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August 16, 2009

World Athletics Championships – Day two

Jennifer Oeser recovers from fall to take silver medal

What drama for Jennifer Oeser in the heptathlon. The TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen athlete went into the 800m in third place, knowing that she would have to be three seconds faster than Kamila Chudzik to take the silver medal. However, a fall almost destroyed the dream of the first medal at an international event. The Bayer athlete refused to accept defeat and managed to secure second place with an impressive display. In addition, she set a new personal best of 6,493 points.

In the qualification round in the javelin, Linda Stahl only needed a single attempt to book her place in the final. Her first attempt landed after 63.86m, almost two metres more than the requested distance of 62.00m. Steffi Nerius failed to clear 62.00m but her attempt of 61.73m was also enough for her to reach the final. Elsewhere, Sorina Nwachukwu failed to qualify for the 400m final and had to accept defeat in the semis.

The shock for Oeser came after 390 metres. “I said before the race that only a fall would stop me and suddenly I found myself on the ground. I got up and gave it everything I had. The crowd really shouted me on,” said Oeser. “It was out of this word.” Her time of 2:14,34 minutes was of no relevance. In addition, the multi-eventer improved her previous personal best set in Ratingen this summer by 51 points.

The police officer laid the foundations for her success on day one when she set two mew personal bests. She improved her previous best in the shot put by eighth centimetres and now has a best of 14.29m. She also clocked her fastest ever time over 200m (24.30 seconds). However, things could have gone horribly wrong for the 25-year-old when she clipped the fourth and fifth hurdle in the 100m hurdles and had to settle for a mediocre time of 13.62 seconds. Oeser showed her spirit though and cleared an excellent 1.83m in the high jump, only three centimetres less than her personal best, and found herself in third place after four events.

Oeser continued where she had left off the previous evening on the morning of the second day and impressed with an attempt of 6.42m in the long jump. “I was really relieved when my first attempt was valid and very good.” The police officer only fell eight centimetres short of her personal best but could not improve with her following attempts. “I slipped slightly on the board during my third attempt,” explained Oeser.

However, she did not slip up in the javelin, an event she has been known to have problems with in the past, and set a new season best of 46.70m. “I am very happy with her performance in the javelin,” said her coach Karl-Heinz Düe.

Sorina Nwachukwu’s individual 400m adventure was over in the semis – something that could be expected. However, the German champion put up a fight and finished sixth in her heat in 51.98 seconds. “I wanted to get close to my personal best. Unfortunately, I could not do that. I am, however, happy to have stayed under 52 seconds. The Leverkusen athlete was also very relaxed when she was handed the outside lane. “You have to run 400m regardless of the lane. And to be honest, the crowd made me forget about which lane I was in. I really enjoyed it.” Now the 21-year-old is looking forward to the 4x400m relay where she wants to make the final.

Linda Stahl described her qualification experience as a “Déjà-vu”. Two years ago in Osaka, the Bayer athlete also only needed one attempt to secure a place in the final where she finished eighth. “I am happy that I only needed to throw once. That was what I had set out to do. The throw was not perfect and I would now like to at least finish eighth again,” said the medical student.

Elsewhere, Steffi Nerius could not live up to the writing on her headband which read “Let’s get it on”. After 61.00m in the first attempt she failed to register a valid second attempt before managing 61.73m in the third attempt. She, therefore, had to wait for the second group to finish before finding out whether she had made the best 12. “There is nothing I can do about it now but I promise to attack in the final. I want to be able to say that I did my very best when the event is over,” said Nerius. Olympic silver medalist Maria Abakumova looked extremely strong and led the way with her attempt of 68.92m.