Tobias Poyte and Lena Bryxi had a night to remember as they brought victory for Germany in the opening competition at the 37th Internationales Hochsprung-Meeting in Eberstadt on Friday.
Poyte, the 2013 European junior champion, won the men’s under-23 high jump by equalling his personal best of 2.23m which he set at this event 12 months ago, while Bryxi took the women’s with her best-ever jump of 1.81m as both achieved decisive victories at the EberfurstArena.
In Rieti two years ago, Poyte won the junior crown with 2.20m before finishing ninth at the IAAF world junior championships last summer, and this is another fine win as he beat Hungary’s Peter Bakosi, who was second on countback with 2.16m from Germany’s Tim Schenker and Sweden’s Andreas Carlsson, who both cleared the same height.
Bryxi was the clear champion in the under-23 women’s as she beat Swiss pair Salome Lang, who was second on countback from Livia Odermatt, after both finished on 1.78m, while 14-year-old German Jara Ellinger with fourth with 1.68m.
The age group high jump kicked off this European Athletics Outdoor Special Premium meeting which has the senior women in action today and the senior men tomorrow.
Schippers in command
Dafne Schippers showed her flying form once more with a brilliant performance on the second day of the Dutch National Championships in Amsterdam on Friday.
Less than a week after her national record of 10.92 in London, Schippers soared to victory in the 100m in 11.02, matching the fourth best time of her career.
One more she demonstrated the consistency of her sprinting as she heads to this month’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing where she will be a major European medal contender.
The European 100m and 200m champion, who won her heat in 11.21, took the title in decisive fashion from teammate Jamile Samuel, who was second in 11.29, with Great Britain’s Desiree Henry, running as a guest, third in 11.33.
Churandy Martina achieved a fine win in the men’s 100m as he took his season’s best from 10.12 to 10.08 to move to seventh in the European Athletics rankings and in the process beat Jamaica’s 2011 world champion Yohan Blake in 10.27 with fellow Dutchman Solomon Bockarie third in 10.29.