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Olsson to continue comeback in Znamenskiy Memorial - PREVIEW

22.06.2006

Moscow, Russia - The 48th edition of greatest traditional international competition of the Russian outdoor season, the Brothers Znamenskiy Memorial, will be held on Saturday (24) in a new arena in the town of Zhukovskiy, which is not far from Moscow.
This athletics arena was built thanks to the efforts of the government of the Moscow region, but the town was already famous in athletic circles due to the fact that it is the city in which Olympic 800m champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy lives and is of which he is an honorary citizen.

Gothenburg selection at stake

The principal target of the Russian athletes competing at Saturday’s meeting will be to gain selection for the European Championships team in Gothenburg, Sweden in August.

Russian Chief Coach Valeriy Kulichenko confirmed the selection process for the Russian team at the beginning of the season. Firstly, the winners at last week’s Russian National Championships in Tula gained selection, and now the second and third squad places will be added according to the results of the competitions in Zhukovskiy.

Olsson to continue return to form and fitness

The Znamenskiy Memorial is a kind of a spectacle in two acts. The first part is composed of ten events with the participation of Russian athletes only. The second section consists of 16 events with guests from many countries.

The men’s Triple Jump will be in the main international focus of what the organisers promise will be a crowded stadium of spectators. The reigning Olympic and European champion Christian Olsson of Sweden, who is in the process of making a remarkable comeback after serious injury, having leapt to 17.09m and 17.40m wins in his two competitions so far this season, will compete against strong opposition. Germany’s 1999 World champion Charles Frideck, Cuba’s Yoandri Betanzos, 2003 and 2005 World silver medallist, and Russians Olympic bronze medallist Danila Burkenya and 2001 World bronze medallist Igor Spasovkhodskiy all line-up on Saturday.

Slesarenko vs Vlasic

Olympic champion Yelena Slesarenko, will be the attraction in the Women’s High Jump, and will face Croatia’s Blanca Vlasic, the athlete who she beat to the World Indoor title last March in Moscow. The Croatian who took the silver has an outdoor season’s best of 2.00m, while Slesarenko’s 2006 outdoor best is 1.99m.

Khanafeyeva aims for 80m

Gulfya Khanafeyeva who improved the World Record** in Women’s Hammer at the national championships in Tula is hinting that she might close on the 80m mark very soon, and after her 77.26m exploits on 12 June she will be one of the featured athletes of Saturday’s meeting.

Competing several days ago in heavy rain in Tula, Ludmila Kolchanova took second place in the women’s Long Jump with a 6.97m leap (15 June). Having already jumped a personal best of 7.00m in Sochi on 26 May, we can be sure to look forward to another fine long jumping performance from the 26-year-old in Zhukovskiy.

Russian champion and world season leader in the women’s 1500m, Yelena Soboleva, will compete for a European Championship team spot at 800m. She’ll be opposed by the ambitious Olga Kotlyarova and Svetlana Cherkasova over the two laps.

Borzakovskiy’s task is not easy

With home favourite Yuriy Borzakovskiy in the field, the men’s 800m will of course be the highlight of the meeting for the home crowd and will appropriately close the programme of competition at the Memorial. The main goal for Borzakovskiy in front of his home crowd will be the win but the presence of Latvia’s Dmitrijs Milkevics, who has run 1:44.65 this summer when finishing second in Oslo, will not make his task easy. There will also be the usual posse of top Kenyans to make both Europeans task harder.

Some history

Brothers Georgiy and Serafim Znamenskiy are considered legends of Russian sport. They won titles at the USSR Championships and were the long time national record holders in middle and long distances in the second part of the 1930s. For the eight years of their active careers – from 1933 to 1940 – the duo won 18 medals of which eleven were gold and seven silver. They set 24 national records. But because of the politics of the state at the time they were practically denied all possibility of competing on the international level.

The first competitions of this memorial meeting were held in 1949 and in 1950 at 1500m and at 5000m with the participation of Soviet athletes only. Foreign athletes were invited in 1958, so in two years time the Brothers Znamenskiy Memorial, which has witnessed many record including World marks, will celebrate its 50th anniversary, though it has been hosted by many different cities over the period.

Nickolai Dolgopolov and Rostislav Orlov for the IAAF.

**World record pending ratification
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