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Rugged racing marks first day of European Championships

Posted March 2nd, 2007 at 3:39 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Mo Farah’s fall in this morning’s 3000m qualifying foreshadowed more rough racing later in the day as the 29th European Indoor Championships continued at the National Indoor Arena here. In one particular case, the consequences were severe.

After Oksana Zbrozhek of Russian won the first of four heats in the women’s 800m in 2:03.67, things turned ugly in the second heat. Just past the 400m mark, Karen Harewood of Great Britain was tripped from behind by Mariya Shapayeva of Russia. The Briton fell hard to the track, clutching her left knee, screaming in pain. Her fall set off a chain reaction which saw Maria Carmo Tavares of Portugal and Eléni Filándra of Greece, also fall to the track.

The Portuguese and the Greek were also hurt, but less severely than Harewood who, according to a British team official, had a “suspected broken leg.” Harewood had to be removed from the floor on a stretcher, wearing an oxygen mask and tethered to an IV line in her arm.

Tetyana Petlyuk of Ukraine, one of the medal favorites, Brigita Langerholc of Slovenia, and Shapayeva were the only women to finish the heat, but the Russian was disqualified for tripping Harewood. Petlyuk clocked 2:05.44 to Langerholc’s 2:05.95. Both advanced to the semi-finals tomorrow.

In the third heat, Aneta Lemiesz of Poland and Jenny Meadows of Great Britain were the automatic qualifiers, both clocked in 2:03.68. The heat was delayed some 20 minutes because of the medical attention which was rendered to Harewood.

“I didn’t see it,” said Meadows of Harewood’s fall, but she knew what had happened from team officials. She said that UK Athletics Performance Director Dave Collins told her, “Don’t let your head go down,” before the race.

Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia, who won the gold medal in these championships in 2002, won the fourth heat easily in 2:02.82, easing up in the final meters.

“It was OK,” said Ceplak of her race, but she complained that during the injury delay, officials wouldn’t let the athletes out of the call area to jog and stay warm. “We were standing there for half an hour,” she complained.

ELBOWS FLY IN MEN’S 800M QUALIFYING

The men’s 800m is wide open as none of the medalists from last summer’s European Championships outdoors are entered. But the door closed on Frenchman Florent Lacasse who was disqualified in heat 2 –despite crossing the finish line first– for breaking from his lane too soon. Lacasse finished sixth at last summer’s outdoor championships and was definitely a medal threat here. Also disqualified was Russian Yuriy Koldin who shoved Briton James Brewer during his final charge to the line. With Lacasse disqualified, Brewer was declared the winner of the heat in 1:50.40 with Catalin Mihu of Romania finishing second (top-2 finishers qualify automatically).

In the first heat, 2007 Big East Indoor 800m champion Thomas Chamney of Notre Dame led the field through the first half in a ridiculously slow 61.31 seconds, but showed a good close to finish second in 1:55.58. Spaniard Miguel Quesada, passed him in the final meters to win the heat in 1:55.43.

“My coach said to me you’ve just got to get over the first day,” said Chamney referring to Notre Dame’s Luke Watson.

Dutchman Arnoud Okken won heat three, but nearly lost his balance in the homestraight when he looked over his shoulder one too many times to if anyone was closing on him.

“I was looking back,” said a smiling and slightly embarrassed Okken after the race. He would run the fastest qualifying time of the day: 1:49.15.

Mattias Claesson of Sweden won the last heat in 1:50.08 over David Takács of Hungary (1:50.15). There was another disqualification in this heat: Selahattin Çobanoglu of Turkey.

CLITHEROE SETS PACE IN WOMEN’S 1500M

Helen Clitheroe of Great Britain set a fast pace in the first heat of the women’s 1500m qualifying at least in part so she could stay out of trouble.

“I was concerned about all the tripping,” she said referring to the spills taken by her teammates Mo Farah and Karen Harewood today. “I felt quite comfortable” she also said, referring to her pace.

Clitheroe, the former Helen Patinson, led at every stage of the race, until she eased up in the final meters, finishing second to Slovenian Sonja Roman who had stayed close throughout the race. Roman was timed in 4:10.68 to Clitheroe’s 4:10.96. Ukrainian Nataliya Tobias got the third automatic qualifier in 4:11.09, while fourth and fifth place finishers, Marina Muncan of Serbia and Cristina Vasiloiu of Romania, advanced on time. Russian Yelena Kanales failed to finish, complaining of hamstring pain in her left leg.

Poland’s Lidia Chojecka, the favorite for the gold medal, dominated the second heat. She set a slow pace, splitting 800m in 2:24.78, but none of the women would dare pass her, fearing her awesome kick. She ran the final 200m in 30.78 seconds, despite slowing at the finish line, to win the heat in 4:16.24. Russia’s Natalya Pantelyeva, finished second (4:16.54) and Spain’s Mayte Martínez, another medal favorite, took third (4:16.69). There was only one time qualifier from the heat: fourth place Olesya Chumakova of Russia (4:16.74).

TWO FINALS TOMORROW

Medals will be handed out tomorrow in the men’s 3000m and the women’s 1500m. Mo Farah, who hopes to rebound from today’s fall, will have to beat Ireland’s Alistair Cragg, Spain’s Jesus España, and France’s Bob Tahri. Chojecka and Clitheroe are the favorites in the 1500m.

Also tomorrow will be the men’s and women’s 800m semi-finals. The women’s 3000m preliminary round has been scuttled and will instead be a straight final on Sunday with 13 contestants. That’s good news for Chojecka who has a chance for a second medal in that event and can now avoid running two races tomorrow.