Danny Ecker after his German Championship win (© Bongarts / Getty)
There was plenty to celebrate for Danny Ecker last night. On the day after his 30th birthday he took the Pole Vault at the German Championships in Erfurt with 5.70m and thus gained one of the two tickets at stake for Osaka.
The championships were the decisive qualifying event for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan, starting on 25 August.
After day one of the German Championships was literally washed away by rain – click here for first day report – the weather was much kinder on Sunday. It was mainly dry apart from a shower and some rain at the end of the programme and temperatures were much warmer than the 17° Celsius on Saturday.
There had to be drama in the men’s Pole Vault since five athletes had reached the qualifying mark for Osaka of 5.70 metres in recent weeks. The Pole Vault had originally been scheduled for Saturday, but the rain was so strong that the officials cancelled the event when 5.40m were reached. Due to rain breaks athletes had been in the stadium for three hours.
On Sunday in windy but dry conditions the competition took a surprising early turn in favour of Danny Ecker and Björn Otto, when Tim Lobinger and Lars Börgeling were unable to match their opening height of 5.50 metres.
“This is absolutely disappointing for me. I should have taken harder poles,” said Lars Börgeling.
Tim Lobinger commented: “Something like this has never happened to me at the German Championships. That is a disaster for me. I felt a bit weak due to yesterday so probably for me yesterday’s cancellation was not so good – but I agree that it was the right decision to cancel, because it was getting too dangerous.”
Still in contrast to Börgeling there is quite some consolation for Lobinger. Since he had won the European Cup he already had achieved qualification for Osaka.
Only four athltes managed to jump 5.50m: Besides Ecker these were Otto, Richard Spiegelburg and Alexander Straub. But Straub had not achieved the qualifying mark of 5.70m this season. Additionally he and Spiegelburg did not manage to jump any higher today. Ecker cleared 5.70 at his first attempt and in his third jump of the competition, while Otto cleared this height at his second to take second place. Straub was third and Spiegelburg fourth, both with 5.50.
So besides Lobinger, Germany will send the two medal winners from the European Indoor Championships in March to Osaka: Ecker, who had won gold, and Otto, who had taken Silver in England. “I was ill last week but it was fine today,” said Ecker and added: “I believe that I am able to jump 5.90 so my aim is to win a medal in Osaka.”
Onnen injured
Due to a back injury Eike Onnen retired from the High Jump competition after just jumping once. “I am very disappointed. I got this injury earlier in the week but I hope to be fit in time for the World Championships,” said Onnen. Benjamin Lauckner took the title with 2.26m.
Peter Sack won the Shot Put with 20.68 from Ralf Bartels (20.38).
Two wins for Baumann’s runners
Steeplechaser Filmon Ghirmai, who is coached by Dieter Baumann, and had won the European Cup race a month ago in Munich, took the national title although he had not crossed the line first. It was the defending champion Steffen Uliczka who seemed to have beaten Ghirmai and was congratulated by his rival. But then Uliczka was disqualified. It was said that he had fouled at the first barrier. Ghirmai clocked 8:39.35 minutes and was well clear of Norbert Löwa (8:45.95).
Under normal circumstances Ghirmai should have clearly beaten Uliczka. But he had suffered of muscle injury until midweek before the race. It was not before Thursday that he put on his spikes for training, and decided to give it a try in Erfurt. With a season’s best of 8:22.23 Filmon Ghirmai has qualified for the World Championships in Osaka.
Another winner coached by Dieter Baumann was Arne Gabius. In the 5000m he edged out André Pollmächer to take the title with a time of 14:03.97. Pollmächer, who is already qualified for the 10,000m for Osaka and used this race as a test in between two high altitude training camps, clocked 14:04.22 for second. In a race which was tactical and very slow for a long time Christian Glatting took third in 14:07.24.
“I knew that this would become a tactical race, it was dead slow for some time. But it was about winning – and I won so I am happy,” said Gabius who took his first senior title in Erfurt. In contrast to Pollmächer, Gabius has not achieved the qualifying standard for Osaka of 13:21.50.
Though the individual times were not that impressive as a team the German 4x400 m relay should be strong in Osaka. Bastian Swillims won the title at the 400m with 46.21, followed by Kamghe Gaba (46.59) and Ingo Schultz (46.66).
Heidler throws hammer to 74.94
Betty Heidler produced a great Hammer Throw of 74.94 metres to win the title and confirm her status as Germany’s number one. Her second best was very close as well with 74.61. “I could have done a bit better today,” said Heidler. “Regarding Osaka my aim is to reach the final and then we will see what is possible.”
Kathrin Klaas took second with 70.58 while it remains to be seen who of the next two will be nominated for Osaka: Andrea Bunjes was third with 69.06 while Susanne Keil, who had thrown beyond 70 metres earlier this season, had to be content with fourth place and 67.90.
Franka Dietzsch won the national Discus Throw title for the tenth time. She achieved 62.83m and was the only one to throw more than 60 metres in the competition. Silke Spiegelburg was the only one to clear 4.50m in the Pole Vault. She then went on to try 4.60m, but stopped after just one attempt due to the beginning rain.
Urbansky clocks season’s best
A day after clocking 55.44 seconds in the first round of the 400m hurdles Ulrike Urbansky took the title with a season’s best of 55.21 seconds, again beating the qualifying standard for Osaka. “This is a perfect season so far for me – I will now have a short break and from Friday onwards I will train for the World Championships,” said Ulrike Urbansky. Pushed by Urbansky second placed Tina Kron also broke the qualifying standard, clocking 55.58.
Mockenhaupt takes 5000m
Sabrina Mockenhaupt had interrupted her high altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland to race the 5000 metres in Erfurt. Running a lone race at front she comfortably won the event in 15:23.71 minutes. She had an advantage of more than 45 seconds to second placed Simret Restle (16:11.11) and marathon runner Melanie Kraus (16:14.79). “I came here to win and did it. It was a good speed test for me,” confirmed Mockenhaupt. She will now concentrate on her marathon debut scheduled for Cologne in early October and will not run the 10,000 metres at the World Championships.
In the absence of Kirsten Bolm, who had announced the end of her season for health reasons a couple of days earlier, Carolyn Nytra took the 100m Hurdles in 13.24. This was in wet conditions on Saturday. Taking into account the rain and cool temperatures on day one Ariane Friedrich’s high jump of 1.93 m and Katja Demut’s Triple Jump of 13.91m were two fine performances as well.
Jörg Wenig and Marisa Reich for the IAAF
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