Track Beauty of the Week: Yuliya Gushchina Ю́лия Гу́щина

Yuliya Gushchina Ю́лия Гу́щина is this week's Track Beauty!

Photo from Erik van Leeuwen

The sprinter has been a fixture in Russia's crack relay squads for the past years. As a junior, Gushchina won a hard fought 4x400m relay bronze at the World Junior Championships in Kingston. [1] The Russian women, a proven power in the long relays, followed this up with European Junior title the next year. [2] Ever since 2005, Yuliya has been part of almost all of Russia's major senior championship relay teams. 

To date, Gushchina had won 4x400m relay golds at the European Championships (2006) and the World Indoors (2008). Her campaign at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was remarkably fruitful, having been part of the gold medal-winning Russian 4x100m relay quartet. [3] Yuliya also had a 4x400m relay silver and a fourth place finish in the individual 400m dash. [4]

Yuliya is well-known for her versatility. She has personal bests of 11.13s, 22.53s, and 49.28s in the 100m, 200m, and the 400m, respectively. [5] Since her 200m dash silver at the 2006 European Championships, Gushchina have not managed a return to the medal podium in an individual event.

References:

1. "Yuliya Gushchina." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuliya_Gushchina. Retrieved 10-24-2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. "Yuliya Gushchina." http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=187560/index.html. Retrieved 10-24-2012.

Track Beauty of the Week: Brigitte Foster-Hylton

Brigitte Foster-Hylton is this week's Track Beauty!

Photo from the Jamaica Gleaner

In the run-up to the London Olympic Games, Foster-Hylton was having a stellar string of performances. Her 12.51s clocking in Kingston (5/5/2012) was inferior only to Sally Pearson's 12.40, 12.49s, and 12.49s in the season top list. At 37-years of age, with a complete collection of World Championship medals in her curriculum vitae, London was Foster-Hylton's last shot at Olympic glory. 

But then again, the sprint hurdles is an unpredictable event. The Jamaican crashed out of the qualifying rounds after clipping a hurdle badly. Although she managed to finish the race, her substandard time was not enough for her to progress to the semifinals. Foster-Hylton was inconsolable.

Read: "Sally Pearson's Heartwarming Gesture"

Ever since placing second at the Central American and Carribean Championships in 1999, [1] the Jamaican sprint hurdler has been on the fast track to success. In her Olympic debut in Sydney, Foster-Hylton made it as far to the final. She made up for a semifinals exit in Athens with her sixth place finish in Beijing. [2]

Read: "Brigitte To Bid Farewell"

The highlight of Foster-Hylton's career was winning the World Championship gold in Berlin back in 2009, where she ran 12.51s to egde out  Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (12.54s) and compatriot Delloreen Ennis-London (12.55s).

References:

1. "Brigitte Foster-Hylton." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Foster-Hylton. Retrieved 10-14-2012.
2. Ibid.

Track Beauty of the Week: Goldie Sayers

Goldie Sayers is this week's Track Beauty!

Amidst the pouring British rain, Goldie stamped her class on a loaded javelin field a month before the London Olympic Games. Sayers threw a new personal best of 66.17m in Crystal Palace to snatch the win at that particular leg of the Diamond League. But her emphatic victory came at a huge cost, as Goldie injured her right arm in the process.

Sayers at the Crystal Palace. (Photo from Robbie Dale)

She still managed to compete at her home Olympic Games, albeit at a sub-par quality. Sayers crashed out of her third Olympics without reaching the final.

For the better part of the past decade, Sayers has been the poster girl of British javelin throwing. As a junior, she placed sixth at the World Junior Championships in Chile. [1] She did even better at the European Junior Championships in Grosetto a year later, winning the silver medal with a throw of 55.40m. [2]

Her first senior final came at the Helsinki World Championships in 2005, where she came in  at 12th place. Although she threw three centimeters shorter than at the Athens Olympics,  Goldie fared much better in Helsinki in terms of overall placing. Sayers almost barged into the medals in Beijing, but her impressive 65.75m throw was only good enough for fourth place.

Judging by her sterling performance in Crystal Palace, 2012 should have been Goldie's year had she not succumbed to injury.

References:

1. "Goldie Sayers." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldie_Sayers. Retrieved 10-7-2012.
2. Ibid.

Track Beauty of the Week: Tatiana Grigorieva Татьяна Григорьев

Tatiana Grigorieva Татьяна Григорьев is this week's Track Beauty!

As a 15-year old kid back in 2000, one of the very first athletics articles I've read was about the glamor couple of Grigorieva and Viktor Chistiakov Виктор Чистяков. Grigorieva was one of the most stunning female athletes ever to grace the sport. Hence, it is about time that she gets some air time in Track Beauty of the Week. More importantly, the Russian-born Australian was an early pole vault pioneer.

Prior to making the big shift to vaulting, Grigorieva was a talented intermediate hurdler [1]. She took up pole vaulting when the couple migrated to Australia in 1997. [2] In light of her hurdling background and natural athleticism, her improvement in the relatively new discipline took dramatic turns in her first few years. From clearing 3.90m in 1997, Grigorieva attained a new personal best of 4.50m in 1999, two years after taking up vaulting. [3]

Grigorieva won the silver medal for her adopted country at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the first time the event was held for female athletes. Tatiana soared over 4.55m to clinch silver behind American Stacey Dragila (4.60m). In a pole vault career spanning almost 10 years, Tatiana had amassed two Australian titles (1999 and 2001), a Commonwealth Games silver (2006), and a Commonwealth Games title (2002). [4] 

References:

1. "Tatiana Grigorieva." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatiana_Grigorieva. Retrieved 10-3-2012.
2. Ibid. 
3. "Iaaf.org - Athletes - Tatiana Grigorieva." http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=136035/index.html. Retrieved 10-3-2012.
4. "Tatiana Grigorieva."

