European Athletics – (EA) – News – Russia name six defending champions but Chernova does not make it

Host nation Russia announced their team on Tuesday for the IAAF World Championships which start in Moscow on Saturday week – and their line-up is a formidable squad.

Of the 119 athletes – 50 men and 69 women – they have six reigning world champions and Olympic 400m hurdles gold medallist Natalya Antyukh and the incomparable pole vault star Yelena Isinabeyva.

Two years ago in Daegu, Russia won nine events and those returning to defend their title are all women.

They are: Mariya Savinova (800m), Yuliya Zaripova (3000m Steeplechase), Olga Kaniskina (20km race walk), Mariya Abakumova (Javelin), Anna Chicherova (High Jump) and Tatyana Lysenko (Hammer).

But missing are three defending champions – race walkers Sergey Bakulin and Valeriy Borchin and world No 1 heptathlete Tatyana Chernova.

Chernova has been forced to pull out after sustaining an injury during the 100m hurdles at the Russian Championships, according to reports.

Yet the presence of Antyukh in the 400m hurdles will add spice to an event where Zuzana Hejnova, of the Czech Republic, who won bronze in London, has been sensational this summer with her five wins on the Diamond League stage.

Isinbayeva, who is talking about taking a break from the sport before returning for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, is top of the European Athletics rankings this summer with 4.78m.

Alexsandr Menkov is having a great 2013 in the long jump and he will be among the favourites in a season where he has cleared 8.42m. Along with fellow long jumper Yelena Sokolova, they confirmed their places in the team for Moscow as reward for winning the Diamond Race in their events last summer.

But Sokolova will have tough opposition from within as she faces teammate Darya Klishina who retained her European Athletics Indoor title in Göteborg in March.

Russian team for the IAAF World Championships (August 10-18):
Men
100m: Aleksandr Brednev
200m: Aleksandr Khyutte
400m: Vladimir Krasnov
800m: Yuriy Borzakovskiy
1500m: Valentin Smirnov
5000m: Rinas Akhmadiyev
10,000m: Yevgeniy Rybakov
Marathon: Aleksey Sokolov
3000m Steeplechase: Ilgizar Safiulin
110m Hurdles: Konstantin Shabanov, Sergey Shubenkov
400m Hurdles: Vladimir Antmanis, Timofey Chalyy, Denis Kudryavtsev
High Jump: Aleksey Dmitrik, Aleksandr Shustov, Ivan Ukhov
Pole Vault: Aleksandr Gripich, Sergey Kucheryanu
Long Jump: Aleksandr Menkov, Sergey Polyanski
Triple Jump: Aleksey Fyodorov
Shot Put: Aleksandr Lesnoy, Maksim Sidorov, Soslan Tsirikhov
Discus: Viktor Butenko
Hammer: Aleksey Korolyov, Sergey Litvinov, Aleksey Zagorniy
Javelin: Valeriy Iordan, Dimitri Tarabin, Aleksey Tovarnov
Decathlon: Artem Lukyanenko, Ilya Shkurenyov, Sergey Sviridov
20km Race Walk: Aleksandr Ivanov, Andrey Ruzavin, Denis Strelkov
50km Race Walk: Sergey Kirdyapkin, Ivan Noskov, Mikhail Ryzhov
4x100m: Brednev, Khyutte, Denis Ogarkov, Konstantin Petryashov, Maksim Polovinkin, Roman Smirnov
4x400m: Maksim Dyldin, Aleksey Kenig, Krasnov, Lev Mosin, Sergey Petukhov, Artem Vazhov

Women
200m: Yelizaveta Savlinis
400m: Antonina Krivoshapka, Kseniya Ryzhova
800m: Elena Kotulskaya, Ekaterina Poistogova, Marina Pospelova, Mariya Savinova
1500m: Yelena Korobkina, Svetlana Podosyonova, Yekaterina Sharmina
5000m: Olga Golovkina, Yelena Nagovitsyna
10,000m: Gulshat Fazlitdinova
Marathon: Tatyana Aryasova, Alevtina Biktimirova, Valentina Galimova, Albina Mayorova, Nadezhda Leontyeva
3000m Steeplechase: Natalya Aristarkhova, Natalya Gorchakova, Lyudmila Lebedeva, Yuliya Zaripova
100m Hurdles: Tatyana Dektyareva, Yuliya Kondakova
400m Hurdles: Natalya Antyukh, Irina Davydova, Anastasiya Ott
High Jump: Svetlana Shkolina, Irina Gordeeva, Elena Slesarenko, Anna Chicherova
Pole Vault: Yelena Isinbayeva, Angelina Krasnova, Anastasiya Savchenko
Long Jump: Darya Klishina, Lyudmila Kolchanova, Olga Kucherenko, Elena Sokolova
Triple Jump: Irina Gumenyuk, Yekaterina Koneva, Anna Pyatykh
Shot Put: Anna Avdeeva, Yevgeniya Kolodko, Irina Tarasova
Discus: Vera Ganeyeva, Svetlana Saykina, Yekaterina Strokova
Hammer: Anna Bulgakova, Gulfiya Khanafeyeva, Oksana Kondratyeva, Tatyana Lysenko
Javelin: Mariya Abakumova, Viktoriya Sudarushkina
Heptathlon: Aleksandra Butvina, Kristina Savitskaya
20km Race Walk: Olga Kaniskina, Anisya Kirdyapkina, Elena Lashmanova, Vera Sokolova
4x100m: Elena Bolsun, Olga Kharitonova, Yekaterina Kuzina, Natalya Rusakova, Savlinis, Viktoriya Yarushkina
4x400m: Tatyana Firova, Yuliya Gushchina, Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Krivoshapka, Ryzhova, Kseniya

European Athletics – (EA) – News