Faster and higher: what I remember about the athletics championship of the country - 2025

The main athletics tournament of the summer season, the Russian Championship, has ended in the capital of Tatarstan, which has become the main showcase of what our athletes are ready for. Fedor Ivanov and Vladimir Nikitin updated the national records for 400 m hurdles and 10,000 m, respectively. And if for Nikitin it is 27 min. 48.29 sec. outwardly, they seemed to be quite a working run, after which the athlete was in a completely adequate condition, but from Ivanov running for 47.94 seconds. it took all the strength of the body, undermined, as the athlete himself later explained, by food poisoning. After the finish, Fedor vomited, and as a result, he was taken away in a wheelchair. However, by the time of the award, the athlete was already able to communicate, although later he felt unwell again.

Ermakova's collapse

Maria Ermakova, having started running 10,000 meters faster than she needed to, covering 3.07 kilometers, paid the highest price for this attempt to set a new national record among youth under 23 years of age — the athlete's last lap was, in fact, agony. 30 m before the finish, she fell, then got up and, barely moving, crossed the line. She won the championship, but there was no question of a record, even a youth one, of course — the question was about the health of the athlete, who was taken away by doctors. After the award ceremony, which Maria was still able to attend, she said that she did not remember the last lap and consciousness returned when doctors were already working with her.

The women's 200 m final on the final day of the competition ended with an unpleasant incident. Vera Filatova, one of the country's strongest sprinters, heard two shots — as if there had been a false start. The athlete slowed down, then realized that no false start had occurred and was forced, in fact, to restart. As a result, the fourth place and Filatova's indignation resulted in a search for judges and a protest. At the moment when these lines are being written, the story of Filatova is still developing.

1.94 Head of cabbage

Women's high jump is traditionally the strongest form of Russian athletics, where good results are always expected. They were not bad in Kazan, but not great - Maria Kochanova won the tournament, taking 1.94. Suffice it to say that the athlete's personal best, set a few weeks ago in Brest, is 2 m, and, of course, after that jump, everyone wanted to repeat it. But, according to Maria, both she and Kristina Koroleva got tired during the season, and this affected their abilities. Maria, already in the rank of champion, ordered 1.98, but did not take it. Although the third attempt was not bad.

Polina Knoroz predictably won the women's pole, remaining alone at a height of 4.63. After that, the athlete reached the 4.86 bar, which she overcame on the third attempt. Polina's victory, like Maria Kochanova's, was predictable and did not cause surprise, and the height of 4.80 was already very good. It is Kochanova and Knoroz, if we talk about technical sports, who are now athletes who could qualify for medals at the World Championships, which will be held in Tokyo in September.

2.27 Lysenko

In men's height, everything was partly predictable, partly not. The main struggle unfolded between Danila Lysenko and Ilya Ivanyuk, as expected. Both reached 2.27, but if Danila did it without unsuccessful attempts, Ilya took the height only from the third. Then both missed 2.30 and both missed 2.33. The unexpected thing was that 2.27 was enough for Danila to win — the height for him, in general, was not the limit. Perhaps it was the cold weather that set in after the rain in Kazan on Sunday.

The final of the men's 110 m hurdles was won by Belarusian Vitaly Prakhonko (13.63), Sergey Shubenkov finished second (13.69). However, since the national championship is still held among Russian athletes, Shubenkov became the national champion, ahead of both Manakov and Shubin. Artem Makarenko, unfortunately, fell and his DQ (disqualification) is listed in the protocols. Shubenkov's class, of course, cannot be denied — even in the face of difficult competition and a difficult season, Sergey was able to pull himself together at the most crucial moment.

It was a very good championship, especially in terms of the number of spectators who actually came to Kazan and supported the athletes, which, according to Maria Kochanova, turned out to be even a little unusual. People were present in the stands all day, they stayed until the last moment, it's really very, very unusual. And it feels good.

Two Russian records, especially in the 400 m hurdles by Ivanov, are not ordinary events, with such a result Fedor can qualify for the finals of major tournaments. But Nikitin's fast run was more expected.

Yes, the results in some disciplines are not encouraging, the men's pole was a bit disappointing, and the average run should also be kept silent. Here we are still lagging behind and fighting among ourselves, not with the results of the world leaders. This is expected, and it is impossible to change the situation quickly. Yes, someone was waiting for a result of 50 seconds from Polina Tkalich, but she is not ready for such a run yet. But in general, the level of results, and most importantly, the intensity of the struggle that took place in most disciplines in the Czech Republic, show that grumbling about "dead" athletics is unfounded.