JUNK THE CYBERCRIME ACT

In a country that supposedly takes pride in its bloodless People Power Revolt of 1986, a draconian law has been passed curbing freedom of expression.

JUNK THE CYBERCRIME ACT

Read: "What’s frightening about the cybercrime law?"

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

Track Beauty of the Week: Yargelis Savigne

Yargelis Savigne is this week's Track Beauty!

Savigne competing at the 2010 Memorial Van Damme. (Photo from Erik van Leeuwen)

The Cuban has been a fixture of elite-level women's triple jumping for the past decade. To say that Savigne's achievements are impressive is an understatement. With three World Championships medals to her name, two of these back-to-back golds, Savigne is undoubtedly one of the big guns in the contemporary athletics circuit.

The 27-year old has a personal best of 15.28m from the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, the sixth-best triple jump outdoors. 

An Olympic medal is the only thing missing from the Cuban's display cabinet. The 2008 Beijing Olympics could have been her time for Olympic glory, having won the World title in stellar fashion a year earlier. Six women went beyond the 15 meter mark in the final. Savigne finished in a distant fifth place with a best mark of 15.05m. Her performance seemed to have dipped since then, as she failed to barge into the top three of the subsequent major internationals. She has not flown beyond 15 meters for the past two years, although she came tantalizingly close in 2011 (14.99m SB)..

Nevertheless, Savigne has been consistent in reaching the finals. In light of her considerable experience - and an obvious desire for an Olympic title - expect the Cuban to stage a comeback of Felix Sanchez proportions in the coming years.

Sources:

Wikipedia

IAAF

Track Beauty of the Week: Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir

Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir is this week's Track Beauty!

Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir competing in Switzerland. (Photo from Trailpilot)

Hjálmsdóttir is Iceland's best female javelin thrower. The 26-year old has a personal best of 62.77m from the qualifying rounds at the London Olympic Games. Thanks to Ásdís' classy throw, she barged into the final of the highly comeptitive event. She eventually finished in a respectable 11th place, notching a best throw of 59.08m in the final. 

The javelin thrower has been competing in high level meets since 2001, when she made her international debut at the World Youth Champiomships in Debrecen. Ásdís' record in age group competitions has been solid, with finals appearances at the 2004 World Junior Championships and the 2005 European U23 Championships.

She made her Olympic debut in Beijing. A year later, the Berlin World Championships-bound Hjálmsdóttir bettered the 60m mark for the first time in her career. Her curriculum vitae speaks volumes about her experience.

Prior to the London Olympics, Hjálmsdóttir actually had a forgettable campaign at the Helsinki European Championships, as she crashed out in the qualifying rounds with a sub-par 55.29m. Surely, her superb performance in London more than made up for the disappoint in Helsinki!

Sources:

Wikipedia

IAAF

Additional Link: 
Hjálmsdóttir's Facebook Page

Track Beauty of the Week: Libania Grenot

Libania Grenot is this week's Track Beauty!

Grenot is Italy's best quarter-miler. The Cuban-born Italian sprinter has a personal best of 50.30s, the standing Italian record in the 400m dash. The 29-year old is a grizzled veteran of the athletics scene. She made her international debut at the World Youth Championships in Bydgoszcz in 1999 for her native Cuba, where she finished fifth in the final. 

To date, she has taken part in two editions of the World Championships (2005 and 2009) and at the Beijing and London Olympic Games. She has reached the semifinals in Beijing, Berlin, and London, underlying her stature as a world-class 400m sprinter. 

She switched allegiance to Italy in 2008, having been married to an Italian for the past two years. Libania is a two-time finalist in the European Championships. She almost made it to the podium in Barcelona, but finished in fourth, stopping the clock at 50.43s.

Sources

Grenot's Wikipedia Italy Biography

IAAF

Track Beauty of the Week: Marije Smits

Marije Smits is this week's Track Beauty!

In honor of the ongoing Paralympic Games in London, it is apt to select a talented, differently-abled athlete as Track Beauty.

Marije Smits. (Photo from Helene Wiesenhaan)

Read: "The Paralympic Athletes" 

Smits is a long jumper and sprinter from the Netherlands. The 25-year old has extensive experience in international-level events. She made her debut in the Paralympics in 2004. [1] Since then she has competed in two editions of the European Championships (2005 and 2012), the World Championships (2006), and the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. [2] 

London is her third appearance at the prestigious quadrennial event.

The 2003 European U20 long jump champion notched a significant victory last year, when she won the World Cup long jump silver medal in Christchurch, New Zealand. [3] She currently has personal bests of 3.73m in the long jump and 17.71s in the 100m dash.

Fourteen years ago, Marije's right leg was amputated above the knee because of cancer. [4] Four years later, Smits won her first gold medal at a regional-level competition in Lille, France. [5]

______________

1. "Marije Smits." Wikipedia, 21 August 2012. http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marije_Smits (25 August 2012).
2. Ibid.
3. "Dutch Parathletics Team A-selectie Marije Smit." Topatletiek, 25 June 2012. http://www.atletiekunie.nl/index.php?page=18&profileitem=218 (25 August 2012).
4. "Marije Smits."
5. Ibid.