4th International Athletics PSD Bank Meeting Duesseldorf 2009 - World elite in triple jump to promise enthralling event, World champion Savigne challenged by Sestak for the third time
Already the past two editions of the „International Athletics PSD Bank Meeting Duesseldorf“ were marked by their fight for first place and their names are listed on the triple jump result sheets of international events: double World champion (indoor and outdoor) Yargelis Savigne of Cuba and World indoor bronze medallist Marija Sestak of Slovenia. Already for the third time they will be guests at the meeting at Arena Sportpark on February 13. While 24-year-old Savigne will be trying to record a hattrick in Duesseldof, Sestak (29) hopes to finally defeat the Cuban athlete in the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. Especially since she headed the 2008 World indoor triple jump rankings boasting 15.08 metres, thus three centimetres ahead of Savigne.
At the Olympic Games in Beijing, however, both failed to grab a medal in the strongest ever triple jump event. Never before, six athletes were able to achieve marks beyond the fifteen metres mark. Savigne took fifth place with 15.05 metres while Sestak finished on sixth place setting a Slovenian national record with 15.03 metres. With only a narrow margin, Russia’s Anna Pyatykh took eighth place in Beijing. This is why the 27-year old 2006 World indoor runner-up is considered to be the hottest candidate to put a dent into the dominance of Savigne and Sestak.
For the first time in the four-year long history of the “International Athletics PSD Bank Meeting Duesseldorf”, the men’s triple jump will be part of the competition programme. Meeting Director Marc Osenberg has managed to sign on international top triple jump athletes: World Indoor silver medallist and Olympic fourth-placed David Giralt of Cuba, World bronze medallist Walter Davis of the United States, as well as Randy Lewis (Grenada), who has his training camp in Leverkusen, Germany.
The past two editions of the meeting at the Arena Sportpark – inaugurated on initiative of “sportAgentur” Duesseldorf - have both been assessed as the seventh-best indoor meeting world-wide. The 2008 PSD Bank Meeting even ranked higher than events in New York, Boston or Athens. As Germany’s highest-ranked meeting, boasting the coveted “EAA status” of the European Athletics Federation, it still figures among the top three meets. In 2009, numerous athletes will surely benefit of the event as an important indicator for the upcoming World Championships in Athletics in Berlin on August 15-23. TV station Eurosport will broadcast live (20:00-22:00 hrs) on the competition day.
Tickets for the Duesseldorf indoor meeting are available at www.athletics-meeting-duesseldorf.de. Children and young adults under the age of 18 pay eight euros, adults 14 euros. The ticket price includes arrival and departure via the public transport system, ÖPNV. The third edition of the indoor meeting in 2008 was sold-out to crowd capacity with a total of 2,000 spectators.
