Moscow Open

leaders
Ariane Friedrich
(Germany),
high jump
Born 10th January 1984.
Height – 1.79 m. Weight – 58
Kgm. Only a couple of years
ago she was one of the many
young sportswomen dreaming
of the big time but last
year she broke through and
achieved her first success winning
the European Cup. At the
Olympics in Beijing she was
only placed seventh. However
everything changed during
the winter of 2008/2009
when she won the European
Indoor Championships with a
jump of 2.01 metres and then
at the first “Golden League”
match of the season in Berlin
in front of 64,000 spectators
she jumped the 2.06 metres
and instantly became the
German’s biggest hope for
the August World Championships.
Ariane 2.06 metres was
a full 3 centimetres better than her winning jump in 2008 when she beat
the famous Croatian, Blanka Vlašic. Indeed in the “Golden League”,
she came close to jumping the 2.09 metres world record.
According to her, she has always tried to jump the biggest height using
the fewest number of jumps. This is why her starting height was 1.93
metres. This gave her the opportunity to conserve energy. She says she
will use the same tactics at the World Championships. Friedrich said
that her objective is to make the high jump a popular sport once more
in Germany. Her hobby is looking after pets. She has two rabbits and
two cats in her house in Offenbach. Friedrich is studying to become an
officer in the German Police Force.
Best Performances:
Bronze medalist of 2009 IAAF World Championships.
Winner of 2009 1st Spar European Team Championships.
Winner of 2009 European Indoor Championships.
Winner of 2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup.
Winner of 2003 European Junior Championships.
2008 Results:
30th May – Zweibrucken, 1.95; 1st Jun – Berlin, 2.00;
6th Jun – Oslo, 1.98; 22nd Jun – Annecy, 2.03;
28th Jun – Eberstadt, 2.00; 5th Jul – Nuremberg, 2.00;
11th Jul – Bühl, 2.00; 18th Jul – Paris, 1.97;
23rd Jul – Beijing, 1.96; 1st Aug – Bochum, 2.01;
5th Sep – Brussels, 2.00; 14th Sep – Stuttgart, 1.97.
54 | www.athletics-magazine.com
Aleksandra Fedoriva
(Russia),
200 m & 100 m hurdles
Born 13th September,
1988. Height – 1.72 m.
Weight – 59 Kgm.
Aleksandra thinks of
herself as a 100 metres
hurdles runner firstly.
A distance she intends
to perform next year
in 2010. But for the
remainder of this season,
she will continue
running the 200 metres,
the event chosen
for her as a result of
her performances at
the Olympics in Beijing
where the Russian
team including
her won a surprise
victory in the 4x100
metres relay. Alongside
the 100 metres
hurdles she would like
to continue her career as a relay runner. Running in the European
Athletics U23 Championships was her first objective for 2009. After
that she would try to fight for a place in the national team at the
World Championships. Aleksandra thinks that despite the Olympic
gold opening new perspectives for her, she hoped it would not become
an obstacle in the furtherance of her athletic career.
She is a fourth year student in the Advertising Faculty of the Moscow
Humanitarian University and she has already begun writing her
thesis which she considers to be of great interest i.e. ”Organised
sports events as a means of promoting physical culture among children
and the young”. In addition, she is taking English lessons with
a private teacher. Alexandra drives a Honda Civic and admits she is
fond of cars and driving.
Best Performances:
Olympic champion 2008 in 4x100 m relay.
Winner of 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships
in 200 m.
Winner of 2007 European Junior Championships
in 100 m hurdles.
2008 Results:
27th Jun – Chelyabinsk, 22.69 (200 m) and
12.90 (100 m hurdles);
19th Jul – Kazan, 22.56; 19th Aug – Beijing, 23.04 (200 m).