2019 Outdoors

[RunUnlimited]

Wow, where did that come from? In the 400H final in Berlin 24yo Carolina Krafzik won in 55.64, qualifying for Doha. Her PB before today was 57.72! Understandably she had one of those classic burst-into-tears moments when such improvements happen.

I know! That was some performance from Krafzik.

I think that's the type of improvement we're hoping to see from a couple of our British 400m hurdlers at the trials later this month. (I'm looking at you Lina Nielsen! )

[RunUnlimited]

Gotta say, though we complain about the poor standard of triple jumping in GB in the last few years or so, looking at the German jumpers struggling to go beyond 16m puts things into some perspective. Max Hess, European outdoor champion in 2016, World Junior silver medalist in 2014, World Indoor silver medalist in 2016 and twice European Indoor bronze medalist, was making his first outdoor appearance of the season and is clearly not 100% fit.
It's clear that he was measuring his efforts carefully, as he passed his 2nd, 3rd and 5th round efforts, but he saved his best jump for the very last round, going out to 16.50m (-0.7 m/s) SB to win the German title, from Felix Wenzel's 16.01m (-0.4 m/s). This is a far cry though from his outdoor PB of 17.20m and massive 17.52m indoor PB that got some pundits saying he was the next big thing in the triple jump back in 2017.

The fact that only two Germans could get over 16 meters in the National Championships shows that this event in Germany is at a pretty low ebb, save for Hess when he is fully fit. Though Great Britain *still* has athletics pensioner Nathan Douglas as their #1 triple jumper this year, there are at least six other jumpers who have managed to go beyond 16.20m this season, with a couple of them with the potential to get into the 17 meter range.
The same can't be said for the German triple jumpers.

[RunUnlimited]

Whoah, 7.16 PB WL in the last round for Malaika Mihambo! +0.4m/s.

Malaika Mihambo flirted with disaster with two straight fouls in the opening phases of the long jump final, however she showed the nerve and poise that took her to European gold last year and the top of the world rankings this year, by getting a legal 6.76m jump in that pretty much confirmed her as the German champion and her ticket to Doha in September. However she wasn't done yet... After a few more jumps in the 6.60's - distances beyond the scope of anybody else in the competition - Mihambo let herself relax in the final round and unleashed the longest jump by a German female in 3 years, her 7.16m (+0.4 m/s) effort equaling Sosthene Moguenara-Taroum PB set in Mannheim in 2016.

She now goes joint 3rd on the German all time list, only bested by the legend Heike Drechler and Heike Radtke, and goes joint 18th on the European all time list.

[Occasional Hope]

I know! That was some performance from Krafzik.

I think that's the type of improvement we're hoping to see from a couple of our British 400m hurdlers at the trials later this month. (I'm looking at you Lina Nielsen! )

It's also the kind of performance which probably wouldn't be rewarded if the world rankings system was the sole way to qualify for major championships.

[RunUnlimited]

True. I don't know how I'm going to feel about that.

There might be some who'd say she needs to show more consistency around that level of performance before she should be allowed to go to Worlds - they'll generally be happy if the World Rankings system is wholly adopted as the way of qualifying.

However, if that's the case it does reduce the possibility of those fairy tale stories like Krafzik's. It would be a shame, IMO, if that element of the sport was less common. She's obviously put in the hard yards in training and you don't fluke a 55.64 (especially when the rest of the field pretty much ran to form indicating that conditions weren't extra-favourable).

Re Krafzik - she's currently ranked 124 in the 400H. It will be interesting to see how much that one performance raises her when the rankings are updated on Wednesday. Maybe into the Top 70?

Solomon Wariso says "Hi".

[RunUnlimited]

Tatjana Pinto completed the 100/200m sprint double on Sunday, running a PB of 22.65 (+0.9 m/s) as she won the 200m title in confident fashion. In 2nd place also booking her place to Doha was Lisa Marie Kwayie, who ran sub 23 seconds for the first time in clocking 22.88, below the World Championship qualifying standard (23.02).

In the highly anticipated men's javelin, with 5 men who have thrown over 84 meters this year already (and Johannes Vetter already pre-selected as the reigning World Champion so not in attendance), there was always going to be someone who was going to miss out. And the unlucky man was Bernhard Seifert who coming into this event was the #2 ranked German this year and #4 in Europe overall with his 89.09m PB from earlier in the summer. He could only manage a subpar 79.32m throw as his best effort and finished in 4th place and out of the reckoning for Doha selection.
The German champion ended up being Andreas Hoffman with his winning throw of 87.07 coming in the final round. In 2nd place was Julian Weber, 2016 Olympic finalist, who's 86.60m throw, also in the sixth and final round, was a season's best. Finally, in 3rd place and taking the 4th overall world championship spot, was Thomas Rohler. The 2016 Olympic and 2018 European champion, threw a best of 82.70m, again in the last round, to secure his place on the plane to Doha.

