On Sunday, Stuttgart completely set in motion. It seemed that everyone, young and old, decided to join the city run and travel 6.7 kilometers from the central city square Schlosselplatz to the Gottlieb-Daimler Arena in a run. Well, having finished, most of them remained at the stadium to watch the second day of the competition of the best athletes in the world, which ended the IAAF World League finals. In just two days, it was announced that the competition was attended by 56 thousand spectators, which once again proved the correctness of the decision of the International Athletics Federation to postpone the tournament for the next three years in this German city.
Hero of the day
The organizers of the competition do not invite all the winners to the press conference, but only those who have shown the highest results in Stuttgart. On Sunday, such a choice was a foregone conclusion. An American with a funny combination of first and last name Tyson Gay showed one of the best results in history in the 200-meter race - 19.68. Only the world record holder Michael Johnson and Xavier Carter ran faster than him. And Frankie Fredericks once showed the same result. The famous Fredericks attended the competitions in Stuttgart as an honored guest and was one of the first to welcome Gay after the finish. “I am very glad that at my favorite distance there are so many talents led by Gay. I think next year they will be able to run even faster and break the world record, ”Fredericks said. The hero of the day answered with enthusiastic thanks - both to the organizers and the famous sprinter: “My God, I am just delighted! This green path is super fast. Will I be able to break the world record? If Frankie got to the start and helped me, I would have done it. ”
And ours?
Two victories were won on this day by Russian stars. As a matter of fact, they did not expect anything else from Elena Isinbayeva. The world's strongest pole vaulter won another victory, albeit without the usual brilliance. Already at an altitude of 5.75, she made an unsuccessful attempt, but the second time she crossed the bar. And then made three unsuccessful attempts at 5.85. From the rostrum, it seemed that she spoke so uncertainly that the first questions of the journalists after the end of the competition concerned her health. “Do not worry, everything is in order, I have no injuries, and I feel good,” the athlete assured. - I’m just very tired, but I have three more starts ahead this year. Well, nothing, I’ll rest for a week, and everything will be all right. ”
Tatyana Lebedeva also won, although she was far from the best form. The result of 14 m 82 cm was enough to win the triple jump, although it was given to her with obvious tension. Lebedeva even refused to test new sneakers. “The sector was very hot and there was no shadow at all. I had to use all my experience and professionalism and force myself to jump as far as possible. This is a good finish of the season for me, although I wanted to jump further. There wasn’t enough adrenaline, ”Lebedeva said.
The European champion in high jumps Andrey Silnov could also win, but taking 2.33, he tried to concede to the Swede Linus Turnbald, who once again proved the strength of the Scandinavians in this form. After all, women Kaisa Bergquist excelled here in women.
African distances
At medium and stayer distances, African victories are becoming a family affair. The Ethiopian Kenenis Bekele repeated the success of his 19-year-old brother Tariku, who won the 3000 meters run the day before. Kenenis did not leave a chance to rivals from Kenya (of whom there were six out of 10 participants in the race) at a five-kilometer distance. And after the finish, he immediately rushed to the car waiting for him, leaving on the run, which was in a hurry to the airport in order to fly home. Perhaps the secret of African success in the schedule of aircraft?
The decoration of the tournament was the next duel of the Ethiopian Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba at the stayer distances. Experts are already comparing their confrontation this season with great duels of past years at the level of Ovett - Coe or Johnson - Fredericks. The rivals are worthy of each other, and if on Saturday the “five” was stronger than Dibaba, then on Sunday Defar took revenge at a distance of 3000 m.
Farewell to the legend
And the competition ended on a sad note of farewell to the great sport of one of the greatest athletes - the Czech javelin thrower Jan Zhelezny. Three-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, multiple world record holder, he, at the age of 40, remained one of the best on the planet, taking 6th place in this competition. “I will miss the atmosphere of competition, the indescribable feelings that you experience before the starts, but everything has its time. It's time to give way to the young, ”said Zhelezny.