Counting metres and seconds

Our athletes performed at a world-class level at the Belarus Athletics Cup in Brest

Belarus Athletics Cup finished in Brest. There was a strong pouring rain in the first days of the tournament, the regional centre was constantly covered with gusty winds, which has seriously affected the readiness of the athletes. It was only on the final day of the tournament that the weather cleared up. Nevertheless, the leaders of the national team have repeatedly shown results that are impressive even in terms of world standards.

The shot put competition took place in the rain, but it did not stop Aliona Dubitskaya from winning

Tatyana Kholodovich was the best in javelin competitions in Brest. In her most successful attempt, the athlete threw a javelin at 66 metres 19 centimetres — the best result of the season in the world! Moreover, according to Tatyana, this is not the limit of her capabilities,
“I am really satisfied with the result, but I could have thrown it much further. I was a little hysterical, and it was obvious. I’m even afraid to imagine what the result could be today, so the coach and I prepared well. I’m ready for the next tournaments!” “I’m shocked! This is very cool! I expected to run for 12.59, but I did it for 12.44... I don’t even have another word for it, I’m very happy!” Elvira Herman said after the finish of the 100 metres hurdles. Sure thing, because in Brest she overcame the distance faster than ever before. Her result in the final — 12.44 seconds — is not only a personal record for an athlete, inferior to the national record of Alina Talai by only 0.03 seconds, but also the fifth result of the season in the world. However, there is one thing — a strong tailwind, which reached 3.8 metres per second at the time of the final race was with an allowable maximum of +2 metres...
Maxim Nesterenko took a landslide victory in the triple jump with a score of 17.24 metres. The national record — 17.77 metres — is far away, but Nesterenko’s result corresponds to eighth place in the world top list.
“I am very glad that the work done has borne fruit. Now it is difficult to express my impressions in words. I’m just very glad that I finally overcame this milestone, especially since in Belarus no one has jumped over 17 metres for a long time, and it’s very nice,” said the winner.
There were many other intriguing results. For example, Aleksei Kotkovets performed well at the home Cup by throwing a javelin to 84.36 metres. At the same time, the country record holder in pole vault Iryna Zhuk failed to take the initial height of 4.25 metres in three attempts. World junior champion Matvei Volkov completed his performance in a similar discipline in men with a zero result — he did not reach a height of 4.80 metres. Ultimately, Kristina Mudragel (3.65 metres) and Dzmitry Marfushkin (5.30 metres) gained the victory in the pole vault. Maksim Nedasekau won the men’s high jump competition: he showed his winning result — 2.10 metres — in the rain on the Francysk Skaryna Embankment. Anastasia Mironchik-Ivanova was the first in the long jump with a score of 6.56 metres, and after that she also took part in the triple jump competition — she took second place with a score of 13.66 metres, losing only to Violetta Skvortsova, who jumped away by 13.77 metres...
Women’s 4x400 metres relay winners

Eugene, Oregon is currently hosting the World Athletics Championships. It will be interesting to see what Belarusian athletes with such results could expect to achieve at this tournament. This international event is being held for the first time in almost three years (the last time it was held in September-October, 2019), but it will not be the last major competition for athletes. The European Championship, will be held in Munich from August 15th to August 21st, almost on the same days as the Belarusian Athletics Championships. Chairman of the Belarusian Athletics Federation Ivan Tsikhan said on the STV TV channel that our federation had sent a letter with a request to consider the participation of Belarusian athletes in the continental championship. 

And what about the Russians?

Belarus Athletics Cup was held in an open format. Russian athletes also came to it, however, in a very small roster.
The main star of the Russians, Mariya Lasitskene, did not make it to the tournament in Brest. The men’s and women’s high jump competitions were scheduled to take place on July 12th at Francysk Skaryna Embankment, but due to heavy rain, the women’s competition was postponed to the next day. In the end, Mariya was not among the starters. The press manager of the All-Russian Federation of Athletics (VFLA) Alla Glushchenko explained, “Mariya has a heavy performance schedule. She was supposed to perform in Erino on July 14th. Due to bad weather, the start in Brest was postponed a day later. The team of the athlete decided not to risk it, but Masha will definitely return to Belarus in the near future and will delight local fans with her performance.”
Shot putter Snezhana Trofimets was not embarrassed by the rainy weather: she took part in the Belarus Athletics Cup and took third place with a score of 16.42 metres. Aliona Dubitskaya won in these competitions, throwing the shot to 18.96 metres in her best attempt. Aleksey Fyodorov from Smolensk started in the triple jump competition. The athlete took fourth place with a score of 15.63 metres. Timofey Chaly representing Krasnoyarsk did not finish in the 400 metres hurdles.

Maksim Nedasekau was in a perfect mood after the competition

What’s next?
The republican competitions for the prizes of the Republican Centre for Olympic Training will take place from July 27th to July 29th in Minsk at the Republican Centre for Olympic Training in Athletics. And the National Olympic Stadium Dinamo in Minsk will host the Belarusian Athletics Championships in an open format from August 16th to August 18th. After that, only one tournament will remain in the schedule of the Belarusian Athletics League — the Open Championship of the country in half marathon on the programme of the Minsk International Half Marathon, which is scheduled for September 10th-11th.

Tatiana Pastushenko
PHOTOs BY PAVEL BOGUSH, bfla.eu