Frenkel into final at European indoor championships
23-year-old sets new Israel record in highjump of 1.94 meters in Paris.
By ALLON SINAIDanielle Frenkel(photo credit: IAA)
Danielle Frenkel qualified for her second straight European high-jump final on Saturday, continuing her amazing progress of recent years.The 23-year-old, who only began to focus on athletics five years ago, set a new Israeli record of 1.94 meters in her third attempt to progress to the final of the European indoor athletics championships in Paris, seven months after becoming the first Israeli woman to compete in a final at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.“I’m delighted,” said Frenkel, who hopes to finish in Sunday’s final better than the 12th place she managed in Barcelona. “After I cleared 1.94m I felt absolutely amazing, but now I need to know how to settle myself because I have only done half the job. It is important that I am as focused for the final as I was for the qualifiers.”Frenkel cleared her jumps between 1.80m and 1.92m in her first attempts and Saturday’s result also ensures her of a place in this summer’s World Championships.Ma’ayan Furman finished in the 23rd and last position after clearing just 1.80m.On Friday, 18-year-old Dima Kroyter could only clear 2.17m in the men’s high-jump qualifiers, 11 centimeters under his personal best.Kroyter ended his first major senior competition in 18th position.Also Friday, Yochai Halevi missed out on a place in the men’s triple jump final, leaping 16.34m to finish in 12th place.Meanwhile, Russia bagged two golds halfway through the second day of the championships on Saturday while Britain’s Mo Farah won the men’s 3,000 meters final.Anna Avdeeva started Russia’s dominance by winning the women’s shot put with a throw of 18.70 meters to beat German duo Christina Schwanitz and Josephine Terlecki.
Ivan Ukhov then leaped 2.38 meters to claim the men’s high jump gold with Jaroslav Baba of the Czech Republic second and fellow Russian Aleksandr Shustov taking bronze at the Bercy complex in the French capital.Farah completed the 3,000 meter course in seven minutes and 53 seconds, holding off Azerbaijan’s Hayle Ibrahimov for Britain’s first gold.Reuters contributed to this report.
