M90 and M95 shot put world records fall at Riccione
America lost at least three world records today in Riccione. Frederico Fischer of Brazil, born in 1917, won the M90 shot at Riccione worlds — his 9.64 (about 31-7) mark on the first throw beating American Don Pellman’s listed age-group world record of 9.33 from 2005. In the M95 group, Friedrich Mahlo of Germany, also on his first throw, went 6.93 (about 22-8) — beating the listed WMA record of 6.61 by Trent Lane at Charlotte nationals in 2006. (But at the National Senior Olympics last June in Louisville, Robert Stewart of Virginia threw 6.78 in the M95 shot.) In the W70 triple jump, Christiane Schmalbruch of Germany spanned 8.46 (about 27-9) on her last jump to beat the listed age-group world record of 8.09 by American Audrey Lary in 2004.
In the W65 triple jump, Edith Graff of Belgium beat the listed world record of 9.51 with a fifth-round jump of 9.53, but the wind was 2.80 meters per second (over the allowable for record purposes.)
In the W50 discus, Carol Finsrud of Lockhart, Texas, embarrassed a good field, throwing 43.43 meters. Her season best is 44.41 (145-8), a pending American record. But she’s still chasing the W50 world record of 45.48 by Sweden’s Ingrid Miller in 1992.
Second and third at Riccione were Gwen Bird of Britain (37.43) and Mare Kuelv of Estonia (37.14).
In the M65 javelin, U.S. Olympian Gary Stenlund took gold with a 52.05 (170-9 1/4) — and fellow Americans Doug Appel and John Burns were fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the W45 high jump, another Olympian, Trish Porter, took gold with a jump of 1.53 (5-0 1/4), beating Myriam Wery of Belgium who cleared the same height but had more misses.
A gazillion heats of the 100 and 800 (and long hurdles) were held today, with many Americans advancing. In the M60 group, a possible 100 sweep is possible. The leading qualifier was Charles Allie (12.40), followed by Stan Whitley (12.79) and Steve Robbins (12.93).
Bob Lida of Kansas was the top M70 qualifier in the 100 with a 13.47. No. 2 (in a different heat) was German champion Juergen Radke with a 13.78.
American sprint champions Phil Raschker and Nadine O’Connor have their work cut out for them, however. Phil was the No. 4 qualifier in the W60 group (14.73) and Nadine was No. 2 (14.59) in the W65. But Nadine beat the No. 1 qualifier (Carol Lafayette-Boyd) in Orono. Carol ran 14.52 in her heat.
In the W45 group, Joy Upshaw-Margerum (absent at Orono) was the No. 2 qualifier with a 12.94 — behind only the 12.88 by Britain’s Kirstin King.
In the W45 800-meter semifinals, former world champion Annette Koop of Germany (of Web site fame) advanced to the final with a time of 2:28.00.
With word that an Italian air traffic controller strike was delaying flights, I note that the cross country races had more than a fair share of DNS’s (Did Not Start). In the W65, a notable DNS was Bridget Cushen, the longtime WMA women’s representative and a top of official in British masters track.
