The Russians, since the days of the former Soviet Union, have always produced top caliber jumpers. Yuliya is amongst the new generation of the Russian jumping tradition. The graceful athlete has personal bests of 6.84m outdoors and 6.75m indoors.
Pidluzhnaya at European Indoors (Photo from Yuliya)
She has reached the podium of several major international events, most notably at the fiercely fought 2011 European Indoor Championships long jump final, where she leaped to 6.75m and won the bronze medal behind compatriot Darya Klishina and Portugal’s Naide Gomes. At the 2011 World University Games in Shenzen, Yuliya’s best mark of 6.56m brought home the silver medal.
From 2009 to 2010, Yuliya improved her jumping by an impressive 0.33m. Pidluzhnaya has been ranked as a top tier long jumper ever since.
1.) How did you get started with athletics?
[I] started to be engaged with school [-based athletics at] age 14 years.
2.) What’s the most memorable moment of your athletics career?
I remember [very well] the first time [I competed at a major international championship] of the world. [The experience] [have] not [been] forgotten.
Pidluzhnaya burst into the senior scene with her bronze medal at the European Indoor Championships in France. The Russian long jumper, made it a 1-3 punch for the athletics powerhouse nation, leaping 6.75m in the final.
The 22-year old also placed 3rd at the European Junior Championships back in 2007. A year later, she finished 8th in qualifying at the World Junior Championships in Beijing. Pidluzhnaya has an outdoor personal best of 6.84m set in 2010 – a world class mark in women’s long jumping. ith her podium finish in Paris, Pidluzhnaya had solidified her spot among the long list of elite Russian long jumpers.
Yuliya won silver at the 2011 World University Games in Shenzen, China. Her best leap of 6.56m was good enough for second place behind compatriot Anna Nazarova. Her 2012 start wasn’t as impressive as the previous year. To date, the Russian has an indoor best of 6.60m. Pidluzhnaya, however, could only muster a modest 6.28m mark at the Russian National team championships in Sochi, the first major Russian outdoor meeting this year.
The talented Darya Klishina Дарья Клишина won her first senior crown at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Paris. The Russian junior record holder came from behind to nip Portugal’s Naide Gomes, the reigning European outdoor champion.
The popular Russian opened with a relatively modest 6.61m. By the third round, Gomes (6.79m) and the exuberant Yuliya Pidluzhnaya Юлия Пидлужная (6.74m) was at the top of the long jump perch. Klishina was a mere centimeter behind her compatriot, Pidluzhnaya, at 6.73m. In the fifth round, Klishina flew to 6.80m, bettering Gomes’ mark by the infinitesimal of margins.
With Gomes and Pidluzhnaya notching fouls in their respective final leaps, the standings became final as the formidable Russian duo notched a 1-3 finish.
People say that one doesn’t win the silver, he/she loses the gold. The Celebrate Humanity ad featuring Robin Williams debunks the aforesaid statement with a weightlifter jumping wild with joy at winning an Olympic silver medal. For mortals like myself who can only dream of competing in the Olympics, a silver medal in the quadrennial games is a pipe dream.
But when one is among the elite of sports, would multiple silver medals be more of a curse?
Terrence Trammell is an athlete with an extensive collection of silverware. As a 22-year old collegiate champion, he won the first of his Olympic sprint hurdling silvers in 2000, behind the Cuban Anier Garcia. 4 years later in Athens, Trammell again fell short of the gold, this time against Liu Xiang 刘翔. In Trammell’s third Olympic Games in Beijing, the veteran failed to advance to the final because of a hamstring injury.
The University of South Carolina graduate replicated his streak of silver medals in the three editions of the IAAF World Championships as well, finishing 1st-runner up in 2003, 2007 and 2009. Trammell was edged out by a fast-finishing Liu Xiang in Osaka 2007 by two-hundredths of a second. Despite stopping the clock at 12.99s, the top spot remained elusive.
2009 should have been Trammell’s year to win that elusive major outdoor crown, with Liu Xiang and Dayron Robles out with injuries. But Ryan Brathwaithe of the Bahamas played the role of spoilsport.
Trammell had won a total of six silver medals in three Olympic Games and three World Outdoor Championships.
