French triple jump sensation Teddy Tamgho rewrote his 11-month old world indoor record yesterday in Aubiere. The 21-year old leaped 17.91m in the 4th round, improving his old mark by 1 cm. Tamgho, now trained by long jumping legend Ivan Pedroso, hardly had any competition at the French National Indoor Championships. Yoann Rapinier won 2nd with 17.02m, the first time he went beyond the 17m barrier. Tamgho worst mark, a 17.08m in his fifth attempt, was still good enough for first place.
The Frenchman powered through the runway, as he hopped, stepped and skipped to a new world indoor best. As soon as he landed on the pit, Tamgho knew something big was afoot. With nary a look to confirm the official distance, Tamgho immediately sprinted from the jumping area in celebration, out of the track and into the stands.
I stumbled upon a new Darya Klishina Дарья Клишина clip from Youtube last night. In the video, Darya is seen modeling and training (doing hurdle drills, plyometrics and jumping workouts!). She’s as comfortable on the track as she is in front of the camera. It’s just a pity someone hasn’t uploaded English subs yet, since the interview is in Russian! Or maybe I should just learn Russian.
Mind you, Darya isn’t just another pretty face. Although her looks rival that tennis goddesses like compatriots Anna Kournikova Анна Сергеевна Ку́рникова and Maria Sharapova Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, Darya’s skills are akin to the latter. At the tender age of 19, Darya rewrote the Russian junior long jump record by leaping 7.03m – the second best all-time performance by a junior.
Klishina has yet to translate her tremendous potential to the senior ranks, having been dropped from the Russian lineup to the 2010 Barcelona European Championships for a string of poor performances. Nevertheless, Darya has the makings of a galactic superstar.
For years since winning a double bronze medal in the long (6.70m) and triple jumps (14.04m) in the 2003 U-23 Bydgoszcz European Championships, Radeviča languished under the athletics radar. The Latvian missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics whilst pregnant with her first child.
Ineta at the 2010 Barcelona European Championships. (Photo from Erik van Leeuwen)
Although she qualified for long jump final in several major meets, a podium finish remained elusive. Her personal best of 6.80m (2005) lasted until the 2010 Barcelona European Championships – where the Latvian unexpectedly leaped to 6.92m and the gold medal!
Radevica is the second Latvian to become European Champion, following the footsteps of the sprint hurdler, Staņislavs Olijars (Gold, Goteborg 2006).
The 29-year old outclassed a quality field composed of 2003 World Indoor Championships silver medalist Naide Gomes (POR), whom she beat on countback; and Olga Kucharenko (RUS) owner of several 7-meter jumps this season.
The Norwegian jumper did well at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona. Renstrøm leaped to a personal best of 6.68m at the qualifying rounds, setting a new Norwegian record in the process. She failed to duplicate her sterling form in the final, jumping only 6.18m which was good enough for 12th overall.
Renstrøm ranked 13th in the Long Jump qualifying at the 2009 Berlin World Championships. The ace Norwegian long jumper won double medals at the Long and Triple jumps at the 2006 European Cup Second League in 2006 – a remarkable performance for the multi-talented jumper.
The Søgne-born Renstrøm holds both the Norwegian triple and long jump records. She set her first national long jump record at the 2009 Norwegian Championships, where she leaped 6.64m to better the then twenty-nine year old benchmark.
Two years after her record-breaking performance in Barcelona, Renstrøm again competed with distinction at the European Championships. The Norwegian, together with Karen Mey Melis and Eloyse Leseur, topped the qualifying rounds with a 6.66m mark. Margrethe barged into top three, despite notching only two valid marks in the final.
Leseur eventually won the competition in 6.81m. Renstrøm’s best jump of 6.67m was good enough for the bronze – Margrethe’s first ever major international medal.
Keeping up with the intense Kluft spirit, check out her mighty guts pose:
Photo from Zimbio and Getty Images
A season best, this placed Kluft (given a wild-card entry after failing to meet the Euro Champs entry standard) 12th among all qualifiers. The Russian Lyudmila Kolchanova topped all female jumpers with 6.87m.
“It feels like a big victory. It’s really great. It has been a really tough year for me… I missed so much training, but I’m so happy to be in a European championship final in the long jump. One year ago I was walking on crutches and now I’m standing here, so it feels really, really good.”
“That’s what makes sport wonderful: you can find your challenge in your little area which can make you so happy and go out there and do your best even if it’s not for the medals.”
Japanese youngster, Shota Iizuka, ran a season-leading 20.58s to win the 2010 World Junior Championships gold – the first ever Asian man to top a world junior sprinting event. The 19-year old followed the footsteps of compatriot Shingo Suetsugo, who clinched a bronze in the same event in the 2003 Paris World Championships.
It was a relatively good championships for Asian countries. Qatari high jump phenom, Mutaz Ezza Barshim, cleared an even more impressive 2.30m to grab gold.
China and Qatar were the other Asian countries to barge into the medal standings. Thailand and India had representatives to the finals of the Men’s Long Jump (a youngster who leaps 8.00m+, Sukhasvasti N.A Supanara) and the Women’s 100m low hurdles, respectively.
It’s pity, really, how the Philippines failed to send even token participation to the prestigious meet. The young Patrick Unso (400m low hurdles, high jump) was supposed to compete, but his plans seemed to have hit a snag.
The Austrian high jumper and heptathlete competed at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The same year, Schneider had won the Miss Austria crown, representing the small, landlocked country in the Miss World contest.
Judging from her IAAF biography, it seemed as if she has long since retired from international competition. At the 2008 World Junior Champs, she managed an unremarkable 17th place in high jump qualifying.
But then again, her best jump of 1.80m is a decent enough mark (a leap that would merit instant gold in the UAAP Women’s Division and a finals appearance in the Men’s Division).
After a spectacular 7.03m leap, Darya Klishina fell short in the subsequent meets, the Russian Championships and the Meeting Areva (Paris Diamond League).
The 19-year Russian junior record holder placed fifth with a best jump of 6.73m at the Russian Champs in Saransk. Lyudmila Kolchanova topped the competition with a gargantuan 7.01m despite searing heat.
Most recently, Klishina eked out a fourth place finish in Paris, leaping 6.61m behind Britney Reese (6.79m), Naide Gomes (6.73m) and Cuban World Triple Jump champion, Yargelis Savigne (6.73m).
The volatile American, Reese, overtook Gomes for first with her last jump.
I’ve always expected a classic duel between Reese and Klishina. Despite these setbacks, our new long jump darling (been getting quite a few hits on this blog from Darya Klishina searches!) has posted consistent mid- to high- 6 meter leaps.
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