Meeting Gaz de France
Held in Paris, France, at the nine-lane track of the Stade de France, on July 6.
Men's 100 m
Asafa Powell (winner in Oslo), battling with injury, did not run in Paris, and so was out of the Jackpot race before it had started. In his absence, Bahamian, Derrick Atkins, won in 10.00 seconds.
Men's 1500 m
Adil Kaouch, winner in Oslo, was also injured and out of the Jackpot race, but a thrilling race ensued, with Alan Webb's sprint for home beating the valiant efforts of home-crowd favorite Mehdi Baala.
Men's 110 m Hurdles
Olympic Champion Liu Xiang and World Champion Ladji Doucouré were in Paris to outrun Oslo winner Anwar Moore, but it was only the young Cuban Dayron Robles who could out-dip the American this occasion, as the two were awarded the same time, 13.13.
Men's Triple Jump
Again, the Oslo winner, Phillips Idowu, was injured and out of the Jackpot race, but Christian Olsson made up for his disappointment at the Bislett Games, by winning with 17.56.
Men's Javelin
Tero Pitkämäki was the only male winner from Oslo to win in Paris, doing so in a European Lead of 89.70. Three of his five valid throws would have been enough to win as he produced a peerless series of throw, ahead of rival Andreas Thorkildsen.
Women's 100 m
Stephanie Durst did not venture to Paris and was out of the jackpot race. Torri Edwards won in a race with Americans occupying the top four places.
Women's 400 m
Sanya Richards produced a World Lead to win, in a race which included all three women who out-did her for a place on the USA's World Championships team.
Women's 100 m hurdles
Michelle Perry was one of the lucky few to repeat her Oslo win, convincingly outrunning Susanna Kallur, again, remaining in the hunt for the Jackpot.
Women's High Jump
Oslo winner Yelena Slesarenko could only manage a second-place finish as Blanka Vlašić impressed with 2.02 meters, with both women jumping 2 or more meters.
Women's Pole Vault
Yelena Isinbayeva regained exciting form as she sailed over 4.91 m, which she followed with the attempts at a would-be World Record of 5.02. European Indoor Champion, Svetlana Feofanova returned to heights not seen, from her, this season, as she finished second with 4.71.
Jackpot Contenders
With three Oslo winners injured and two choosing not to compete in Paris, only six athletes were still in the Jackpot race before the Meeting Gaz de France had begun. Two of those six finished second in their respective events, and only four remain in contention after Paris.
Golden Gala
The third stop of the Golden League took place at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, on June 13, 2007. This meet hit headlines, as French long jumper Salim Sdiri was hit by a rogue javelin, thrown by Finn Tero Pitkämäki, as he warmed up for his event. The injuries sustained, however, were not serious and Sdiri made a full recovery.
Men's 1500 m
Adil Kaouch also took a second Golden League victory, in a Personal Best, with several other athletes recording the best results of their lives.
Men's 110 m Hurdles
Oslo winner Anwar Moore won a close-run race from Paris winner Dayron Robles.
Men's Triple Jump
Christian Olsson only took two attempts before retiring, a foul and a jump which turned out to be a winning mark.
Men's Javelin
Tero Pitkämäki plummeted out of the jackpot race, as Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen took the win. However, this competition was more memorable for a freak accident concerning Pitkämäki and French long jumper Salim Sdiri. On the Finn's second throw, his javelin veered off to the left and into the long jump area, where Sdiri was warming up. The implement hit Sdiri in his side but no serious injuries were sustained. The incident clearly had an adverse effect on Pitkämäki, however, as he failed to match his first round effort of 86.09 m.
Women's 400 m
Sanya Richards remained in the jackpot hunt with a graceful performance ahead of 2001 World champion Amy Mbackie Thiam, who set her fastest time for four years.
Women's 100 m Hurdles
Michelle Perry set a world lead to win, as Susanna Kallur was disappointed to finish third.
Women's High Jump
Blanka Vlašić took her second Golden League win of the season, as two athletes went over 2 m. Antonietta Di Martino, who had hoped to perform well in front of her home crowd, disappointed, finishing fourth.
Women's Pole Vault
Yelena Isinbayeva took a clear victory to keep her hopes of a jackpot share alive. Isinbayeva missed her first attempt at 4.65 m, then passed to 4.70, which she cleared first time, then came a failure at 4.85, attempts were passed to 4.90, which was routinely cleared at the first attempt. None of the three world record attempts at 5.02 m were close.
Jackpot contenders
Tero Pitkämäki was the only casualty of the meeting, as three women remained in the jackpot hunt.
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-time World Champion, the current world record holder in the event, and is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time. Isinbayeva was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics after revelations of an extensive state-sponsored doping programme in Russia, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement winning the Olympic gold medal. She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC's Athletes' Commission.
