This August, for the third summer in a row, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Europe to view some fantastic track and field.\u00a0 As in the past two years, I was able to attend the Weltklasse Zurich Golden League Meeting, but after that my itinerary changed due to the cancellation (apparently owing to lack of corporate sponsorship) of the Weltklasse am Rhein thrower\u2019s meet.\u00a0 To assuage my disappointment over the passing of this remarkable event, I decided to venture by train into Austria to catch the Linz GPII meet.\u00a0 I\u2019ll forever be glad of having made that decision, as it introduced me to the considerable charms of a part of Europe which I had not previously explored.\u00a0 What follows is a brief description of my experiences at the Zurich and Linz meetings.\u00a0 For complete results, check out the meet web sites.\u00a0 For a fantastic experience, get over there next year and check out these meets in person.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\nFriday, August 16, Zurich, Switzerland<\/h1>\n
I\u2019m standing with Larry, my brother-in-law, on the street outside Letzigrund Stadium sipping a beer amid the hustle and bustle and sizzling brats that characterize the Zurich Weltklasse track meet.\u00a0 The road running along the east side of the stadium is blocked off to traffic, and numerous booths have sprouted here vending food and beer to the giddy multitudes milling about on their way into the arena.\u00a0 Robert Fazekas, the fine Hungarian discus thrower, hurries past and I note that he is a young man of thick neck and fierce countenance.\u00a0 Though he lacks the \u201cHow\u2019s the weather up there?\u201d ranginess characteristic of most seventy-meter discus throwers, to look upon him is to understand why the Huns succeeded in barging their way into Europe a thousand years ago.\u00a0 Tonight Fazekas, fresh off a win at the European Championships, will attempt to barge his way to the top of the awards platform\u2014quite an exclusive piece of real estate considering that only Lars Reidel and Virgilius Alekna have set foot there over the past ten years.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Reidel will not be competing tonight as injury caused him to pull the plug on his 2002 campaign several weeks ago.\u00a0 To me, this is a bummer of major proportions as half the fun of the Zurich discus competition is watching the crowd in the north end of the stadium swoon over their favorite ubermensch.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the field, sans Reidel, is still stacked.\u00a0 Present are Fazekas and another recent addition to the seventy-meter club, Dmitri Schevchenko of Russia.\u00a0 Present as well is Alekna, the defending Olympic and Weltklasse Zurich champion.\u00a0 Franz Kruger, the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist and a bit of a local favorite himself is also in the field, a pleasant surprise to me as he told me in conversation a year ago that, due to the demands of medical school, he would not be competing outside of South Africa this year.<\/p>\n
The presence of these gentlemen combined with the ever present smell of brats and very tasty local beverages is enough to produce an intoxicating sense of anticipation as Larry and I enter the stadium and maneuver for an unobstructed view of the discus cage from the north standing room section.\u00a0 Much to my dismay, however, it is apparent during warm-ups that a major case of the blahs has infected the field on this perfectly gorgeous, windless evening.\u00a0\u00a0 I have seen Alekna take eighteen competitive throws in various meets over the past two years, and I\u2019d estimate eighty percent of them traveled past the sixty-seven meter mark, including four of six throws over seventy meters at this meet in August, 2000.\u00a0 Tonight, he comes nowhere near sixty-five meters in warm-ups.\u00a0 Nor does Kruger, who seems to be a bit jumpy, many of his warm-up throws landing out of bounds beyond the right sector line.\u00a0 Shevchenko is also unable to get it going in warm-ups, in spite of the strength evident in his Ruthian physique.\u00a0 Fazekas looks fast and aggressive, clearly a man on a mission, but barely threatens the sixty-five meter line.\u00a0 As the competition begins, it is quickly apparent that the warm-ups were no fluke.\u00a0 The early leader is Mario Pestano of Spain, a thrower who appears to be cut from the same mold as Fazekas: not huge, but quick and strong.\u00a0 He opens with 65.37, a mark that holds up until the end of round two when Fazekas nails 66.81, ultimately the winning toss.<\/p>\n
Even though the big guys never find their mojo (Kruger finishes third with 64.98, Alekna fourth with 64.83, Shevchenko sixth with 63.29)it is still fun to see a variety of throwers from around the world and their different approaches to technique.\u00a0 Alekna is remarkably nimble for his size (6\u20198\u201d, 280?) and uses what I would call a classic \u201cAmerican\u201d technique with a wide leg sweep out of the back and an aggressive reverse out of the power position.\u00a0 The South African Kruger, and Germany\u2019s Michael Mollenbeck each employ more of a swing kick out of the back, and a very efficient-looking fixed feet delivery.\u00a0 Shevchenko reminds me of Fred Flintstone tip-toeing his way into his bowling delivery.\u00a0 When his right foot touches in the middle of the ring his left foot has barely left the back, and Lord only knows how he gets it grounded at the front in time to deliver the disc.\u00a0 Watching Fazekas cracks me up as he, like most of my young throwers, is an ardent proponent of the \u201chaul ass out of the back and hope for the best\u201d school of discus technique.\u00a0 Only he throws far.\u00a0 Fazekas is also the current king of goofy windups, apparently falling into some kind of trance at the back of the ring with the discus held out in his left hand (as if offering it to the cameraman stationed just outside of the cage) before finally switching hands, winding quickly and zooming his way across the circle.