Roman celebrates and indicates his FIFTH Götzis victory (© Hasse Sjögren)
The 2006 debut of young Swedish combined events star Carolina Klüft in the Heptathlon and a re-match between Olympic champion and world record holder Roman Sebrle and reigning World champion Brian Clay in the Decathlon highlight this weekend’s Hypo Combined Events meeting in Götzis, the Austrian leg of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge held in the Mösli Stadium, known as the “Mecca” of combined events.
Sebrle aiming for sixth straight Götzis victory...
The Decathlon is not only Sebrle vs. Clay, but also a fabulous gathering of the world’s finest Decathlon specialists. The Götzis organisers have assembled a field of 18 athletes who have scored more than 8000 points during their careers.
Czech legend Roman Sebrle, the only man in history to exceed the 9000 point barrier with his 9026 tally in Götzis in 2001, is looking to win his sixth consecutive title here in what will be his tenth appearance in the Austrian meeting. He also holds five of the six best performances of the Götzis meeting: 2001 - 9026 (first); 2004 - 8842 (first); 2003 - 8807 (first); 2002 - 8800 (first); and 2000 - 8757 points (second). Sebrle, the reigning Olympic and European outdoor and indoor champion and winner of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge in 2002, 2004 and 2005, will square off against surprising 2006 Moscow world indoor champion André Niklaus from Germany and the American Clay, who took silver in the Russian capital ahead of the Czech star.
Clay, who is ranked No. 1 in the IAAF Combined Events Ranking, won the Olympic silver medal in Athens scoring a personal best 8820 points after a dramatic battle with Sebrle whose 8893 tally set an Olympic record. Last year Clay emerged victorious in their re-match, scoring 8732 to Sebrle’s 8521 at the World Championships in Helsinki.
The Götzis start list features the entire podium of the last editions of the Olympic Games in Athens, the World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki and the World Indoor Championships in Moscow.
Young German Niklaus, who hails from Berlin, produced one of the biggest surprises of last March’s World Indoor Championships in Moscow where he raised his Heptathlon PB to 6192 points. Niklaus, who also finished fourth in the Helsinki World Championships with an outdoor PB of 8316 points and won the European Under-23 titles in 2001 and 2003, is also a strong pole vaulter as shown by his 5.30 clearance which made the difference in the fight for medals in Moscow.
The other most recent global championships medallists competing this weekend are Kazakistan’s Dimitry Karpov (PB 8725 points), bronze medallist at the 2003 World Championships in Paris and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and Hungary’s Attila Zsivoczky, world bronze medallist in Helsinki and runner-up in Götzis last year behind his training partner Sebrle. Last year Sebrle prevailed in the Mösli Stadium with 8534 points to Zsivoczky’s 8480 points. Zsivoczky is the son of Gyula Zsivoczky, the 1968 Olympic champion in the Hammer Throw.
Not to be written off in the fight for top honours is Estonia’s Kristian Rahnu who was sixth in Helsinki and fourth in Moscow. Rahnu, who came to the fore last year after winning his 8526 win in Arles, is looking to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious compatriot Erki Nool who won the Olympic gold in Sydney 2000 and the Götzis meeting twice in 1995 and 1998.
Two-time Götzis winner Tomas Dvorak from the Czech Republic, the World champion in 1997, 1999 and 2001 and former World Record holder with 8994 points in 1999, will be taking part in his final Götzis meeting in his farewell season.
American Tom Pappas, the 2003 World champion in Paris-St.Denis, has been forced to pull out of the meeting due to a groin injury.
Other athletes with the potential to make a major impact are Romain Barras of France, who exceeded the 8000 points barrier six times during his successful 2005 season crowned by his PB of 8185 points in Götzis; , reigning World and European junior champion Andrei Krauchanka from Belarus; Jamaican record holder and reigning Commonwealth Games silver medallist Maurice Smith (PB 8232 points); Paul Terek of the U.S. (PB 8312 points); and Finland’s Jaakko Ojaniemi, who was ninth in Helsinki last summer. Also in the field is the entire podium of last year’s European under 23 Championships in Erfurt led by gold medallist Alexsey Drozdov from Russia, who was fifth at the recent World Indoor Championships, silver medallist Alexsey Sysoyev, also from Russia, and bronze medallist Norman Müller from Germany.
… while Klüft is going for her fourth straight
Klüft, the reigning Olympic, World and European champion, is at just 23 is No. 3 on the event’s all-time list with her 7001 point PB that resulted in her first World title in 2003. “Carro” pulled out of the indoor season this year as a precautionary measure in order to not aggravate a minor hamstring injury in her build-up to her European outdoor defence at home in Gothenburg later this year. In Gothenburg, she may also compete in the Long Jump and perhaps the 4x100 Relay besides her specialty.
The last time the young Swede competed in the Heptathlon was at last summer’s World Championships in Helsinki, where she won a terrific clash with her French rival Eunice Barber. Despite a minor left ankle injury sustained during a training session on the eve of the Helsinki competition, Klüft showed her uncommon competitive spirit to overhaul Barber on day two and win her second outdoor title with 6887 points to Barber’s 6824 in a competition which will be remembered for a very long time as one of the best in Heptathlon history.
Klüft claimed three victories in Götzis - 6602 in 2003, 6820 in 2004 and 6824 in 2005, and will be chasing her fourth consecutive this weekend. The all-rounder from Växjö also won the IAAF Combined Events Challenge the past three seasons and leads the IAAF Combined Events Rankings.
She will face a strong opposition from Lithuanian Austra Skujte, the reigning Olympic silver medallist and World Record holder in the women’s Decathlon of 8358 points set a little over a year ago in Columbia, Missouri. Lyudmila Blonska is set to continue her successful season, crowned thus far by the World indoor title in the Pentathlon in Moscow last March. Olga Levenkova from Russia, the World indoor bronze medallist in Moscow, returns to competitions after her successful indoor season. The only medallist from the World Indoors in Moscow missing in the Austrian meeting is runner-up Karin Rückstühl from the Netherlands who is sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury.
Other potential podium contenders are Blonska’s compatriot Natalya Dobrynska, a former world indoor silver medallist in Budapest 2004 and European indoor bronze medallist in Madrid 2005; USA’s Hyleas Fountain (PB 6502 points in last year’s Götzis meeting); Germany’s Sonia Kesselschläger (sixth at the Olympic Games in Athens and fourth at the World Indoors in Moscow); the inaugural world Decathlon record holder Marie Collonvillé of France, who scored 8150 points in the ten event discipline in Talence 2004 one month after her seventh place finish at the Athens Olympic Games; and Jessica Zelinka from Canada, fourth at the Commonwealth Games in March.
Karolina Tyminska, a European indoor finalist in Madrid last year, received an invitation from Götzis organisers after her win in the Desenzano meeting earlier this month.
Tia Hellebaut from Belgium, now a successful high jumper with a PB of 1.97 indoors and who qualified for major championships finals in the Athens Olympic Games, the Helsinki World Championships and the Moscow World Indoor Championships, returns to Combined Events this weekend.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