Being a near-10 seconds flat 100m sprinter, Trammell has had more success in the shorter 60m hurdle indoor race. During the 2006 Moscow World Indoor Championships, the American notched a unique Gold-Bronze combination in the 60m hurdles and the 60m dash, respectively, winning his 2nd indoor hurdling title. Aside from Harrison Dillard and Gail Devers, no other track athlete had as much success as Trammell in both the hurdles and the sprints.
According to the legendary Renaldo Nehemiah, having too much speed in the sprint hurdles causes “crowding out.” Without lightning fast reflexes that can cope with near 10-second speeds, a sprint hurdler’s sprinting prowess becomes a curse. Trammell’s inability to land an outdoor crown can be attributed to his prolific sprinting talent. Despite leading in the first few hurdles, Trammell almost always seem to fade at the latter parts – especially when pitted against excellent finishers like Liu Xiang.
Although not in the same caliber as Liu and Colin Jackson, the American has a fine hurdling technique reminiscent of his former training partner, Allen Johnson. The former NCAA champion Trammell, with his (1) aggressive style, (2) slightly elevated lead arm carriage, and (3) slightly flailing trail arm, tends to hit hurdles. When pitted against accomplished hurdling technicians like Liu, these little things spell the difference between victory and defeat.
With the emergence of David Oliver as the pre-eminent American hurdler and Liu’s and Dayron Robles’ recovery from injury, 2011 seems like another exciting year for the sprint hurdles.
Do not count out the 33-year veteran just yet. Trammell, with his monstrous flat out speed, might just surprise the top dogs.
Whilst writing previous Liu Xiang post, I stumbled upon clips of Liu Xiang’s bronze medal in the 2003 Paris World Championships and his silver medal in Helsinki World Champs, two years later. This is the first time I’ve seen actual footage of the two races!
2003 Paris World Champs:
This was Liu Xiang’s first-ever major championship medal and Allen Johnson’s last world outdoor title. Liu was just 20-years old, but still managed to finish third (13.27s) behind the more illustrious American duo of Johnson (13.12s) and the 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medalist, Terrence Trammell (13.20s).
19-year old Shi Dong Peng 史冬鹏 (13.55s), fresh out of a silver medal in the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, also qualified for his first major senior final.
Results (from sporting-heroes.com):
Allen JOHNSON (USA) 13.12
Terrence TRAMMELL (USA) 13.20
Xiang LIU (CHN) 13.23
Larry WADE (USA) 13.34
Chris PHILLIPS (USA) 13.36
Marcio Simao DE SOUZA (BRA) 13.48
Dongpeng SHI (CHN) 13.55
Yoel HERNANDEZ (CUB) 13.57
2005 Helsinki World Champs:
Liu (13.08), the newly-crowned Olympic champion and then co-world record holder, was upset by the audacious Ladji Doucoure (13.07s) of France. The 19-year old Frenchman came out of a disappointing Olympic campaign, badly hitting one of the barriers in the final. Allen Johnson, the defending world champion, clung on to a quick 13.10s.
The Helsinki World Champs announced the coming of age of the new generation of sprint hurdlers. It’s unfortunate that Doucoure has been slowed down by a spate of injuries in the subsequent years.
Results (from sporting-heroes.com):
Ladji DOUCOURE (FRA) 13.07
Xiang LIU (CHN) 13.08
Allen JOHNSON (USA) 13.10
Dominique ARNOLD (USA) 13.13
Terrence TRAMMELL (USA) 13.20
Joel BROWN (USA) 13.47
Maurice WIGNALL (JAM) 13.47
Mateus FACHO INOCENCIO (BRA) 13.48
It feels great to actually see the two races. Being a student of the sport living at the age of Web 2.0 surely has its advantages!
This is amazing. Oliver is amazing. After a string of Sub-13 times the past month (12.93, 12.90), big David Oliver lowered his already impressive PR by one-hundredths of a second to 12.89s at the Meeting Areva (Samsung Diamond League) in Paris the other night. The 28-year old is inching ever closer to Dayron Robles’ world record.
Robles was supposed to compete at the same meet, but pulled out due to mild injury.
Oliver outclassed the field, with Ryan Wilson way behind at 13.12.
Despite demolishing the 7th and 10th hurdle, Oliver still became third fastest sprint hurdler of all time, behind Robles and Liu Xiang.
As for breaking the world record, Oliver was the portrait of humility. “I don’t think I’m there [breaking the world record] yet,” said Oliver. “Eventually I’ll get there and everything will be perfect after I run that.”
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