The opening stage of the BIG Gold League to be held this Wednesday, 23 January 2008, at the Lasnamäe Athletics Hall will mark the start of the third season of the athletics championship.
The public have plenty of reasons to attend, as the event will feature the cream of the crop of Estonian athletics and a field of international athletes. As 2008 is the year of the Beijing Olympic Games, many athletes have set themselves the goal of achieving the Olympic norms during the winter season. In addition, many are likely to be in the right form to meet the norms for the World Indoor Championships to be held in Valencia, Spain this March. The BIG Gold League’s indoor season will itself undoubtedly produce some pleasant surprises and witness the setting of new personal records – and perhaps even national or world ones.
Likely to earn herself the lion’s share of attention at the event is 2006 female athlete of the year Ksenija Balta, who returns from her training camp today. After a year on the sidelines due to injury, she will once again be competing in the 60 m and long jump. Whether the opening day brings any new records will be revealed during Wednesday’s events. The Estonian 60 m record of 7.30 seconds belongs to Katrin Käärt, who set it in 2005. Anu Kaljuranna’s best ever result in long jump of 6.61 m has stood as the Estonian record for more than 20 years. Urging Balta on towards a record in the 60 m will be last summer’s BIG Gold League jackpot winner Ebe Reier, triple jump junior world champion Kaire Leibak and the fleet-footed Lithuanian girls Audra Dagelyte (7.43) and Edita Lingyte (personal record 7.44). The long jump is sure to provide a thrilling competition between Balta and the U23 European champion, the Russian Anna Nazarova (personal record 6.81). Providing further competition will be the Tartu girls Sirkka-Liisa Kivine and Veera Baranova.
The long jump is also likely to prove the main event among the male athletes at the event. Taking part will be the very best athletes from Estonia: season leader Jaanus Uudmäe, the surprise package from last season, Gerri Pärson, and Tõnis Sahk, who will be looking to make his mark on the event. There is sure to be a fierce battle for first place, as Russians Evgeny Ustavshchikov and Dmitri Abramov will be taking part in the event, as well as Latvian champion Andrejs Maskancevs.
The 800 m races will be of equally high quality. The men’s events will feature the fastest man in the Baltics at present, Latvian Dmitrijs Milkevics (personal record 1.43.67), Mindaugas Norbutas, who holds the Lithuanian record of 1.46.64, and Lithuania’s 1500 m specialist Vitalij Kozlov (1.47.78), as well as the best runners in Estonia today. Vying for the top step of the podium in the women’s event will be Lithuania’s Egle Balciunaite (2.05.26) and Olesja Tjurina from Russia (2.05.83).
In the running to take top honours in shot put, with Estonia’s best athletes absent from the line-up, will be Latvia’s Maris Urtans (personal record 20.18) and Russia’s Oleg Korotkov (19.80).
The men’s high jump will be a showdown between Marko Aleksejev, the undisputed leader in the event in Estonia for several years, and Finland’s Jussi Viita (personal record 2.21). Taking on Estonia’s female athletes in the same event will be Russia’s Irina Glavatskihh (1.90) and Latvia’s Natalja Cakova (1.89).
Starting in the 60 m hurdles will be Estonian record holder (8.20) Mirjam Liimask. She will be joined by Tartu’s Kadri Viigipuu, returning to the track after a two-year break from competition.
Any athlete who sets an Estonian record as part of the BIG Gold League will be awarded a five-figure sum from the event’s namesake, the Baltic Investment Group Bank.
Tickets for the indoor season will cost the public just 25 kroons. All money raised from ticket sales will go towards the organisation of a sports day for children from the Tilsi orphanage in Põlvamaa. Tickets will also be entered in a draw in which the main prize for the season is a trip to the World Indoor Championships in Valencia.
The opening stage of the BIG Gold League at the Lasnamäe Athletics Hall will start at 5.30 pm on 23 January (junior events start from 4.40 pm).
Information about the events is available from the website www.bigkuldliiga.ee.
For further information please contact:
Mati Lilliallik
5213331
mati@kuldliiga.ee
www.bigkuldliiga.ee
