Canadian heptathletes fall behind
As the sounds of Michael Buble and Justin Bieber blared through the Daegu Stadium public address system on Monday, two of the Canadian singers' compatriots were quietly going about their business in the women's heptathlon competition at the world track and field championships.
Jessica Zelinka put the shot 14.91 metres — just eight centimetres shy of her personal best — to add valuable points to her total and reverse a very disappointing high jump result from earlier in the day.
She finished off the first day of the competition by running a time of 24.02 seconds in the 200 metres (into a strong headwind) to bring herself up to eighth place overall with 3,783 points. Defending world champion Jessica Ennis of Great Britain leads with 4,078.
With Zelinka's coach, Les Gramantik, sitting in the public seating, occasionally gesticulating instructions, the Calgary resident was the picture of relaxation, joking with Gramantik from the bench she shared with Ennis. The two athletes also spent time talking about personal things to stay relaxed.
Still, Zelinka was not impressed with herself.
"No, I am not pleased with where I am. I am actually very disappointed," she said. "I had a good shot. When I got back with my coach, he said 'do what you have to to forget those first two events and we'll come back and do a pentathlon.' Pentathlons are not my forte either."
"It's exhausting training so hard then coming out and messing up big time in a very important event. High jump gives tons of points. My warmup didn't go well and I was very hesitant, and you can't jump when you are hesitant."
Canadian champion Ruky Abdulai threw a personal best of 11.72m in the other shot circle — her second PB of the competition — before running 24.50 seconds in the 200. Abdulai ended the day in 20th place with 3,590 points.
"My hamstring was hurt after the hurdles," she said, limping through the mixed zone, "It wasn't a great 200m but I am happy with my performance. I felt my hamstring so I didn't want to push it hard. The second day is my best day and I have the long jump. I will save it for that."
Abudlai focused on the long jump prior to this season and can be expected to pick up points on the final day. While she went off in search of ice for her hamstring and a sore knee, Zelinka was just craving a meal and a good night's sleep