Field Events Highlight IPC Athletics European

Stadskanaal – Netherlands, June 25, 2012: Field Events, Three world and three European records were broken on Monday (25 June) at the second day of the IPC Athletics European Championships in Stadskanaal, the Netherlands, as several field athletes had spectacular performances.

There were 31 medal events on Monday, and after two days of competition, Russia leads the standings with 11 gold and 28 overall medals. Ukraine is second with 20 total medals, including six gold, Greece is third with five golds and 10 overall medals.

In the day’s first event, Ukraine’s Marlia Pomazan threw a new world-record distance of 11.34m in the Shot Put F35 to win the F35/36 event. Her teammate, Alla Malchyk, claimed silver (8.76m/887 points) and Poland’s Chilewska (9.61m/881 points) finished with the bronze.

Lithuania’s Mindaugas Bilius won his second gold medal of the Championships with a throw of 14.24m in the Shot Put F37 final, beating Ukraine’s Mykola Zhabnyak (13.89m) and Russia’s Aleksei Lesnykh (13.75m).

Serbia’s Tanja Dragic stormed to gold in the women’s Javelin F12/13+F37/38 event with a new world-record distance for the F12 class of 37.85 (998 points).

With a mark of 29.10m in the Club Throw F32, Great Britain’s Stephen Miller became a three-time European champion. Czech Republic’s Frantisek Serbus (26.08m) claimed silver and Croatia’s Slaven Hudina (24.84m) took bronze.

Poland’s Karolina Kucharczyk set a personal-best mark of 5.88m in the Long Jump F20 to win the women’s competition, as Russia’s Krestina Zhukova (5.44m) won silver and Croatia’s Mikela Ristoski (5.29m) won bronze.

In other field events, Bulgaria’s Ruzhdi Ruzhdi won the Shot Put F55 with a mark of 10.97m, Ukraine’s Vasyl Lishchynskyi won the Shot Put F11 – his second gold in two days – with a distance of 13.49 and Greece’s Georgios Karminas threw the Javelin 14.31m to win the F33/34/52/53 competition.

The track events were highlighted by the Dutch and the Russians., as both delegations proved exceptional in the sprints despite the windy conditions. For the host nation, Stefan Rusch won the 100m T34 event in a time of 17.41, as Amy Siemons clocked a 19.39 to secure gold in the women’s 100m T34/52/53.

The Netherlands’ Marlou van Rhijn, a double-amputee and double world-record holder, took first place in the 200m T44 final, as her nation swept the event. Suzan Verduijn ran the distance in 29.91 to take silver and Iris Pruysen ran it in 30.96 to claim bronze. Russia’s Alexey Kotlov sped to the European title in the 800m T46 in a time of 1:59.97, and Margarita Goncharavoa won the 200m T38 event on the women’s side for the Russians in a time of 28.39.

The delegation of 67 athletes continued its run on the track for most of the afternoon, with Nikol Rodomakina winning the women’s 200m T46 in a time of 25.88 and Roman Kapranov coming away victorious in the men’s 400m T38 event with a top time of 54.33. On the track, Finland also won two golds, with victories from Leo Pekka Tahti in the 100m T54 race (14.21) and Amanda Kotaja in the 400m T54 event. (1:01.26).

Italy’s Oxana Corso surprised the spectators as well, racing to the title with a new European record in the 200m T35 event with a time of 24.07. The IPC Athletics European Championships, featuring around 520 athletes from 38 countries, will run through Thursday and are the last major international Athletics event ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. —- IPC

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