European Athletics (EAA) – News – Indoor championships review: Shot putter Storl gets European lead

Many European Athletics Member Federations have been holding their national indoor championships this weekend. Here is a round up of the most significant marks on Saturday, with many athletes going through their paces for the final time ahead of month's World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

GERMANY – The 2011 European Athletics Rising Star of the Year David Storl added 16 centimetres to his indoor best with an effort of 21.40m in Karlsruhe, the best shot put mark by a European this year.

The 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships 100m hurdles bronze medallist Cindy Roleder went under eight seconds for the first time in the 60m hurdles when she won in 7.96, moving up to third on this winter's European indoor rankings, and she collected the significant scalp of 2011 European indoor champion Carolin Nytra, who was second in 7.98.

Another impressive winner in Karlsruhe was 2010 European Athletics Championships 100m gold medallist Verena Sailer, who won the women 60m in an indoor best of 7.15m, the third fastest time by a European sprinter this year. The men's 60m winner was Christian Blum with 6.62, after running 6.60 in semifinals.

The 2009 European indoor long jump champion and indoor record holder Sebastian Bayer leapt to 8.12m while 19-year-old Gregor Traber confirmed his enormous talent by running a personal best of 7.66 in the heats and then improving further to 7.59 in the final.

Pole vaulter Silke Spiegelburg, who has cleared 4.77m this winter and lies fourth on the 2012 world list, didn't have to be at her best and won with a 4.57m clearance. Arne Gabius was a comfortable winner of the men's 3000m in 7:51.72.

Three-time World Championships silver medallist Nadine Kleinert took the shot put title with 19.13m while Christina Schwanitz was second with 18.68m.

FRANCE – The 2010 European Athlete of the Year Christophe Lemaitre clocked 6.59 to win the 60m in Aubière but he was chased to the line by Emmanuel Biron, better known as a long jumper, who surprised when he finished second and improved his personal best to 6.60.

The 2010 World Junior Championships 110m hurdles gold medallist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde ran a personal best of 7.62 in the 60m hurdles heats and then sizzled to a time of to 7.54 in the final. Cedric Lavanne was second with 7.65 and two-time European indoor champion Ladji Doucouré was third in 7.71.

Renaud Lavillenie, the current European pole vault champion indoors and outdoors, dominated his event and went over 5.72m while the 2006 world junior triple jump champion Benjamin Compaoré was again over 17 metres and impressed with 17.13m, just one centimetre short of his recent indoor best.

In the women's events, another 2010 European champion, 200m winner Myriam Soumaré won the 60m in 7.29 after clocking 7.27 in her heat while Reina-Flor Okori was the best 60m hurdler with a winning time of 8.07. Melanie Melfort won the high jump with 1.93m while Sylwia Korzeniowska took the 3000m walk title in 12:48.91.

ITALY – Pole vaulter Claudio Stecchi, fourth in last summer's European Athletics U23 Championships, continued his upward improvement in Ancona with an absolute best of 5.60m.

The 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships triple jump gold medallist Fabrizio Donato switched events and was very close to his best when he won the long jump with 7.95m while Raffaella Lamera cleared 1.89m to win the women's high jump.

Merihun Crespi and Elisa Cusma won the 1500m titles in 3:44.79 and 4:17.79 respectively.

There were also some strong performances in the walks in Ancona with with Giorgio Rubino winning the men's 5000m race in 19:22.80 and Eleonora Anna Giorgi taking the 3000m title in 12:53.14.

POLAND – The 2008 Olympic Games shot put winner Tomasz Majewski achieved 21.05m in Spala while pole vaulter Lukasz Michalski took advantage of the absence of 2011 World Championships gold medallist Pawel Wojciechowski and went over 5.60m to win his specialist event.

Karolina Tyminska, who will compete in the heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships, won the long jump with 6.44m. Sprinters Dariusz Kuc and Daria Korczynska sped to 60m titles in 6.70 and 7.33 respectively while Wioletta Frankiewicz won the women's 3000m in 9:18.56.

ROMANIA – During second day of the national championships in Bucharest, the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships high jump gold medallist Esthera Petre won with an indoor best of 1.94m, the second best result of her career.

Cornelia Deiac leapt out to 6.65m to win the women's long jump while the men's title went to Valentin Toboc, who jumped 7.91m to beat the Moldovan guest Alexandru Cuharenco, who achieved a national indoor record of 8.09m earlier this month, by just one centimetre.

There was also some good jumping on Friday in the Romanian capital on the first day of the championship. World, European and Olympic triple jump medallist Marian Oprea produced a season's best of 16.97m while Adelina Gavrila won the women's triple jump with14.24m Cristina Bujin second with 14.12m. High jumper Marius Dumitrache, 22, made a massive improvement from a previous best of 2.18m to win with 2.27m.

CROATIA – The 2011 Europan Athletics U23 Championships shot put bronze medallist Marin Premeru achieved a lifetime best of 19.83m in Rijeka while the 2010 European Athletics Championships discus gold medallist and Rising Star of the Year Sandra Perkovic won the women's shot put with 15.82m. Pole vaulter Ivan Horvat, still only 18, cleared 5.35m for his third national indoor senior (and junior) record this winter.

CZECH REPUBLIC – Katerina Cechova showed good form in Prague to win the 60m in 7.30, a personal best and meeting record. Czech pole vault indoor record holder Jirina Ptacnikova won after she cleared 4.52m, before unsuccessfully trying 4.62m.

THE NETHERLANDS – The 2005 World Championships shot put silver medallist Rutger Smith achieved 20.56m in Appeldoorn, his best result since 2008 while the current world and European junior heptathlon champion Dafne Schippers, now 20, was just one-hundredth away from her 60m best when she won her semi-final in 7.26.

 

 European Athletics (EAA) – News