Russian men, Polish women claim first-time victories in European Cup Combined Events Super League
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| Belarus' Andrei Krauchanka came from behind to win the men's individual Decathlon in the European Cup Combined Events Super League. Photos by Marek Biczyk |
In the individual men's event, the pre-event favourite Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus lagged behind for most of the competition, but came through for a win over Russia's Aleksandr Pogorelov with a fast 1500 metres. In the Heptathlon, after another exciting finish, Ukraine's Hanna Melnychenko beat the home favourite Kamila Chudzik by just two points thanks to a strong 800 metres performance.
The overnight leader of the Decathlon, Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine, remained well ahead through half of the second day thanks to 14.46 in the 110 metre hurdles and a 49.95 discus throw. But with his weakest events yet to come, it was clear the situation could turn around.
And so it did. Aleksandr Pogorelov, over 100 points behind until that point, cleared 5 metres in the Pole Vault, a full 50 centimetres more than Kasyanov. With this result, the Russian went into the lead by 41 points. Olympic runner-up Krauchanka was not out of contention, either. Well over 200 points behind after seven events, the Belarus athlete made up a lot of ground in the vault by clearing 5.10, the best height of the day. After eight events, Krauchanka was still back in third, but well positioned to attack the top position, trailing the Russian leader by 99 points.
In the Javelin throw, Pogorelov once again proved the strongest. With his 63.37, he extended his lead to 127 over Krauchanka, who achieved 61.56 in the last round. The Belarusian now faced a tough task of making up over 20 seconds on the Russian in the final event, the 1500 metre race. Kasyanov, after a throw of just over 50 metres, was now a distant third, over 100 points behind Krauchanka.
Krauchanka, known as a good 1500 metre runner, started the final race fast, always remaining in the top group as Pogorelov struggled. The difference between them was nearly 100 metres at the start of the final lap, indicating that the deficit had been all but made up. The Belarus athlete seemed to struggle for a moment, but then came through again with a strong finish to cross the line in 4:32.60. After an eager wait at the finish, he caught sight of Pogorelov finish the race over 24 seconds later.
Krauchanka was proclaimed the winner of the competition with 8336 points, Pogorelov taking second place 23 points behind. Kasyanov, the winner of the final heat of the last event, took a good third place with 8245 points, and the Frenchman Romain Barras finished well with 4:20.90 to take fourth place with 8209. Young Vasiliy Kharlamov of Russia improved his personal best by nearly 400 points in fifth place with 8113, and another Russian, Aleksey Drozdov, completed the top six with 8081.
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The Russian men's team were first-time winners of the |
They maintained their lead in the ninth event and despite a good effort by the Belarusians in the closing race the win was never in doubt, with the two teams 430 points apart at the end. The winning score of 24507 points is the highest achieved in European Cup competition since 1999.
The battle for second place was close for most of the second day, with the Belarusians and Ukrainians swapping places. After eight events, the two teams were separated by just six points, but Belarus then moved ahead by over 300 points in the Javelin throw. Their second place was thus certain. The Ukrainian team, meanwhile, was under attack from the French, who with a great collective effort in the 1500 metres threatened the third position, but fell 39 points short to take fourth place.
The teams from the Netherlands and Poland took seventh and eighth place in the competition, and will be relegated to compete in the First League in the 2010 edition.
Melnychenko edges Chudzik in Heptathlon
In the Heptathlon, both the individual and team competition generated much excitement, with the winners in doubt until the last event of the day. Hanna Melnychenko was the overnight leader ahead of Kamila Chudzik, and she extended her lead still further in the Long Jump. Both the Ukrainian and the Pole started that event by having big jumps in personal best territory, which turned out to be marginal fouls.
In her second attempt, Melnychenko took off from behind the board, but still managed 6.38. Chudzik had a safety attempt as well, but landed well short of her rival's distance at 6.10. In the final attempt, however, Melnychenko was not able to improve, while Chudzik reached 6.24. This provided her with valuable points to stay within reach.
After five events, the Ukrainian's lead was 95 points, but that was with Chudzik's best event yet to come. As expected, the young Pole had by far the longest Javelin throw of the day. Her 52.13 gave her 901 points, and even with Melnychenko throwing close to her best with 44.27, there was nothing she could do to avoid losing the lead.
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| Poland women finished ahead of second-placed Russia and third-placed Ukraine to claim the Heptathlon team title. |
It could hardly have been closer in the end. For most of the first 500 metres, the Pole ran in the main group, just ahead of Melnychenko, but when the Ukrainian made her attack on the back straight of the second lap the Pole was unable to respond. The distance between the two kept growing, the question was only whether it would be big enough in the end to bridge the 57-point gap.
It only just was. Melnychenko finished the race in 2:14.07, just over four seconds ahead of Chudzik. This gave her 6390 points, just two more than her rival.
Karolina Tyminska of Poland, third after Day One, strengthened her position thanks to a good 6.36 in the Long Jump. She predictably lost points in the Javelin throw, reaching just 36.48, but that pushed her back by only one place, as she was overtaken by Russia's Marina Goncharova by just seven points. But the Pole, as usual, came back strong in the final event. Taking the lead from the gun, she ran away from the field to win the final heat by over five seconds, clocking 2:08.16. This gave her a season's best of 6191 points and a comfortable third place, 72 points ahead of Goncharova.
The team event was very close after Day 1, with just 61 points separating the top four teams. The Long Jump put an end to the hopes of the French team as their leader Antoinette Nana Djimou, competing with an injury, was able to reach only 5.57. The Ukrainians, with the two best performances in this event, regained the lead, but their lead over the Poles was only 37 points.
The situation changed dramatically after the next event. The Ukrainians, not renowned for their Javelin throwing skills, lost much ground on their main rivals. The Poles once again went into first place, but with a lead of 147 points over Russia before the final event could not be sure of staying there. Ukraine's team was now 219 points behind the leaders and did not seem likely to challenge the top two.
Just as in the individual event, it was very close in the end. The Russians packed well, but Tyminska's 2:08 effort gave the Poles enough of a cushion, so that even with their number three athlete Malgorzata Reszka running 2:28.99 they stayed ahead by 58 points, an equivalent of roughly four seconds. Ukraine finished a comfortable third, more than 400 points in front of France.
At the bottom of the table, Italy in seventh place and Netherlands in eighth were the two teams demoted from the Super League.
Click here for the complete results.
