World University Games in the Chinese city of Shenzhen – European Athletics (EAA) – News – Koneva, Kurban and Tarasova get gold medals for Russia at the World University Games

European athletes took six of the seven gold medals on offer, with three of them being won by Russian athletes, on the penultimate day of the athletics programme at the World University Games in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on Saturday. 

Perhaps the most thrilling of all the events was the men’s pole vault when all three medallists got over 5.75m with their third attempt before failing at 5.85m.

Poland’s Lukasz Michalski took the gold medal by virtue of having no failures earlier in the competition while another Pole, Mateusz Didenkov, and Russia’s Alexander Gripich shared the silver medal; the former setting a personal best and the latter equalling it.

The women’s triple jump was almost as tight with Russia’s Yeketerina Koneva winning with 14.25m, adding five centimetres to her personal best.

Koneva held the lead after a first round 14.19m and then went out to what was to be her winning mark in the following round.

However, she will have bitten her nails a few times during the course of the competition.

Romania’s Cristina Bujin bounded to 14.21m in the third round to move up to second but Portugal’s American collegiate champion Patricia Mamona went out to 14.23m with her final effort, snatching the silver medal away from her.

Another Russian winner Irina Tarasova was arguably the most convincing winner of the day when she took the gold medal in the women’s shot put.

With the very first throw of the competition, she sent her implement out to 18.02m and nobody else could get within half-a-metre of that mark.

Four of Tarasova’s other efforts also went out to 17.66m or further and would have sufficed for victory. Germany’s Sophie Kleeberg won the silver medal with 17.48m.

Turkey’s 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships silver medallist Binnaz Uslu added the 5000m gold medal to the one she won over the steeplechase barriers on Friday.

Uslu pushed the pace from 3000m and was rewarded for her courage with the gold medal and a personal best of 15.41.15 despite the difficult conditions of over 80 per cent humidity and temperatures close to 30 degrees. Portugal’s Sara Moreira finished second in 15:45.83 while Russia’s former European junior and under 23 5000m gold medallist Natalya Popkova was third with 15:52.55.

Portugal’s Alberto Paulo took the 3000m steeplechase title in 8:32.26, like Uslu he pushed hard from the middle of the race and although Turkey’s Halil Akkas and Russia’s Ildar Minshin tried to hang onto him, he had enough strength to keep them at bay down the home straight.

Akkas finished second in 8:34.57 while Minshin was third in 8:34.86.

Russian heptathlete Olga Kurban took the final gold medal of the day after putting together a score of 6159 points.

She lead after the first day with 3715 points and continued to pile on the points with a 6.02m long jump, a 41.59m javelin throw and finished off her seven events with an 800m run of 2:15.77.

Nearly 200 points in arrears in second place was Lithuania’s Victoria Zemaityte with 5958 points. Czech Republic’s 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships silver medallist Kateřina. Cachová wasn’t quite in the same form as last month in Ostrava and had to settle for third place with 5873 points.

European Athletics (EAA) – News