena Korobkina of Russia took fourth in 4:13.45 and Hannah England, who had been passed by both Felix and Korobkina in the final stretch, held on for fifth in 4:13.54.

heat 3

Lindsey De Grande of Belgium did the pace making and she was good! Hitting the 400m in 66.53, the 800 meters in 2:13.70 and the 1,200 meters in 3:20.92, this race got very hot!

Yekaterina Martynova of Russia won in 4:09.93, with Nuria Fernandez of Spain in second (4:10.07), Lindsay De Grande in third (4:10.24), and Sara Moreira of Portugal (4:10.65)-a personal best and Anzhela Shevchenkoof the Ukraine in fifth in 4:11.16-and all five qualified for the final!