Kevin Borlée runs best European 400m since 2007: national championships round up | 17.06.2012
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| Kevin Borlée clocked the fastest 400m time by a European in almost five years at the Belgian championships. |
They will provide a guide to national team selection for the 2012 European Athletics Championships, which will be held in Helsinki from 27 June to 1 July.
Below are some of the highlights of the action around Europe on Saturday with the top performance of the day being, without doubt, the 400m time of 44.56 from Belgium's Kevin Borlée.
Belgium – The reigning European 400m champion Kevin Borlée had a stunning run over one lap of the track in Brussels to improve the national record to 44.56, the fastest time by a European runner for almost five years and he moves up to equal 10th on the European all-time rankings.
Borlée's twin brother Jonathan ran 20.51 in his 200m heat and there was some good times in the women's 100m hurdles heats with Anne Zagre running 12.98.
Germany - The first day of the championships in Wattenscheid saw 2010 European Athletics Championships pole vault silver medallist Silke Spiegelburg win with 4.70m and she attempted a new national record height of 4.81m. Second was Lisa Ryzih, who finished one place behind Spiegelburg in Barcelona, with 4.65m while third was 2011 World Championships medallist Martina Strutz with 4.45m.
Betty Heidler won the hammer with 73.65m and the world record holder is now unbeaten in 12 competitions stretching back to the 2011 World Championships, where she got q silver medal.
Another Daegu silver medallists, discus thrower Nadine Muller, won her specialist event with 66.47m but behind her there was evidence of the rising generation of German throwers. Second was the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships gold medallist Julia Fischer with 63.21m, followed by two juniors who achieved personal bests. Anna Ruh was third with 63.14m, the best throw by a junior in the world for 15 years, while her fellow teenager Shanice Craft was fourth with 62.92m.
Carolin Nytra confirmed that she will be ready for Helsinki with a 100m hurdles win in 12.74, equalling her best time of the season which is also the second best by a European. Cindy Roleder was second in 12.91. Ariane Friedrich won the high jump with 1.86m while Nadine Kleinert took the shot put with 19.18m.
The defending European 100m champion Verena Sailer won in a windy 11.22 after having an 11.27 in the heats with a legal wind behind her. There was a similar situation in the men's 100m when Lucas Jakubczyk clocked a windy 10.16 but had run a legal best of 10.20 in his heat.
Alexander John won the 110m hurdles in 13.52 while horizontal jumps titles went to long jumper Sebastian Bayer with 7.91m and triple jumper Andreas Pohle with 16.64m.
Former SPAR European Cross Country Championships medallist Sabrina Mockenhaupt came home in front in the 5000m with 15:47.01, just holding off Eleni Gebrehiwot who was second in 15:47.48.
France - The second day in Angers saw the triple 2010 European champion Christophe Lemaitre win the 100m in a windy 9.94, the fastest time by a European this year under any conditions. Last year's European junior champion Jimmy Vicaut was second in 10.05 and Emmanuel Biron third in 10.10.
There was excellent depth in the 100m hurdles final with five women under 13 seconds. Alice Decaux won in a personal best of 12.88, getting the verdict from Aisseta Diawara who was given the same time. Reina-Flor Okori was third with 12.97, the same time as Sandra Gomis in fourth and Cindy Billaud in fifth.
Harold Correa won the triple jump with a ifetime best of 16.74m and Florian Geffrouais took the decathlon title with 8118 points.
In women's field events, high jumper Melanie Melfort won with 1.91m while pole vaulter Vanessa Boslak got the gold medal with a clearance at 4.40m.
Two-time European Athletics Championships 50km walk gold medallist Yohann Diniz had what has become a regular outing in the French Championships 10,000m track walk and won in 39:46.74 for his third consecutive victory.
Poland - The second day in Bielsko-Biala saw 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships hammer gold medallist Pawel Fajdek go over 80 metres for the third successive competition, throwing 80.32m to beat the 2000 Olympic Games champion and 2001 World Championships gold medallist Szymon Ziolkowski, who was second with 78.25m.
The 2010 European champion Piotr Malachowski took the discus title with 66.89m while the women's 400m hurdles was won by Anna Jesien in 55.74 with Tina Matusinska improving to a new best of 55.87 in second place. in the men's 400m hurdles, the 2006 European Athletics Championships silver medallist Marek Plawgo was not as fast as in his heat but won with 49.96.
Adam Kszczot had a straightforward 800m win in 1:46.53 while Piotr Wiaderek took the 400m title in 45.46. Angelika Cichocka won the women's 800 m in 2:01.71 and Igor Janik took the javelin gold medal with a last round effort of 81.31m.
Czech Republic - Katerina Cechova impressed in the 100m in Vyskov. She first improved to 11.34 in her heat and then ran 11.32 in the final to go third on the Czech all-time list.
Long jumper Roman Novotny leapt to season's best of 8.05m to finish in front of Stepan Wagner, who managed 7.90m, while Jaroslav Bába cleared 2.20m to win the high jump and hammer thrower Lukas Melich achieved a very good distance of 78.22m.
Greece - Former European 400m hurdles champion Periklis Iakovakis looked very good in Athens when he clocked 49.04 in his heat, the second fastest time by a European this year, and then 49.19 in the final for his 15th consecutive title.
There was a thrilling women's triple jump as well with Athanasia Perra bounding out to a personal best of 14.71m to finish ahead of the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships gold medallist Paraskevi Papahristou, who was second with 14.58m, while Niki Panetta was third with 14.50m. Kostas Filippidis cleared 5.65m to win the pole vault while Eleni Filandra ran a personal best of 2:00.44 to win the 800m.
The men's long jump got the benefit of some strong breezes and Dimitrios Diamadaras won with a windy 8.09m while Georgios Tsakonas was second with 8.04m. By contrast sprinter Likourgos-Stefanos Tsakonas had to run into teeth of the wind but still clocked 20.55 to the 200m. In the women's 200m, Maria Belibasaki, who turns 21 on Tuesday, clocked a national under 23 record of 23.28.
Hungary – The 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships gold medallist Marcell Deak-Nagy won the 400m in Szekszard in 45.93. All the sprints were hampered by strong head winds with Balazs Baji winning the 110m hurdles with 13.74 into a 3.4 mps wind. The 2010 European Athletics Championships bronze medallist Daniel Kiss was second with 13.78.
Slovakia – The 2009 World Championships bronze medallist Martina Hrasnová threw 73.09m in Banksa Bystrica, her best result for three years following the brith of her child in 2010.
Dana Veldaková leapt 14.35m the triple jump while there was an upset in the hammer as Marcel Lomnicky got his first senior title when he threw 75.46m to beat 2010 European Athletics Championships gold medallist Libor Charfreitag, who only managed 73.95m. Peter Horak won the high jump with 2.23m.
Bulgaria – Shot putter Georgi Ivanov provided the highlight of the second day in Sliven when the former world junior champion achieved a personal best of 20.33m. Tedora Kolarova won the 800m in 2:02.80 while Adriana Byanova went out to 14.03m ito wn the triple jump.
