Ivan Ukhov and Evgenyi Lukyanenko crowned at the Russian athletics championships
The winners and medallists of the Russian Athletics Championships in discus and hammer throw, high jump, pole vault, and 200m were decided today in Kazan.
Aleksey Khudyakov took the crown in discus throw with his best result - 64.37m. Viktor Butenko (62.74m) grabbed silver, and Nikolay Sedyuk (61.15m) was third.
Aleksey Khudyakov was pleased with his performance even though he did not deliver his best result – 64.73m. “Today all athletes improved their performance; most of them had a result above 60. Kazan welcomed us amazingly; we want to thank everybody,” the athlete said after his performance. “Of course, the competition’s level is high, and this helped. Unfortunately, I failed to control my emotions a little bit. But it’s not a big deal, there are more competitions ahead so I will be striving only for gold.“ Aleksey Khudyakov revealed to journalists that his request to compete at international competitions was turned down. “Of course, I would like to perform at international level,” Aleksey Khudyakov admitted. “And here in fact we can say that it’s my final competition this season, and I don’t have the emotions that are needed. But all in all, I’m happy with everything.”
Denis Lukyanov proved his excellence in hammer throw with a result of 74.74m. Aleksey Sokirsky took silver (74.61). Sergey Litvinov (74.60) settled for bronze.
In pole vault, Evgeny Lukyanenko, silver medallist of the Olympics Games 2008 in Beijing, grabbed gold as he soared over at 5.56m. Georgy Gorokhov finished second - 5.55m. Aleksandr Gripich settled for bronze - 5.55m.
2012 Olympics Champion Ivan Ukhov secured his advantage as he performed a flawless 2.32m high jump. His personal record is 2.42m, and the best result of the season – 2,34m.
Ilya Ivanuk grabbes silver (2.28m). He also attempted to jump 2.32m. Had he succeeded, this could have been his new personal record.
“I should have saved some strength for the upcoming European championships,” Ulya Ivanyuk explained after his performance. “I’ve achieved some of my local goals, made a few attempts and realized that I shouldn’t force events and need to go to the European championships in good shape. Of course, there’s definitely room for improvement; we are working on it.” The athlete refused to make any predictions regarding his performance in Berlin: “Let’s wait and see; there are two weeks left. During training sessions we jump just like this – 2.28-2.25, and these are good results, which means a good headstart that also gives us hope for good results.”
“I love such surfacing very much. I’ve already competed here in 2014 and I have only positive emotions after it.”
Semen Pozdnyakov also entered the high jump top 3 (2.26m).
200m men's and women's events took place on the same day at the Central Stadium.
Kristina Khorosheeva ran 23.17s and topped the podium of Championships.
She admitted that since the start of the season she managed to improve her result, and she is very happy with it. As for the admission to the European championships, she doesn’t have it. “The main criterion for admission is one year in a pool. My one year hasn’t passed yet, so let’s put trust in the future,” she explained.
Anastasiia Polishuk finished second (23.41s). Elena Chernyaeva (Kozlova) was the third with a result of 23.53s.
Aleksandr Efimov made it in 20.81s and secured his champion title in the men's event.
He was in the same situation as Kristina Khorosheeva as to admission to the international competitions - he is in a pool for less than a year. “I wish we had competed not only with each other but at the European and international levels,” the Russian champion said. “And of course the results will be higher there.”
Ruslan Peresyuk (20.82s) finished second, and Denis Ogarkov was the third(20.95s).