Hardee, Ennis win Hypo meeting

30 May 2011 - 09:33 By Sapa-AP
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World decathlon champion Trey Hardee of the United States scored personal bests in long jump and shot put while winning the 37th edition of the Hypo Meeting on Sunday.

Hardee, who led after Saturday’s first five events, finished on 8,689 points to beat second-place Leonel Suarez of Cuba by 289 points. Mikk Pahapill of Estonia was third with 8,398 points.

“I felt like I could’ve had a personal best overall today ... but this was a great first test,” said Hardee, who completed a decathlon for the first time in more than 18 months.

Hardee, whose personal best is 8,790 points, had a 7.88-meter effort in long jump and a 15.63-meter throw in the shot put to set two new personal records.

“I felt great, I was not sore, I didn’t feel bad,” he said. “We just need more repetitions in the technical events. Nothing today was quite great but overall 8,689 is a great score from where we are in training.”

Olympic champion Bryan Clay of the United States, world record holder Roman Sebrle of Czech Republic, and European champion Romain Barras of France all skipped the event because of injuries.

World and European champion Jessica Ennis of Britain won the women’s heptathlon event for a second successive year.

Ennis, who set a personal best in the 200 meters of 23.11 seconds, amassed 6,790 points. Tatyana Chernova of Russia came second, trailing Ennis by 251 points. Antoinette Nana-Djimou of France took third with 6,409 points.

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