[jjimbojames]

Sally Pearson has retired - injuries too much. Shame, as a real fighter of an athlete - loved her post-race interview in Beijing!

[Occasional Hope]

She was a great athlete, but I'm not surprised she's retiring now.

[Ursus]

Sally Pearson has retired - injuries too much. Shame, as a real fighter of an athlete - loved her post-race interview in Beijing!

Sprint hurdles aren’t really my thing, but always enjoyed watching Sally.

She first really registered with me over her 100m DQ in the 2010 CG. Remember her being upset but handling it with good grace.

[Alanx7]

Sally Pearson, straight talking. Lot to be said for that....

[Ursus]

Nothing seen from Sophie Hitchon since she nm'd on 11th June. Only other performance was 67.51 in May.

I know it's an odd season, but still.

[treadwater1]

Pearson will be sorely missed, a gutsy competitor on the track and good fun off it. Most said she would struggle to get back to the top tier after several years injured but that gold in 2017 is the best I’ve seen from an athlete coming back from injury. A real rollercoaster towards the end of he career with the highs of London, then missing out on the commonwealths in her home city, a shame she couldn’t go out on a positive

[RunUnlimited]

Has anyone been watching the Pan Am Games?

Have enjoyed it so far and it's interesting to watch all the South & Central American athletes, many of whom we don't see much (or ever) on the circuit in Europe.

One of the rising stars of South American athletics is Brazil's Vitoria Cristina Rosa. She's the South American champion at 100 & 200 and finished 3rd here in the 100 behind only Elaine Thompson and Michelle-Lee Ahye. She was just 0.03s behind Ahye. Then in the 200 semis yesterday she sped to the fastest qualifying time, a marginal PB of 22.72 (+0.4m/s). This hasn't seemed like a quick track in Lima so I'll take a punt and say she makes either the 100 or 200 final in Doha.

In the Men's 400 Hurdles her compatriot Alison Alves dos Santos won a dramatic race and again broke his South American U20 record, 48.45. He's the 3rd fastest junior ever.

One to watch rising up the ranks in Central America is Costa Rica's Andrea Vargas in the 100m Hurdles. In the semis she improved her NR from 12.90 to 12.75 (+0.1m/s) and then beat a good field in the final including Nelvis, Tapper & Yanique Thompson. Leading Nelvis in the lane next to her by half a metre, Vargas had her under so much pressure that Nelvis hit the penultimate barrier really hard.

Two more days of stadium action to come.

I've been watching, and really should have commented about some of the results myself. It's been of an been a pretty good standard overall but a combo of the slow-ish track you mentioned and the cool Peruvian weather conditions, have combined to put a bit of bind on times and distances in the explosive sprints and jumps.

[philipo]

I've been watching, and really should have commented about some of the results myself. It's been of an been a pretty good standard overall but a combo of the slow-ish track you mentioned and the cool Peruvian weather conditions, have combined to put a bit of bind on times and distances in the explosive sprints and jumps.

some excellent performances from South and Carrribean American athletes; wonder if the old "better in your own backyard" applies we will find out soon enough. Caught the eye with a new Cuban tripler with silver behind Craddock and a guy from Canada who golded in the 800m in 1.44.25, beating the two home athletes; .
certainly would be refreshing if, in Doha, the Pan Americans on the South American continent progress further, together with the Asians.

[treadwater1]

I’ve never understood why the Pan-American games didn’t take place a year earlier so the cycle would be 2014,2018,2022 etc. There’s no athletics or swimming world championships in those years and would naturally give US athletes something to aim for instead of having a down year.

Gwen Berry put a fist in the air ala Smith and Carlos at the medal ceremony and another athlete in fencing took the knee during their ceremony. What chance more protests like this in Doha?

[Ladyloz]

Maybe not in Doha but it feels like there will likely be protests in Tokyo next year. We will be well into the 2020 election campaign by then.

Will be interesting to see how the IOC react. Technically there could be.serious repercussions but the optics won't look good if they treat athletes too harshly. Smith & Carlos are ultimately remembered as heroes and on the right side of history even though they were badly treated at the time & for several years afterwards, whereas Avery Brundage just looks like the reactionary old fool that he was.

[RunUnlimited]

Yes, Jordan Diaz in the TJ - just 18yo and jumping 17.38! Crazy!

The two that Marco Arop beat in the 800 - Vasquez and Sanchez - are from Puerto Rico ... ... PUR not PER.

I'm surprised people are "surprised" by Jordan Diaz. He was the kid who shattered the world youth record at the last ever edition of the World Youth Games in Nairobi in 2017, aged just 15. If you think jumping 17.38m aged 18 is "crazy", Diaz set his U-18 record with 17.30m as a 15 year old!
I knew then he was a special talent and he went on to win last year's World Juniors in Tampere just as easily.