Andreas Thorkildsen is a retired Norwegian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He was the Olympic Champion in 2004 and 2008, European Champion in 2006 and 2010, and World Champion in 2009. He is the first male javelin thrower in history to simultaneously be European, World and Olympic Champion. He was also a three-time silver medalist at the World Championships, placing second in 2005, 2007 and 2011. His personal best of 91.59 m, set in 2006, is the Norwegian record.
Sanya Richards-Ross is a former Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States, primarily in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being the 2012 Olympic champion, 2009 world champion, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, and 2005 world silver medalist. With her victory in 2012, she became the second American woman to win the 400 meters at the Olympic Games and the first American woman to earn multiple global 400-meter titles. At this distance, Richards-Ross is also a six-time U.S. national champion.
The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League.
Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pietro Mennea, the organizers added his name to the title of the meet.
Tero Kristian Pitkämäki is a retired Finnish track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World Champion, having won gold in 2007. His personal best throw of 91.53 m, set in 2005, ranks him eleventh on the overall list.
Meeting de Paris is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. It was first organized in 1999. The record attendance was set on 1 July 2005, with a total of 70,253 spectators.
The World Athlete of the Year award is a prize that can be won by athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics organised by World Athletics, including track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking.
Fabiana de Almeida Murer is a retired Brazilian pole vaulter. She holds the South American record in the event with an indoor best of 4.82 m and an outdoor best of 4.87 m, making her the fourth highest vaulter ever at the time, now the eighth. She won the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and also won at the 2007 Pan American Games. Murer represented Brazil at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. She is a four-time South American Champion with wins in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. Murer was coached by both the Ukrainian Vitaly Petrov, who managed the world record holders Sergei Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva, and her husband, Élson Miranda de Souza, a former vaulter himself.
Jennifer Lynn Suhr is an American pole vaulter. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of 17 US National Championships. She holds the world indoor pole vault record at 5.03 m. She holds the American women's pole vault record indoors. In 2008, she won the U.S. Olympic trials, setting an American record of 4.92 m and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics. She won the gold medal at the London Olympics on August 6, 2012. Track & Field News named her American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008.
The Women's Pole Vault event at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany was held between 15 August and 17 August 2009. Yelena Isinbayeva was the strong favourite prior to the competition, a position enhanced further by the withdrawal of 2008 Olympic silver medallist Jennifer Stuczynski. Anna Rogowska was the only athlete to beat Isinbayeva in the buildup to the event. Fabiana Murer and Monika Pyrek had both registered strong season's bests but had suffered from indifferent form. European Indoor medallists Yuliya Golubchikova and Silke Spiegelburg rounded out the list of the season's highest jumping athletes.
This article contains an overview of the year 2009 in athletics.
Pole Vault Stars is an annual indoor pole vaulting competition which is typically held in February at the Druzhba Palace of Sports in Donetsk, Ukraine. The meeting was founded in 1990 by Sergey Bubka, the pole vault world record holder who grew up in the city. Bubka brought an end to his distinguished career with a ceremony at the competition in 2001.
The Sydney Track Classic is an annual outdoor track and field meeting held in February or March at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. It is part of the national Australian Athletics Tour, alongside the Melbourne Track Classic.
The Women's Pole vault event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics took place at the Daegu Stadium on August 28 and 30.
Vitaly Afanasevich Petrov is a Ukrainian athletics coach, mainly specialized in pole vault. He was coach of great pole vaulters, like Sergey Bubka, Yelena Isinbayeva and Giuseppe Gibilisco, all three brought to win the world title, with the first two also achieved the Olympic title and world record.
The 1998 IAAF Golden League was the first edition of the annual international track and field meeting series, held from 9 July to 5 September. It was contested at six European meetings: the Bislett Games, Golden Gala, Herculis, Weltklasse Zürich, Memorial Van Damme and the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF). The series tied in with the 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final, with the jackpot of US$1,000,000 being decided at that competition. The million-dollar prize represented the single largest prize pot ever in athletics at that point.
The pole vault at the Summer Olympics is grouped among the four track and field jumping events held at the multi-sport event. The men's pole vault has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first Summer Olympics in 1896. The women's event is one of the latest additions to the programme, first being contested at the 2000 Summer Olympics – along with the addition of the hammer throw, this brought the women's field event programme to parity with the men's.
The 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour was the fourth and final edition of the annual global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The series featured 25 one-day meetings, consisting of the six meetings of the 2009 IAAF Golden League, five IAAF Super Grand Prix meetings, and fourteen IAAF Grand Prix meetings. In addition, there were 29 Area Permit Meetings that carried point-scoring events. The series culminated in the two-day 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, held in Thessaloniki, Greece from 12–13 September.
The 2007 IAAF World Athletics Tour was the second edition of the annual global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The series featured 24 one-day meetings, consisting of the six meetings of the 2007 IAAF Golden League, five IAAF Super Grand Prix meetings, and thirteen IAAF Grand Prix meetings. In addition, there were 27 Area Permit Meetings that carried point-scoring events. The series culminated in the two-day 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final, held in Stuttgart, Germany from 22–23 September.
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