Another 80-metre throw for Primoz Kozmus in Velenje (© Milenko Stanic/AZS (Slovenian Federation))
Velenje, SloveniaAs expected, a top class battle in the men’s Hammer Throw was the premiere attraction at the 13th International meeting in Velenje, Slovenia.
Annually the premiere meeting in this small alpine nation, organizers this year gathered a strong contingent of the world’s finest hammer throwers, including Slovenia’s reigning World silver medallist and current world leader Primoz Kozmus, Osaka bronze medallist Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia, and Hungary’s Krisztian Pars. And again it Kozmus who prevailed.
Pars took the lead after his 79.08m effort in the opening round, but it was short-lived after Kozmus equaled that mark in the second round before taking the lead for good in the third with a 79.72m heave. In round five, he followed up with an 80.07 throw, the only toss of the evening to sail beyond the 80m line.
“This meeting was better technically than in Istanbul over the weekend,” said Kozmus, who suffered his only defeat in seven starts this season at the European Cup First League competition last Saturday. ”I have the feeling that I can certainly throw farther, but I still have some technical issues to work on.” The time for that, he said, comes now. Between now and Beijing, he’ll compete just once more, at the national championships, on 18 July. The rest of his time will be spent at his training base in Bjelolasica, Croatia.
“I’m mainly hoping to remain injury-free,” he said. “If I can avoid injuries, I’m expecting to throw 82 or 83 metres in Beijing.”
Pars improved to 79.65m in the third round to finish second, while Charfreitag was a distant third, reaching 77.75 ahead of Italian record holder Marco Lingua (76.61m).
On an ideal evening for athletics, an enthusiastic capacity crowd filled the city’s intimate municipal stadium, set beautifully among rolling hills, lush valleys and thick forests at the city’s northwestern edge, for the sixth stop on the Slovenia International Grand Prix.
The finest performance on the track was turned in by Croatia’s Vanja Perisic. The 22-year-old lowered her personal best to 2:00.21 to win the 800m, an Olympic B standard and in all likelihood her ticket to Beijing. She held off Ukrainian Zoya Gladun’s homestretch surge, who wound up second in 2:00.86, marginally outside her 2:00.49 career best.
A Ukrainian meeting success was 20-year-old Andriy Protsenko who won the High Jump with a first attempt clearance of 2.28m, before topping out with a pair of decent attempts at 2.30m, which would have equaled his month-old personal best. Slovenia’s Rozle Prezelj was second at 2.25m.
After a long drive from Germany and just three hours of sleep Jamaican veteran James Beckford nonetheless managed to muster the energy to take a victory in the Long Jump, reaching 7.95m in the fifth round. Portugal’s Gaspar Araujo was second, reaching 7.83m.
Kenyan David Langat bided his time well back in the field until the final lap to win the 3000m Steeplechase in 8:27.07, out-lasting the fast-finishing Russian pair of Pavel Potapovich (8:27.07) and Andrey Farnossov (8:29.36).
In the evening’s final track event, Australian 1500m standout Sarah Jamieson won the 3000m with relative ease in 8:55.58 ahead of Ethiopian teenager Embet Bedada (8:56.47). Unpressed, Jamieson, the 2006 Commonwealth silver medallist in the metric mile, covered the final lap in just under 68 seconds.
Her compatriot, World indoor 800m champion Tamsyn Lewis, stepped down in distance for a speed session and handily won the 400m in 51.95.
Elsewhere on the track, Latvian Dmitrijs Jurkevics took the lead at the bell (52.18) and held on to take the 800m in 1:46.70. American Fred Townsend took the 110m Hurdles in 13.68, South African Isabel Leroux took the 200m in 23.03, Russian Tatiana Dektiareva won the 100m Hurdles in 13.18, and Osaka 100m finalist Matic Osovnikar finished second to Ghanaian Aziz Zakari, 10.31 to 10.35.
Other highlights on the infield included Slovenian Nina Kolaric’s fierce domestic duel with Snezana Rodic, with the former winning 6.58m to 6.51m, with Russian Olga Kucherenko third (6.43m). Nastja Ryjikh Reiberger of Germany won the women’s Pole Vault with a first round 4.30m leap before topping out at 4.50m. Slovenian record holder Jurij Rovan won the men’s event with second attempt success at a meet record 5.55m, while Miro “Yeti” Vodovnik produced another home victory, taking the Shot Put with a 19.78m effort.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
