The ISTAF Berlin meet is one of the oldest continuous athletics meets in the world. ISTAF was first held on July 3, 1921 in Berlin. In 1937, ISTAF Berlin was first held in the 1936 Olympic Stadium and has been held there ever since. There have been some fantastic performances at ISTAF Berlin and this year was no exception.
Berlin’s Olympic Stadium is iconic, to say the least. ISTAF has called the Olympic Stadium home every year since 1936.
STOP AT THE BERLIN OLYMPIC TRAINING
Mary Moraa broke the 600m world record at ISTAF.
BERLIN: Mary Moraa (Kenya) battled for every hundredth of a second in the 600m ISTAF at the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Because nothing less than a world record was at stake. The Olympic bronze medalist landed precisely on the blue track of the Olympic Stadium in front of 40,500 spectators. With a time of 1:21.63 minutes, the world champion in the 800 meters bettered the record, officially recognized by World Athletics as the best time in the world, by 14 hundredths of a second.
Seven years ago, Caster Semenya (South Africa) also set a world record (1:21.77 minutes) at ISTAF. “I feel so good and happy. Achieving this record on the first attempt is simply overwhelming. I’m so happy with how I ran today,” said a delighted Mary Moraa after her record-breaking feat.
There were also world-class performances in technical disciplines. Javelin thrower Julian Weber gave himself a belated birthday present. The vice-champion of the European Championship from Berlin came to the Olympic Stadium by public transport and three days after his 30th birthday, he threw the javelin up to 88.64 meters. A season’s best and six throws between 84.45 and 88.64 metres, simply world class. “It was wonderful, just as I imagined it would be. So many fans here at the stadium. It was so much fun. People loved it so much. A great series is great,” said the local hero after the fourth best contest of his career.
Two athletes were still competing in the pole vault at a distance of 6.01 meters. And Sam Kendricks (USA) jumped at this height in his first attempt. It was the first six-meter jump at ISTAF in 25 years. 6.01m was (still) too high for Menno Vloon (Netherlands) this Sunday afternoon. She finished second, 5.92m ahead of the solid German duo of Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (ART Düsseldorf; 5.782m) and Torben Blech (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen; 5.72m).
With arms outstretched and a beaming smile, Leo Neugebauer (VfB Stuttgart) crossed the finish line after the 1,500m race at the Olympic Stadium. The Olympic decathlon silver medalist won the ISTAF triathlon premiere. The 100 meters was first in the program, followed by the discus. With a run of 10.77 seconds and 53.13 meters, the German record holder had earned a big advantage, which he did not relinquish in the 1500 meters.
Unlike the decathlon, the fans immediately knew that Leo Neugebauer had won. This was because the triathletes went into the 1500 meters according to Gundersen’s method according to their scores after the two events. Thus, the overall winner also finished first. “This was my first competition at the Olympic Stadium and I would like to return. It was a great premiere for me. Thank you for the atmosphere created by the fans. I liked everything,” said the silver medalist of the Olympic Games.
Gina Lukenkemper set a spectacular finish on the world’s fastest track. The SCC Berlin sprinter got off to a good start in the 100m final, showed a perfect acceleration phase and pulled away from her rivals in the second half of the race. With a time of 10.93 seconds, the 27-year-old bettered her seven-year-old best by two-hundredths of a second in light winds. “Yesterday I already felt great. Everything was possible. This stadium and this crowd give me so much strength. I have been saying for a long time that I will achieve something great. Today I proved it,” said a happy Gina Luckenkamper after the fastest race of her career.
The 40,500 ISTAF fans gave the newly crowned Olympic shooting champion Yemisi Ogunleye a standing ovation. After a long season, the man from Mannheim had to accept the defeat from the Dutch Jessica Schilder with a result of 18.65 meters. The European champion made the best throw of the competition with 19.70 meters. “It was really nice to see how much attention the ball got today. Thanks, Berlin. Thanks to my Olympic gold medal, I’ve had a lot on my plate lately. That’s why I realized today that we humans are not machines. I had fun competing today, second place is okay, but I couldn’t throw more today,” Yemisi Ogunle said after her excellent performance.
