Track Beauty of the Week: Brianne Theisen

Brianne Theisen is this week's Track Beauty!

Photo from Pac12 SportsWatch

Theisen is a world-class heptathlete, having had stints at the World Championships and the Olympic Games. As a 16-year old, she made competed at the 2005 World Youth Championships, finishing in 17th place in an event won by future World Champion Tatiana Chernova Татьяна Сергеевна Чернова.[1] Brianne also wound up in the same ranking spot a year later at the World Junior Championships in Beijing.[2]

The Canadian attended the University of Oregon for college, where she distinguished herself in tough NCAA competition. Theisen has won three NCAA titles apiece in Indoor and Outdoor events in her collegiate career, with a 4x400m relay gold in 2010 as icing on the cake.[3]

Brianne went above the 6,000-point barrier for the first time in 2009.[4] She made her major championship debut at the Berlin World Championships that same year. In 2012, Theisen's points tally leapfrogged from 6094  in 2011 to an impressive 6440, thanks to new personal bests in four events.[5] [6] Her indoor campaign was even more fruitful, as she broke the 30-year Canadian national record in the pentathlon (4555 points).

Theisen scored 6383 points in her Olympic debut and finished in a respectable 11th place.

References

1. "Brianne Theisen." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brianne_Theisen. Retrieved 1-23-2013.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. "Athlete profile for Brianne Theisen." http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/canada/brianne-theisen. Retrieved 1-23-2013.
5. "Brianne Theisen." 
6. "Athlete profile for Brianne Theisen."

Track Beauty of the Week: Linda Züblin

Linda Züblin is this week's Track Beauty!

Photo from akiwitz

Züblin has been Switzerland's best multi-eventer the past few years. She has a personal best of 6,018 points, around 200 points short of Corinne Schneider's 27-year old Swiss record.[1] [2] Linda particularly excels in the hurdles, long jump and the javelin, having best marks of 13.55s, 6.24m and 53.01m, respectively.[3]

Her best season came in 2008, when she placed 46th in the world heptathlon rankings.[4] She made her Olympic debut the same year, notching a 30th place in Beijing with a score of 5,743 points.[5] Throughout her athletics career, the 26-year old has taken part in two editions of the World Championships (Osaka and Berlin) and at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.[6]

Züblin seems to have the knack of performing big-time in Götzis. Since setting her personal best in the Austrian multi-events mecca in 2008, Linda has set has come tantalizingly close to bettering her benchmark in the subsequent years in that very town. 

Unfortunately, a return to the 6,000-point territory has eluded the Swiss athlete. Nevertheless, she is just nearing the prime of her career. Götzis 2013, after all, is just around the corner!

References:

1. "Swiss Records in Athletics." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_records_in_athletics. Retrieved 11-25-2012.
2. "Linda Züblin." http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/switzerland/linda-zublin. Retrieved 11-25-2012.
3. Ibid.
4. "International Association of Athletics Federations - Records and Top Lists." http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/combined-events/heptathlon/outdoor/women/senior/2008. Retrieved 11-25-2012.
5. "Linda Züblin."
6. Ibid.

The Versatile Rosolova

I first learned about Denisa Rosolova while watching last year's European Indoor Championships. It was remarkable how a former champion heptathlete and world class long jumper shifted to the quarter mile and strike gold! I admired her athletic talent and versatility. More importantly, Rosolova has the audacity to try something unorthodox. For this, she has reaped dividends.

Read: "Track Beauty of the Week - Denisa Rosolova"

Rosolova competing at the 2011 Bislett Games. (Photo from Chell Hill)

I was in for another surprise while watching the European Athletics Championships. Rosolova competed in the 400m hurdles, repeatedly setting new personal bests. The Czech star eventually wound up third in the final, finishing behind Russia's Irina Daydova (53.77s) and Ukraine's Anna Yaroshchuk Ханна Ярощук (54.24s). Remarkably, this was Rosolova's sixth or seventh outing in her new event, according to an EAA interview.

Back in the olden days, quarter milers usually dabbled in the intermediate hurdlers with good results, considering the fact that the two events are practically sister events. Those with good 400m flat times could succeed in the low hurdles, despite technical flaws in hurdling. True enough, talented intermediate hurdlers like Angelo Taylor, Bershawn Jackson, and Natalya Antyukh have successfully won medals in the flat one-lap sprint and the long relays.

Read:  "The 400m hurdles/400m dash Combo"

What makes Rosolova stand out is her circuitous journey from heptathlete, long jumper, quarter miler and intermediate hurdler. Not many athletes in this day and age of specialization can emulate Rosolova.

Denisa's major championship curriculum vitae is impressive, having won World Junior long jump title, European Indoor Championship gold, and now - the European Championship intermediate hurdles bronze.

Denisa Rosolova, indeed, is one Superb Senora!

Track Beauty of the Week: Dafne Schippers

Dafne Schippers is this week's Track Beauty!

Schippers started out as an excellent heptathlete in her junior and youth days, but has since ventured to the sprints. The Dutch athlete won the World Junior title in Moncton back in 2010, scoring 5,967 points. A year later, she topped the European Junior Championships in Tallinn, amassing a total of 6,153 points.

Photo from Erik van Leeuwen

The 2011 season was a revelation in terms of her flat out sprinting speed. Dafne particularly excelled at the half-lap sprint. Schippers has demonstrated repeatedly that she could hold her own against more seasoned opponents. She made it as far as the 60m dash semifinals at the European Indoor Championships in Paris.

At the Daegu World Championships, the young Schippers ran a lifetime best of 22.69s in the 200m dash heats - a major achievement considering her relative youthfulness and multi-events background. Dafne exited the competition at the semifinals. With her sterling performance in Daegu, Schippers shaved off 1.01s off her then personal best to set a new Dutch national record.

Dafne has not turned her back to heptathlon just yet. In fact, her points tally in the grueling seven-event discipline has shown marked improvement the past few years. To date, she has a personal best of 6,370 points in the heptathlon, set in Gotzis last May 2012.