Christin Hussong might have been overshadowed recently by the exploits of Poland’s Maria Andrejczyk and those of her compatriot Johannes Vetter but the European champion continued her fine start to the season at the Internationales Pfingstsportfest in Rehlingen on Sunday (23), a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting.
Hussong was the only thrower to surpass the 60 metre-line in the women’s javelin - a feat she achieved with four of her six throws - and she capped her series with a fifth-round throw of 66.96m, a stadium record as well as a season’s best.
"I'm very happy with that, especially because I didn't really get into the competition so well today. I'm proud of the fact that I can throw 66 meters so consistently at the moment," said Hussong, who has surpassed the 66 metre-line in her three competitions this month.
Hussong will be donning the German vest at the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in Silesia on 29-30 May when a throw in the region of 66 metres is likely to suffice for maximum points with world leader Andrejczyk not competing due a precaution.
Luxembourg’s Bob Bertemes produced another of the meeting’s highlights with a dominant display in the shot put. Three of his four throws landed over the 21 metre-line and the best throw of his series at 21.71m put him more than one metre ahead of runner-up Andrei Toader from Romania with 20.51m.
At this very early juncture of the season, Bertemes moves to third on the 2021 European list behind Serbia’s Armin Sinancevic with 21.88m and Poland's Michal Haratyk with 22.17m. Bertemes and Sinancevic could possibly cross paths at next month’s European Athletics Team Championships Third League in Limassol, Cyprus where their respective nations are among the leading aspirants for promotion.
World fourth-placer Bo Kanda Lita Baehre from Germany cleared 5.70m in the pole vault to defeat Rutger Koppelaar from the Netherlands on countback and Marie Laurence Jungfleisch also won the high jump on countback on home soil with 1.88m from Ukraine’s Yuliya Chumachenko.
On the track, Irene van der Reijken from the Netherlands won the 3000m steeplechase in a national record of 9:33.83 and Swiss youngster Ricky Petrucciani won the men's 400m in a lifetime best of 45.90.
Full results here.
Elsewhere around Europe...
One weekend after equalling the Italian pole vault record with 4.60m in Florence, Roberta Bruni cleared outright Italian records of 4.62m and 4.70m in Rieti on Sunday (23). Her 4.70m clearance also represents an Olympic qualifying standard for the former world U20 bronze medallist.
Mujinga Kambundji made an auspicious return from injury in Weinheim on Saturday (22) although the world 200m bronze medallist was unfortunate with the wind in both of her races. The multiple Swiss record-holder won the 100m in a marginally wind-aided 11.03 (2.1) before winning the 200m in 22.94 against a 1.5 m/s headwind.
Three-time European indoor heptathlon medallist Jorge Urena won the Spanish decathlon title in Murcia with a lifetime best of 8209 points. Claudia Conte won the heptathlon with 5943 points.
In Loughborough on Sunday, Taylor Campbell moved to fifth on the British all-time list with a lifetime best of 76.97m in the hammer.