Track Beauty of the Week: Jenny Elbe

Jenny Elbe is this week's Track Beauty!

Photo from Frank/Wikimedia Commons

The 22-year is an up and coming German triple jumper. Although she missed the "B" standard by four centimeters, Elbe had a fruitful 2012 season. The Technical University of Dresden student made her first major senior team in the European Championships in Helsinki. Elbe registered a best mark of 13.98m, missing out on a finals appearance by three places. 

She has a personal best of 14.06m outdoors and 14.02m indoors which she both set this season. These are her first ever forays into fourteen-meter jumps. 

Jenny has won numerous German national titles in age-group competition. As an 18-year old, she finished in 10th place at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, notching 13.01m in the final. Elbe performed much better at the 2009 European Junior Championships in Novi Sad. Her 13.55m effort propelled the German to third place behind Liane Pintsaar (13.89m) of Estonia and Cristina Sandu (13.61m) of Romania.

Elbe's improvement has been gradual the past few years. Expect the talented German to be a legitimate contender in the near future.

Sources:

All-Athletics Profile

IAAF Biography

Wikipedia Biography

Additional Links:

Jenny's Official Website
Jenny's Facebook Page

A Future World Beater

Ariane Friedrich's achilles injury back in December 2010 did not leave a void in German high jumping. Instead, it left the field wide open for up and coming athletes to excel. One such talent is Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch. 

Read: "Track Beauty of the Week - Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch"

She made her major championship debut at the European Indoor Championships in Paris. She finished 15th in qualifying, registering a mark of 1.89m - 3cm off her then indoor personal best of 1.93m. Marie-Laurence also failed to progress beyond the qualifying rounds at the Helsinki European Championships, as she placed outside the top 12. 

The young German immediately made amends. A few weeks after the European Championships, Jungfleisch soared to a new personal best of 1.95m in Luzern, ranking her 17th in the 2012 top list.

Marie-Laurence has yet to win her first ever major championship medal, much less a barge into the final. Judging by her solid jumping the past few seasons, expect the young German to gradually work her way up the high jump hierarchy.

Sources:
Jungfleisch’s Leichtathletik.de profile
IAAF Biography

Helsinki European Champinships: Women's 4x400m Relay

The 4x400m relay has traditionally been the final event of athletics competitions. From low-key schools meets to the Olympics, the grueling yet exciting event has always been the curtain-ender. 

The recently concluded European Championships in Helsinki were no different. With the Russian Olympic Trials being held the week after, the European athletics powerhouse opted to send its "B" team to Helsinki. With the absence of the perennial favorites, other countries had the opportunity to step up and rise to the occasion. Coming into the European Championships, the Ukrainian quartet were the favorites, having run the fastest time by a European team (3:26.36) this season. The British squad, the reigning World Indoor champions from Istanbul, were also well-regarded. 

The German team (Esther Cremer, Janin Lindenberg, Christiane Klopsch, and Fabienne Kohlmann) sped to an early lead in the first lap. The Ukrainians eventually ate up the gap. By the third leg, the experienced Natalya Pyhyda Наталія Пигида padded Ukraine's lead by around 10 meters. France, Germany, and Great Britain ran head-to-head coming into the final lap. 

The Ukrainians lived up to their top billing, as the foursome of Yuliya Olishevska, Olha Zemlyak, Pyhyda, and Alina Lohvynenko stopped the clock at 3:25.07 - the fourth fastest time in the world in 2012. France (Phara Anacharsis, Luina Guion Firmin, Marie Gayot, and Floria Guei) came in second (3:25.49), almost two-tenths of a second ahead of the gutsy Czech squad (Zuzana Hejnová, Zuzana Bergrová, Jitka Bartoničková, and Denisa Rosolova - 3:26.02) composed mostly of 400m hurdlers. The favored British (Shana Cox, Nicola Sanders, Lee McConnell, and Eilidh Child) wound up in fourth place.

Source:
ECH 2012 Results

Portrait Verena Sailer

Check out this interesting documentary on Verena Sailer!

Sabine Lisicki - I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

I'm still gutted at Sabine Lisicki's Wimbledon quarter-finals loss to compatriot Angelique Kerber. It was a gallant stand for my favorite tennis player. I know you'll bounce back!

On a lighter note:

Photo from  blog.sportscape.tv

Can Sabine actually sing this song?

On Juliane Stolle

I've been perplexed at the popularity of Juliane Stolle. I first wrote about the talented German sprinter back in 2010, as part of my weekly Track Beauty feature in my other blog. Despite her seeming inactivity in the athletics circles (her profiles in All-Athletics and IAAF are dated), she has been drumming up a consistent stream of hits to hurdler49. 

Read: "Track Beauty of the Week - Juliane Stolle"

For instance, my original Track Beauty post on Juliane has generated 105 unique page views today, mostly from search engine referrals. In terms of search strings, 11 people have come across my blog looking for information on Juliane. The post has garnered 1,838 unique page views in its almost two years of existence, at par with articles about active and popular athletes like Maris Mägi (5/1/2011 - 1,962), Janin Lindenberg (3/5/2011 - 1,824), and Danielle Carruthers (8/7/2011 - 1,815).

In fact, my post is at the very top of the Google search results for "Juliane Stolle."

I must admit that I"m embarrassed about this. The tone of my original Track Beauty feature was not entirely positive, reeking of disappointment at the seeming end of her athletics career. 

For this, I apologize to Juliane. The Track Beauty of the Week feature intends to showcase the talent of female athletes, not to highlight their flaws. I have made necessary revisions to uplift the mood of my article.

Whatever Juliane's career path now, however different it may be from athletics, I wish her the best.

Angelique Kerber (GER, Tennis)

Angelique Kerber is a top-ranked, German tennis player. The 24-year old turned professional in 2003, and has won 2 WTA and 11 ITF titles. 

Kerber at the 2011 U.S. Open. (Photo from robbiesaurus)

She is currently ranked 8th in the world, the highest in her career. In Grand Slam tournaments, Kerber has performed best on the hard court and clay, having reached as far as the quarterfinals at the French Open and the semifinals at the U.S. Open.

She barged into the top 100 the same year she turned pro. It took some time, however, for Kerber to hoist a WTA crown. In 2010, she battled Mariana Duque Mariño at the 2010 Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas, but faltered in straight sets. 

The German's robust global ranking is a sign that she is nearing the peak of her game. True enough, she has proved her mettle, notching victories over 2011 French Open Champion Li Na, former top-ranked player Jelena Jankovic, and Caroline Wozniacki. Angelique finally triumphed at a WTA tour event this year. Despite being seeded ninth, Kerber took out the experienced Marion Bartoli in a three-set nail-biter. 

Source:

Wikipedia

Additional Link:

Kerber's WTA Profile