P ress R elease Astrid Kumbernuss bids her farewell at ISTAF Berlin.

Press Release
Astrid Kumbernuss bids her
farewell at ISTAF Berlin.
Fare-well tournament of shot put star Astrid Kumbernuss at the
Olympic Village September 3rd/ 100m hurdle women with Kirsten
Bolm as the fifth ISTAF extra discipline / advanced ticket sale of
45.000 tickets / Upper stands of Olympic Stadium opened for
audience / DKB foundation for Social Engagement presents
„My day at the Olympic Village“.
Berlin, August18th 2005
The 64th Internationales Stadionfest will be starting with a premiere. For the first time
in the history of Germany’s premier track and field event, a competition will be staged
a day prior the actual meeting and then presented the next day in an edited version on
the stadium’s screens. This competition’s star is Germany’s most successful shot put
athlete, Astrid Kumbernuss (SC Neubrandenburg), who will bid her farewell from her
professional athletic career in the ISTAF women’s shot put competition during the “My
day at the Olympic Village” action of the DKB foundation for Social Engagement at the
historic setting of the Olympic village. The start of the competition on September 3rd is
set at 3 pm, the audience has the opportunity to experience the 1936 Olympics
Athletes’ Village starting at 11am with a diverse program including talks with former
and present athletes.
Astrid Kumbernuss has inspired her audience and fans with an astonishing career.
The multiple German Champion also won the 1996 Olympics gold medal in Barcelona
and achieved the World Championship-hat trick with winning three gold medals three
times running in one discipline between 1995 and 1999. After winning the European
Junior Championship in 1989, she succeeded as European Champion 1990 and won
the European Cup in 1995-1997, 2000 as well as in 2002-2004. Astrid Kumbernuss
can look back to a unique wining streak between May 1995 and her victory as Indoors
World Championship 1997. At the ISTAF Berlin, Astrid Kumbernuss has always been
a popular athlete: In 1995, 1996 and 1999, she attended the ISTAF and was never
beaten by her top-class competition.
At her fare-well competition in Berlin, the top athlete will meet the current world’s
leading shot put athletes, among them the World Champion of Helsinki, Nadezhda
Ostapchuk (BLR) and the World Championship Olga Ryabinkina (RUS). The starting
field also includes German athletes such as the Fifth of the World Championship,
Nadine Kleinert, as well Petra Lammert and Christine Schwanitz, the the current U-23
Press Release
European Champion and the U-23 European Championship’s second, respectively.
Schwanitz was on the ninth position in Helsinki, finishing with only 1.05m behind
Nadine Kleinert.
100m women hurdle as ISTAF promotion discipline.
The sixth ISTAF promotion discipline in addition to the women’s shot put, women’s
discus, men’s pole vault, shot put and 200m is a women’s 100m hurdles sprint that
was added to program to present Kirsten Bolm (MTG Mannheim), who has to
compete with many international athletes to be signed on shortly. The German
Champion of 2000-2002, 2004 and 2005, catapulted herself into elite with a fourth
place at the World Championship in Helsinki: With a time of 12.82 sec. she missed the
bronze medal only by six hundredths seconds. A Junior World Champion of 1994,
Bolm was the best European in Helsinki’s World Championship in a 100m hurdle
sprint and thus confirmed her earlier success as second at the SPAR European Cup
2005. Kirsten Bolm reached her personal best of 12.59 sec. at the Crystal Palace
Norwich Union LONDON Grand Prix in July 2005, beating both the World
Championship’s second and third.
„The Champions are here“ – Top athletes start in Berlin
The 64th International Stadionfest ISTAF Berlin will be characterized by the X. IAAF
World Championships at Helsinki. Many World Champions will start in Berlin „We will
keep our promise to get as many World Champions and medallists to the ISTAF“,
says Gerhard Janetzky, ISTAF Manager Partner, „some have already signed on,
others will follow in the next weeks. We will be able to present many duels and
revenges, which could not take place this way in Helsinki. We will also present our
German medallists and top athletes such as discus World Champion Franka Dietzsch
and shot put bronze medallist Ralf Bartels.“
One highlight of this years’ ISTAF is the women’s triple jump. „The duel of the two
world- leading athletes that couldn’t take place in Helsinki due to Tatyana Lebedeva’s
injury will now be staged in Berlin. It will be tough for Lebedeva to compete with the
top five athletes of the World Championship“, says Gerhard Janetzky. Tatyana
Lebedeva who, just like Christine Arron, is still fighting for her share of the TDK
Golden League jackpot, will be confronted by World Champion and currently IAAF
World Ranked number one, Trecia Smith from Jamaica. Lebedeva will also be
challenged by Yargelis Savigne (CUB), Anna Pyatykh (RUS), Yamilé Aldama
(SUD) and Hrysopiyì Devetzì (GRE), athletes who came in 2 to 5 in Helsinki.
