European Athletics – (EAA) – News – Poland’s Kszczot runs 1:44.57, third fastest man ever over 800m indoors

Adam Kszczot, the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships and European Athletics U23 Championships 800m gold medallist, fulfilled his ambition of getting the Polish indoor 800m record when he ran 1:44.57 at the Meeting Pas de Calais Trophée Caisse d’Epargne in the Frecnh town Liévin on Tuesday.

It was the fastest indoor 800m by a European for nine years and moved him up to third on the world and European all-time list with only Denmark's Wilson Kipketer and Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy having gone faster.

It also consigned to history Pawel Czapiewski's former Polish record of 1:44.78 set almost 10 years ago, which had been Kszczot's clear target since he ran 1:45.44 at the European Athletics Indoor Permit Meeting in the German city of Düsseldorf last Friday.

The Algerian pacemaker Azinne Boudjemaa got Kszczot to the halfway point in 50.41 at the IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting and then Kszcot passed 600m in 77.35, before finishing off with a 27.22 last lap.

The 2004 Olympic champion Borzakovskiy himself finished third in 1:46.08, the second fastest European time of the season.

Local star and the 2010 European Athlete of the Year Christophe Lemaitre had a busy evening in his first meeting of the year.

He was beaten into second place in the 60m, clocking 6.57, by Jamaica's Lerone Clarke, who improved his own 2012 world-lead to 6.50. (Lemaitre's compatriot Jimmy Vicaut, who set a European-leading time of 6.53 in Düsseldorf, was disqualified in the heats for a false start.)

Lemaitre then came back and won the 200m and equalled European-lead of 20.92.

“It felt good for the first meet of the season. I should have done better in the 60m but it's promising. There are ways to improve this time during the indoor season. My start was, as usual, something I can improve upon,” said Lemaitre.

“I'm also happy with my 200m even if it was, technically, a bit horrible. I ran two bad bends,” he added.

There were good victories by European athletes in all three field events contested in Liévin.

Italy's 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships triple jump gold medallist Fabrizio Donato bounded out to 17.24 to equal the 2012 European lead held by his compatriot Daniele Greco.

Behind Donato, France's 2006 world junior champion Benjamin Compaore got an indoor personal best of 17.14m in second place.

Russia's women's pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbaeva cleared a season's best 4.81m for victory and moved up to third on the 2012 world rankings. She then unsuccessfully tried a world-leading 4.91m, a height only she has cleared indoors.

There was also another outstanding performance from Ukraine's18-year-old Hanna Sheleh. Just three days after she cleared 4.60m in her home city of Donetsk at the European Athletics Indoor Permit Meeting there on Saturday, the second best ever under any conditions by a junior, she went over 4.52m for fourth place in Lievin.

Germany's 2008 European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Raphael Holzdeppe won the men's pole vault from France 2009 World Championships Roman Mesnil on count-back after both men cleared 5.72m but could go no higher.

Russia's Konstantin Shabanov won the 60m hurdles in 7.55 to enhance his credentials as a potential medal contender at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul next month.

Morocco's Abdelaati Iguider won the 1500m in a world-leading 3:34.10 but Turkey's Turkey's Ilhan Tanui Özbilen turned in another good run to finish second in 3:35.26. Further down the field, Poland's 2010 European Athletics Championships 800m winner Marcin Lewandowski set a Polish national record of 3:37.76 when finishing seventh.

Another Moroccan runner, Mariem Selsouli, won the women's 1500m in 4:03.67 but Ukraine's Anzhelika Shevchenko finished fourth and improved her European-lead to 4:06.78.

Malika Akkaoui set Moroccan record of 1:59.01 when winning the in the women’s 800m but there was an outstanding run in third place by the unheralded 23-year-old Russian runner Tatyana Tutayeva, who has only run under two minutes once outdoors, who clocked 2:00.18 to take more than two seconds off her indoor best.

In the rarely run women's 300m, Jamaica's Patricia Hall won in 35.69, which has only ever been bettered by Russia's Irina Privalova whose world best of 35.45 stretches back to 1993. However, Russia's Antonina Krivoshapka ran 36.42 to finish second and get a 2012 European-leading mark over the non-championship distance.

 

 European Athletics – (EAA) – News