\u00a0\u00a0 Not the kind of approach I\u2019d recommend to my young throwers, but it clearly works for him.\u00a0 He has been a dominant thrower this summer, and finishes this night the new Weltklasse Zurich champion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It is fifteen minutes before the start of the shotput competition at the Linz Grand Prix II meet, and Paolo Dal Saglio is fuming.\u00a0 John Godina and Adam Nelson have just been summoned to participate in a pre-meet \u201cIntroduction of Champions\u201d ceremony, and the shotput officials have refused to allow warm-ups to continue in their absence.\u00a0 I\u2019m no lip reader, nor do I understand Italian, but it is pretty easy to tell from his gestures and body language that Paolo has taken issue with that decision.\u00a0 His protests are to no avail, however, and all he can do is stand around and watch along with everyone else while Nelson, Godina, and a dozen or so other track and field notables are paraded around the track in what look to me like antique fire engines.<\/p>\n
As the ceremony ends, Nelson and Godina jog back to the shot ring where the entire field is allowed two more warm-up throws each.\u00a0 Everyone except Paolo.\u00a0 He is the last thrower in line, and as he enters the ring for his second warm-up toss the head shotput judge steps into the ring with him and informs him that warm-ups are over.\u00a0 While I think it is ridiculous not to give these guys all the warm-up tosses they want (Why wouldn\u2019t the officials do everything in their power to help the athletes put on a good show?) I admire the nerve of this man as he refuses to budge even after Paolo literally tries to shove him out of the way.\u00a0 Finally, Paolo slams his shot onto the concrete and storms out of the ring, Godina and Nelson rushing over to calm him down.<\/p>\n
As the competition begins, it quickly becomes apparent that Paolo\u2019s outburst would be the only fireworks going off in the men\u2019s shot ring this evening.\u00a0 As in the Zurich discus competition, the athletes appear sluggish and off kilter.\u00a0 Nelson is the class of the field, winning with what is for him a fairly pedestrian put of 20.67.\u00a0 The other Americans in the field, Kevin Toth and John Godina, stagger home in fifth (20.07) and sixth (20.04) respectively.\u00a0 Though it is odd to see Godina struggle like this, Toth\u2019s difficulties come as no surprise to me as I am his bad luck charm.\u00a0 I have seen him throw in person on at least half a dozen occasions over the past four years, and he has stunk it up every time.\u00a0 A typical performance by Toth when I am in the stands involves a lot of fouling and a lot of cussing, and tonight is no exception.\u00a0 Hopefully, he will not read this and kill me, but I figure it is high time I share my secret with the world. It is lonely business being a bad luck charm.<\/p>\n
Anyway, even though nobody gets off a big throw it is, as in Zurich, great fun to see European throwers and to muse on their different approaches to technique.\u00a0\u00a0 Szilard Kiss of Hungary appears huge and lumbering, but spins his way to second place with 20.25.\u00a0 He reminds me of the kind of athlete we high school coaches come up against on occasion: so big and powerful that he can beat most people in spite of suspect technique.\u00a0\u00a0 By contrast, Milan Haborak of Slovakia (who finishes third at 20.11) has a very nifty spin.\u00a0 He is quick and smooth, and hits a nicely wrapped power position. Clearly, someone in Slovakia knows how to coach the rotational shot.\u00a0\u00a0 The guy who I am most interested in though, is the German glider Ralf Bartels.\u00a0 I have been an ardent student of the German approach to the glide since I was in high school in the 1970\u2019s, and it is exciting to get a look at the latest incarnation of the legendary German short-long technique.\u00a0 I love the way he uses his left arm coming out of the back of the ring.\u00a0 Before leaving the back he raises up on his right toes sort of like Ulf Timmerman, but as he does so he cranks his left arm back so that his palm is facing skyward and his left thumb is just about touching the middle of his back.\u00a0 As he drops into his glide and reaches toward the toeboard with his left leg, he swings his left arm in the opposite direction so that the back of his hand ends up directly in front of his face.\u00a0 It looks kind of goofy, but really seems to help him stay back while gliding.\u00a0 One aspect of his technique that I do not like, however, is that after driving hard into the throw with his right hip and leg his right foot actually comes off the ground before the shot has left his hand.\u00a0 But, as with Robert Fazekas in the disc, he seems somehow to have found a technique that works for him without consulting me.<\/p>\n
I have plenty of time to ponder these and other great matters (Why is wine so cheap in Europe? And so good?\u00a0 Can a person overdose on chocolate?\u00a0 Did I really see a woman sunbathing nude along the RhineRiver yesterday?\u00a0 Is this what heaven is like?) as I walk back to my hotel after the meet.\u00a0 Linz is a beautiful city, and I am very glad that I ventured here.\u00a0 As always, I am eternally grateful to my beautiful wife Alice Wood for letting me make this trip, and to Larry and his lovely wife Suzie for putting me up and putting up with me. I hope to get back over here again next year, provided Toth doesn\u2019t get his hands on me in the meantime.<\/p>\n
by Dan McQuaid<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This August, for the third summer in a row, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Europe to view some fantastic track and field.\u00a0 As in the past two years, I was able to attend the Weltklasse Zurich Golden League Meeting, but after that my itinerary changed due to the cancellation (apparently owing … Continue reading Weltklasse Zurich Discus 2002 & Linz Grand Prix Shot Put 2002<\/span>