Zelinka captures 5th Canadian heptathlon title
Last Updated: Thursday, July 29, 2010 | 10:32 PM ET
By Paul Gains, CBC Sports
Jessica Zelinka competes in the javelin throw in the women's heptathlon at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Toronto. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)Jessica Zelinka completed a remarkable comeback Thursday night by winning the heptathlon at the Canadian Track and Field Championships and qualifying for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The 28-year-old from London, Ont., gave birth to her daughter Anika 14 months ago and only began light training last September under the direction of her longtime coach, Les Gramantik.
Her cumulative score was 5,998 points, well below her Canadian record of 6,490 — she set that in finishing fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — but it was marginally better than her only other heptathlon this year, in Gotzis in May (5,962).
This victory on the freshly laid University of Toronto track was her fifth national heptathlon title.
“Hey, it's kind of nice,” she said, grinning. “It’s good. All the events, I was very happy with. My 200 and 800 not so much, I haven't done them for a while and actually haven’t trained much for the running. It’s a successful meet, I think [my coach] would agree.
She worked to stay focused during the seven-event challenge.
"I can improve my stamina. When you are away for a while it takes a while to get back into it. The wait between jumps — I wanted to focus and be in the moment.”
Zelinka eyes Commonwealth gold
Her nearest competitor was Jennifer Cotton of London Western Track and Field Club, who was second with 5,491 points.
While Zelinka spoke to media, her coach signalled she had missed the 6,000-point barrier by two points. She blamed a slow first lap in the 800 metres for her time of 2:17.46.
Coming off the track following the final event of the contest, Zelinka thought she heard a baby cry and briefly looked up into the stands.
“I thought, if that’s my baby, she should be in bed by now,” she said, laughing.
Zelinka will compete in a heptathlon in Talence, France, Sept. 18-19 before going to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games. She says her intent is to win the gold medal in Delhi.
“The furthest I think ahead is 24 hours,” she said. “I think about what the baby is going to eat, when I can sleep, when I can nap, and training. I am not doing this for fun and jokes. I am going out there to improve my results from Beijing and if I start to feel I can’t do that for [whatever] reason then, I am shutting it down. There's no point in wasting time on anything.”
Cummins on the comeback trail
Another comeback appears to be in the works for Diane Cummins, who won her 800m semifinal, setting up a chance to win her 10th Canadian championship. The 36-year-old Victoria, B.C., native didn’t compete in 2009.
“I had foot surgery for Morton’s neuroma, which sidelined me in 2009,” she explained. “Then I decided to come back in the 1,500, actually, but then I made the Commonwealth standard in the 800 and decided to stick with it at the nationals.
“I will go until my heart tells me to stop. I am enjoying it. I love representing Canada, and you just have to go out and run.”
The men’s 200 semifinals were run Thursday with two veterans of international competition demonstrating their preparedness for these championships.
Jared Connaughton of Charlottetown, P.E.I., who has the fastest time by a Canadian this season (20.61), won the first of two semifinals in 21.12s into a slight headwind (-1.9).
Adjetey-Nelson wins decathlon
“I got back from Europe on July 13 and went back to Arlington, Texas, for a bit,” he said. "The semifinal was a dress rehearsal. I don’t like predicting times, but I am really, really fit. If weather permits, I am ready to run very fast.
“I think the mistake I made in the past is not racing enough. Because the Commonwealth Games is so late, I want to race often. I competed well in Europe. If weather permits, I can break 20 seconds. This track is better than the one they had before. Last year it was pretty soft.”
The second semifinal was won by 23-year-old Brian Barnett of Edmonton, Alta., in 21.13.
“It felt a little harder than it should have,” said Barnett, a former world junior championship silver medallist. “I have been hampered by injuries. It’s been really hard to get good training in. I am pretty sure I can put together a good run for the final. I want to run sub 20.70. I would be happy with that.”
After overhauling first day leader Jamie Adjetey-Nelson with a good performance in the 110-metre hurdles and the discus throw, Massimo Bertocchi failed to clear a height in the pole vault and bowed out of the decathlon competition.
Adjetey-Nelson claimed the gold medal with 7,780 points, far below the personal best of 8,239 he set in finishing third at the Kladno combined events meet on June 15.
