Gluschenko coasts to new Maccabiah 200m record

Familiar names take home gold during the Maccabiah track and field competition at Hadar Yossef Stadium in Tel Aviv.

By ZACK COLMAN
maccabiah promotion 248 (photo credit: )
maccabiah promotion 248
(photo credit: )
Familiar names took home more gold Wednesday during the Maccabiah track and field competition at Hadar Yossef Stadium in Tel Aviv. Israeli Dimitriy Gluschenko and Canadian Nicole Gitlin won the 200 meter men's and women's events, respectively, just a day after they each won the 100m races. Gluschenko's 21.12-second time set a Maccabiah record. "This is a good feeling. It's a Maccabiah record, this is good. [But] I can, I can run faster," said Gluschenko, whose personal best in the 200m is 20.75 seconds. Although the wind was weaker Wednesday - Gluschenko said the breeze held him back in Tuesday's 100m event - he woke up somewhat sore. Still, even with less than 24 hours rest, he was able to take first place by beating fellow Israelis Miki Bar-Yehoshua (21.63 seconds) and Ram Mor (21.78). Gitlin had a similar schedule as Gluschenko and said she felt stiff this morning. The 27-year-old said she generally performs better in the 100m race, and she had a little difficulty turning the corner in the 200m, but was able to recover and pull away from Israeli Rita Pogralov (24.78) and US runner Jessica Forman (25.54) for the victory with a 24.34 time. "I can't even describe how special this is for me," said the Saskatoon native. "I've been planning this for eight years to come here and compete so this is a really special thing for me." Speaking of plans, they changed for US runner Samantha Adelberg, 19, of Washington D.C. after Wednesday's women's 800 m event. Adelberg, who runs at Brown University, said she had been frustrated with her running career and considered quitting the sport. It's amazing what winning a gold medal can do. "I'm really happy," said Adelberg, who ran the track in 2:13.65 to beat Israel's Suleiman Hativ-Doa and US teammate Seri Gordon. "This has been an awful season. I was going to quit running, but then I came here and realized I'm still really into it. This has definitely gotten me excited for the future. It reminded me why I like to run." Elsewhere, Israel's Mary Alias took the 5,000m race with a 17:49.71 time, storming ahead of US runner Katherine Pierce, who ran the track in 18:33.52. Great Britain's Joanne Ankier, who almost qualified for the Olympics, was also left in Alias' wake. Ankier, who finished with a 18:53.40 time, said she was unfit for the race. Ma'ayan Forman took the gold for Israel in the women's high jump with a 1.81m leap. Israel won all three medals in the event, as it was the only team to enter competitors. The US earned another gold medal when Jillian Schwartz took first place with a 4.24m performance in the pole vault. Schwartz bested Morin Azizi, the Israeli national champion who set a personal record Wednesday with a 3.94m vault. Schwartz's teammate, Aly Goldfarb, snagged the bronze medal with a 3.60m vault.