Dima Kroyter and Anastasia Muchkayev came up well short in their attempt to
qualify for the London Olympics on Wednesday, despite claiming gold medals at
the 76th Israeli Athletics Championships at Hadar Yosef Stadium in Tel
Aviv.
The 19-year-old Kroyter needed to clear 2.28-meters in the high
jump to set the Olympic B Standard and book his flight to London as one of the
delegation’s up-and-coming athletes. However, he could only jump 2.17m and will
get one last chance to secure a place in London at the European Championships
later this month.
“Things didn’t really work out for me tonight,” Kroyter
said. “The European Championships later this month were always my main target
and we’ll see what I’m capable of there.”
Muchkayev will also turn her
focus to the Europeans, which begin in Helsinki on June 27, after only recording
16.42m in the shot put on Wednesday, no where near the 17.20m she
requires.
There was further disappointment on Wednesday after favorite
Donald Sanford pulled up injured during the 400m final, which was won by Reuben
Majola in 47.51 seconds.
There were, however, some encouraging results
for the Israelis.After a short injury layoff, Jillian Schwartz cleared 4.34m in
the pole vault, proving that she is slowly finding her form ahead of the London
Olympics.
“I feel good physically,” said the 32- year-old Schwartz, who
booked her place at this summer’s London Olympics by clearing 4.52 meters in
January.
“I’m a little rusty with competitions as this is my first
competition outdoors.
It takes a couple of competitions to get into the
groove,” added Schwartz, who is targeting a place in the final at the
Europeans.
Yochai Halevi recorded 16.86m to win the triple jump on
Wednesday, but the result will not be recognized as a personal best as he
benefited from an illegal tail wind.
Olga Lenskiy, 19, won the women’s
100m final in a new personal best time of 11.63 seconds, but she has still yet
to secure her place at the European Championships where she hopes to join her
41-year-old mother Irina, who won the 100m hurdles in 14.13s.
Dmitriy
Glushchenko was crowned the fastest man in Israel on Wednesday, winning the 100m
final in 10.44s.
