Day three of the European Championships in Barcelona represents the halfway point of the event. Spikesmag.com previews what to look forward to inside the Olympic Stadium.
Isn’t tonight all about the triple jump?
Yes, you’re quite right. The men’s triple jump final takes place tonight and you might not be surprised to hear Europe is rather good at this event. Much of the pre-event attention has been thrust on the shoulders of rising French star Teddy Tamgho and with some justification. The colourful 21-year-old smashed the world indoor record en route to landing gold in the World Indoor Championships in Doha in March and proved this was no fluke by bounding out to 17.98m in New York in June to become the third longest jumper in history.
Wow, sounds like he’s going to be hard to beat?
Well, yes, he is, however, he has recently struggled with a niggling injury and proved he has far from unbeatable when trailing home third at the European Team Championships in Bergen in June.
Okay, if Tamgho fails to rise to the occasion in Barcelona who is set to take advantage?
World champion Phillips Idowu is likely to prove his main rival. The multi-coloured haired Brit enjoyed a near flawless 2009 and while he has not quite matched those highs this summer - as his season’s best of 17.48 in Rio proved he is a competitor to be respected.
Anyone else likely to threaten?
Well, Viktor Kuznyetsov of the Ukraine beat both Tamgo and Idowu to land the European Team Championship in Bergen, so the 24-year-old must be a potential winner. He has enjoyed a consistent year and is more than capable of a medal.
Haven’t we got plenty of other lip-smacking highlights in the field, today?
Sure have. The men’s high jump final should be a good one, particularly if you are Russian. Remarkably, they have the top six ranked athletes in Europe in this event, but the slightly better news if you are not Russian is that they can only enter a maximum of three athletes. Still, they have a mighty powerful trio led by European leader Ivan Ukhov (2.34m). If he doesn’t come up to scratch then Aleksander Shustov (2.33m) and Aleksey Dmitrik (2.31m) will be waiting to profit.
So, is there anyone other than Russian capable of climbing the medal podium?
The high jump is very technical and this can make it one of athletics most unpredictable events. They are at least a dozen other athletes capable of getting in among the medals. Sweden’s Linus Thornblad finished fourth at the 2006 European Championships and as a winner of a Diamond League events in New York and Gateshead this season he will fancy his chances.
Aren’t the women’s javelin throwers also in action?
Too right, tonight’s women’s javelin final promises to an absorbing demonstration of the world’s best spear chuckers. Russia’s Mariya Abakumova leads the European rankings with 68.89m, but question marks remain about the current fitness as her last competition was back in mid-June when she finished down in third at the European Team Championships.
Who else should we look out for?
Barbora Spotakova, the Olympic champion and world record holder, that’s who. The Czech spear ace appears to be over the worst of a nagging Achilles injury and she will be tough to beat. Christina Obergfoll of Germany is a two-time World silver medallist and must be respected while Slovenia’s Martina Ratej (67.16m) will also fancy her medal chances.
That’s plenty of action of the field, but what about the track?
The women’s 100m final should be the highlight. It is a difficult one to predict but Germany’s Verena Sailer looked impressive in round one as did French champion Veronique Mang. The European record holder Christine Arron is now aged 36 and past her peak, but she may have something to say about the outcome.
Anything outside of the finals to excite?
The men reach the semi-final stage of the men’s 800m and men’s 400m hurdles. In the latter event Great Britain’s David Greene heads the rankings by a big margin and the 2009 World Championship finalist will take all the beating. He could even be joined on the podium by his training partner and fellow Welsh athlete Rhys Williams, who goes into the event ranked third in Europe. In the former race Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski is the European leader with 1:43.84, but it is fairly wide-open event.