The sixth Serbian Open Indoor meeting, which was held today in Belgrade, ended with the victory of Ivana Španović, the record of Serbia by Armin Sinančević and the almost world record that was chased by the Swede Armand Duplantis.
The competition was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Belgrade Goran Vesić:
„I am very happy and proud because Belgrade is one of the few cities where the competition is held. Thanks to the Serbian Federation and the sponsors who gave money, this competition is a preparation for what awaits us next year, and that is the World Indoor Championship. I declare the competition open. „
Shortly before Vesić, the first man of the SAS, Veselin Jevrosimović, addressed the public. Then the vice president of the European Athletics Federation, Dobromir Karamarinov.
- I am extremely honored and pleased to be able to greet the Vice President of the European Athletics Federation, Dobromir Karamarinov, as well as the Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Goran Vesić. Tonight, a large number of athletes from the country and the world will perform, we will watch European, world and Olympic champions. I thank the city of Belgrade as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the funds they donated to us, and I also thank the companies Red Bull, Sava Osiguranje, Volksfagen and Comtrade.
„I am overjoyed after these 6.10 that Duplantis jumped, it is also a rally record. Who knows when someone will jump higher, only if Duplantis comes again next year and tries to break the world record. I thank Sava osiguranje for recognizing the investment, investing and financing in Serbian athletics is also the right way for large companies to help develop basic sports, „Jevrosimovic added.
„I feel great. Before the rally, I had small problems with tendons, and that is probably one of the reasons why I got tired quickly. My legs were „dead“ and „tired“, and for a world record you just have to be perfectly prepared. It is great that I became the first to jump over six meters in Serbia. I want to jump over six meters in every country. As for the preparations for the Olympics, things are going in the right direction. I want to be ready for the EP first. „I feel good and I feel that the world record is close,“ said Duplantis.
The Swede received a check for 3,000 euros for the best athlete at the rally, which was handed to him by the president of the Serbian Athletics Federation, Veselin Jevrosimovic, while Armin Sinancevic received an award for the second best athlete of 2,000 euros from Sava Insurance. The third most valuable result of the rally was achieved by Thiago Braz in pole vault, who received a check worth 1,500 euros from Volkswagen.
Sinancevic threw 21.05 m in the first series, then 21.18 m in the third, while the best result of Asmir Kolasinac is 20.52 m, which he achieved in the second series. Mesud Pezer from Bosnia and Herzegovina was second with a shot of 20.78 meters. The previous state record in the hall was also owned by Sinancevic and was 21.13 m.
„I came out with a month of training at the national championship where I threw 20.56 m. After that, there were the Balkan Games, which were the overture for the Serbian Open. I hope that this is an overture for the European Championship, which is the most important for me for this winter season „, said Sinancevic.
Ivana Španović finished the competition with a jump of 6.71, which she achieved in the fifth series.
„This competition was specific considering that it is seven days before the big competition. I performed without a coach, so it bothered me, but all in all, it’s always nice to compete in front of the home crowd, „said Ivana.
Lazar Anic was second in the men’s long jump. He jumped 7.91 m as much as Izmir Smajlaj, but the Albanian finished first because his second best jump was from Anić’s.
Ana Lukić ran 8.21 meters in the 60 meters hurdles and achieved her personal record, while Aleksa Kijanović took second place in the 60 meters race with a time of 6.75 s. Luka Trgovčević won the 60 meter hurdles with 7.85 (the second was Hasan Fofana with 7.86), the British Morgan Lake was the first in the women’s high jump discipline, because she „switched“ 1.96 m. Montenegrin Marija Vukovic stood at 1.89 m.