Contact Name: Philipp Schätzle Telephone: 0721 782045-­‐260 Email: schaetzle@karlsruhe-­‐event.de PRESS RELEASE INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe Februar 4th, 2017 New records in Karlsruhe’s world-­‐class atmosphere Britain’s Laura Muir sets a new indoor European record and Meeting record for the 3,000 meters / 4,500 enthusiastic visitors at the third station of the IAAF World Indoor Tour in the Karlsruhe athletics stadium, which was completely sold out There was a lot of speculation regarding the starting lists in the run-­‐up to the event. And the results achieved by the more than 120 athletes from 40 countries have confirmed this. INDOOR MEETING fans in the Karlsruhe athletics stadium once again witnessed world-­‐class performances in 2017 at the third station of the IAAF World Indoor Tour. In women’s hurdles in particular, a hot topic before the event, the athletes delivered world-­‐class performances. In a dream final, world record holder in the outdoor 100-­‐
meter hurdles and last year’s winner Kendra Harrison won the women’s 60-­‐meter hurdles in 7.76 seconds, just a hundredth of a second slower than her annual world best. European champion Cindy Roleder (7.90 seconds) and Australia’s sprint star Sally Pearson (7.91 seconds) were close behind her. “I love coming here. The fans are great, the people are always very nice,” Keni – as everyone calls her – showed her excitement after her victory. “The Germans love athletics. And it makes me happy when I can offer a great performance,” the world record holder continued. The women’s 3,000-­‐meter race revealed itself to be just as spectacular. Great Britain’s Laura Muir set a new indoor European record as well as a new Meeting record. With a time of 8:26.41 minutes, she dominated the 3,000 meters and secured victory before Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri (8:29.46 minutes). “I did not expect the race to turn out as fast as it did. I thought that I could run it in 8:30, but I really didn’t expect this speed and a European record!” Muir said after this superb race. In the Meeting premiere of women’s shot-­‐put, Germany’s most successful shot-­‐putter, Christina Schwanitz, left the competition behind. In her fifth try, she achieved the winning distance of 18.41 meters. This also meant a Meeting record, since this was the first time that the INDOOR MEETING included women’s shot-­‐put. “I am happy that I was already able to improve by 30 centimeters. In addition, the atmosphere was great here, which means that the competition becomes more enjoyable. Thank you very much for the great support,” the winner Christina Schwanitz said after her competition, before signing countless autographs for fans. US-­‐American Erik Sowinski decided the men’s 800 meters for himself in a hard-­‐fought race. After a final sprint, he achieved victory with a time of 1:46.80 minutes, followed by Spain’s Kevin López (1:47.04 minutes). Local hero Christoph Kessler’s great performance also deserves a mention, coming in fifth place with a new personal best (1:47.81 minutes). In the women’s 800 meters, Polish Joanna Jozwik secured victory with a time of 2:01.26 minutes. The Kenyans battled out the men’s 1,500-­‐meter race amongst themselves. Silas Kiplagat finished the race in 3:38.51 minutes, closely followed by his countryman Elijah Motonai Manangoi (3:38.53 minutes). Lisa Ryzih had set the bar to 4.78 meters in the women’s pole vault competition – the same height as the German record. However, she closely missed clearing this height, leaving her with a height of 4.67 meters. This was still enough to win the competition ahead of Minna Nikkanen from Finland. Local hero Julian Howard did not succeed in winning the men’s long jump. His jump of 7.97 meters was enough to secure European championship standard. But South African Godfrey Khotso Mokoena relegated him to second place after achieving a distance of 8.05 meters. In the men’s high jump, Bulgarian Pavel Seliverstau won the competition and set an annual world record with a top height of 2.30 meters. Nothing could beat the excitement of the women’s 60-­‐meter race. Jamaican Gayon Evans finished the race in 7.14 seconds, achieving a new personal best and leaving British Dina Asher-­‐
Smith, who had been the favorite before the race, just a hundredth of a second behind her with a time of 7.15 seconds. In the men’s hurdles, Britain’s Andrew Pozzi won the race in 7.44 seconds, beating Orlando Ortega from Spain (7.59 seconds). Sports director Alain Blondel gave a thoroughly positive verdict after the 33rd edition of the athletics Meeting: “We have experienced one of the best Meetings of all times this year. Many athletes, whether first-­‐timers in Karlsruhe or veterans, have communicated their excitement about the track and the atmosphere in the stadium to me. We are, of course, very satisfied with this.” Martin Wacker, Meeting director and CEO of the organizing company KARLSRUHE EVENT GmbH, thanked the sponsors and volunteers: “Without this broad support of the numerous partners and sponsors, a Meeting of such quality would not be possible. I would also like to thank the numerous voluntary helpers. Every one of them deserves the greatest respect!” To conclude the IAAF World Indoor Tour, the athletics circus will make a further stop in Torun, Poland, on February 10th before finishing in Birmingham, Great Britain, on February 18th.