Press Release
The German World Championship gold medallist Franka Dietzsch will be challenged
in the ISTAF-discipline of women’s discus. And German 400m hurdle runner Claudia
Marx from Berlin will fight in the TDK Golden League discipline for a top time and
more points for her IAAF World Ranking.
In the men’s competitions, the Berlin audience can also expect World Champions in
shot put with bronze medallist Ralf Bartels taking on American World Champion
Adam Nelson. And Berliners will certainly marvel at the performance of the World
Championship fourth in decathlon, André Niklaus, a native from Berlin: In Helsinki he
achieved a new personal best in shot put. What’s more, at ISTAF, André Niklaus will
also compete at pole vault as well as at javelin. Originally, he was only to start at shot
put, but due of his outstanding performance in Helsinki, a personal triple competition
was arranged for him to be added to the ISTAF program.
23-year-old René Herms, who missed the finals in Helsinki as he only came in as
fourth of the half finals, will now meet the world’s leading 800m runner, Mbulaeni
Mulaudzi, who nevertheless had not been able to make it into the finals at the World
Championships. Both athletes already met at the TDK Golden League Meeting in
Paris 2005 at the Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis, when the South-African was one
minute faster than René Herms. At the ISTAF 2003, Herms was on the ninth position
with Mulaudzi finishing third. At the ISTAF 2004 and 2001, Mulaudzi did not start, and
the German cam in as eighth. The German starting list in yet another discipline (200m)
will be completed by the World Championship’ seventh over 200m, Tobias Unger.
Thomas Blaschek, fifth in his half final at the World Championship, races against the
world’s fastest hurdle jumper, current World Champion Ladji Doucoure from France.
45.000 tickets already sold – Upper stands opened for audience
With 45.000 tickets already sold, the advance ticket sales for this year’s ISTAF are
success „With the commitment of German top athletes, competing in an international
environment, we seem to have met the audience’s wishes“, says Gerhard Janetzky,
„the commitment of various World Champions from Helsinki will further increase ticket
sales. We are also glad to see so many visitors from last year who are returning to the
stadium this year to enjoy the unique ISTAF atmosphere. As we wish to have many
more fans of track and field experiencing their stars live, we have now opened the
upper stand in the Olympia stadium to the audience: Tickets for the upper stand are
available for only eight euros. Until August 30th, we offer a special „2 for 1 Special“,
including two tickets (price category VI) for the price of just one ticket (8€). The last
remaining tickets (price category III) for the lower ring are now only available at the S-
Press Release
Bahn box offices. „Our targeted audience figure this year is approximately 60,000;
considering the current pre-sale trend, this is a realistic number that would create a
similar atmosphere like last year“, says Gerhard Janetzky.
Berlin serves again as the TDK Golden League’s final meeting station
At the ISTAF 2005, the world’s top athletes will be competing in the twelve official
IAAF disciplines. Men will be starting over 100m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m/5000m, and
100m hurdle sprint. The two technical disciplines will be high jump and javelin. Women
will be competing at 100m, 800m, 3000m/5000m, 400m hurdles, and triple jump. In
addition, the ISTAF 2005 will be presenting six promotion disciplines such as men’s
pole vault, shot put as well as women’s discus and women’s 100m hurdle sprint. Just
as in 1998-2002 and 2004, the ISTAF serves as the final meeting station of the TDK
Golden League, the premium series of international athletics, where the athletes fight
for the Jackpot of one million US-Dollars in gold. Next to Tatyana Lebendeva, French
top sprinter Christine Arron is also still fighting for her share of the TDK Golden
League jackpot.
ISTAF to be staged with an entertainment program on a Sunday
Following the success of the two past Sunday dates, the ISTAF 2005 will once again
be staged on a Sunday afternoon and will also present a sports-oriented
entertainment programme primarily geared to children and young adults. The ISTAF
aims at becoming a sports event for the whole family – from educational training
parlours to entertaining fun program for adults as well as food and beverage stands on
the Olympic Stadium grounds. The ISTF 2005 will start with the entertainment
program at noon, followed by the sports pre-program including the traditional students’
relay competitions and the finals of „Germany’s Search for the Super Sprinter “. The
official competitions of the main program will be starting at 2 pm. The home
broadcaster ZDF will be broadcasting the ISTAF live between 3:30 and 5 pm.
Additional and current information available online at www.istaf.de.
Press Information:
ISTAF Media Office
Fon +49 30 243 199 20
Fax +49 30 243 199 27
Email: [email protected]