It's always great to see featured Track Beauty athletes do well in international competition.
The European Championships have seen the rise of Moa Hjelmer, Jiřina Ptácniková, Alina Talai (Alina Talay Аліна Талай), Laura Ikauniece, Nikolia Kyriakopoulou (Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Νικολέτα Κυριακοπούλου) and Margrethe Renstrøm. Dafne Schippers and Gesa Felicitas Krause have also done well in Helsinki, as middle distance runner Katya Kostetskaya (Ekaterina Kostetskaya Екатерина Костецкая) made waves at the Russian Championships.
The European Championships have seen the rise of Moa Hjelmer, Jiřina Ptácniková, Alina Talai (Alina Talay Аліна Талай), Laura Ikauniece, Nikolia Kyriakopoulou (Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou Νικολέτα Κυριακοπούλου) and Margrethe Renstrøm. Dafne Schippers and Gesa Felicitas Krause have also done well in Helsinki, as middle distance runner Katya Kostetskaya (Ekaterina Kostetskaya Екатерина Костецкая) made waves at the Russian Championships.
This confirms the fact that Track Beauty of the Week does not just feature mere eye candies, but women gifted with athletic excellence!
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| Photo from SVD Sport |
Moa's surprise 400m dash performance in Helsinki is my favorite moment of the European Championships. Although the newly crowned European Champion had won a 200m dash bronze at the 2011 European U23 championships, her previous best at a major international were semifinals stints at the World Championships in Daegu and the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.
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| Photo from sport.cz |
Coming into Helsinki, the Czech had made the finals of the Daegu World Championships, two editions of the World Indoors, the 2010 European Championships, and the 2011 European Indoor Championships, where she placed fourth. Jirina could not seem to barge into the top three, despite such consistency.
Her time finally came in Helsinki, where she won the title under the worst conditions possible!
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| Photo belmarket.by |
The Belarussian hurdler had a breakthrough campaign at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where she won her first ever major international medal - a bronze. She followed this up with a gutsy showing in Helsinki, finishing in second place behind two-time champion Nevin Yanit.
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| Photo from Romualds Vambuts/Sportacentrs.com |
Ikauniece might just be the future of heptathlon. She is still just 20-years old and is rapidly improving. Laura had won World Youth silver and European Junior bronze the past few years. Her bronze medal-winning tally of 6,335 in Helsinki came in the wake of five personal bests.
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| Photo from Protein-world.com |
The 26-year old Kyriakopoulou has shown excellent form this season, churning out respectable performances in several meets like the Diamond League. Her European Championships bronze in Helsinki is her first ever major championship medal.
6.) Margrethe Renstrøm
The Norwegian record holder won the bronze in the long jump. Renstrøm flew to a distance of 6.67m in the final, one-hundredth of a second off her 2-year old national record set at the Barcelona European Championships. This was her first major championship medal.
6.) Margrethe Renstrøm
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| Photo from sport.pl |
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| Photo from Erik van Leeuwen |
Schippers ran a European-leading time of 22.70s in the semifinals in Helsinki. She failed to replicate her form in the final, however, perhaps because of a lack of practice in the half lap. Dafne is also a talented heptathlete, having scored 6,360 points in Gotzis this season.
Nevertheless, this was the World Junior and European Junior Heptathlon champion's first appearance at a senior-level final.
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| Photo from Matthias Reiß / Andreas Grieß/Wikimedia |
As a Daegu finalist, the young Krause was a favorite for a medal in Helsinki. She finished in fourth place behind compatriot Antje Möldner-Schmidt. Krause's transition to the senior ranks seems to be going smoothly.
The German still has more left in the tank!
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| Photo from Zimbio/Getty Images |
Kostetskaya was actually a talented 400m hurdler, having won World Junior and European Junior titles, before making the big shift to middle distance running. The Russian has not been as successful since changing events. Aside from her silver at the 2007 World University Games, her best finish was fifth at the Daegu World Championships 800m run final.
This season could just be Katya's time to shine. She came from behind to snatch the Russian 1500m title in Chekosbary, setting a personal best of 3:59.28 - the eight fastest time in the world this season. Kostetskaya also placed third in the 800m final, after running an impressive 1:57.46 (3rd fastest in 2012) in qualifying.
Article by Joboy Quintos
Article by Joboy Quintos
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