Renowned Kazakhstani track and field athlete Maria Yefremova competed in Moscow at the Znamensky Brothers Memorial — a tournament that has been held since 1949 and took place for the 66th time this year.
The latest Znamensky Brothers Memorial was held on June 8. In one of the events, the women's triple jump, nine athletes took part. The most well-known and experienced among them were Russia’s Ekaterina Koneva, Sali Sarr from Senegal, and Kazakhstan’s Maria Yefremova.
Among the many accomplishments of the seasoned Russian Koneva are: gold medals at the World and European Indoor Championships, silver at the Outdoor World Championships, and three victories at the World University Games. Sali Sarr currently holds the number one spot in Africa in the triple jump, having won the African Championships last year. Maria Yefremova is a multiple-time champion of Kazakhstan and has competed at both the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
Despite the cold and rainy weather, a fierce battle for first place unfolded between the athletes from Russia and Senegal. In her final, sixth attempt, Koneva managed to take the lead.
As a result, the top three in the women’s triple jump at the Znamensky Memorial were as follows:
Ekaterina Koneva (Russia) – 14.07 meters
Sali Sarr (Senegal) – 13.73 meters
Anastasia Kobylyanskikh (Russia) – 13.63 meters
The 18-year-old Anastasia Kobylyanskikh managed to outperform fellow Russian Taisiya Dmitrieva, who finished fourth with 13.32 meters. Maria Yefremova placed fifth with a jump of 13.31 meters. The 26-year-old Kazakhstani athlete recorded five valid attempts, all within a close range: 13.02; 13.31; 13.22; 13.25; and 13.18 meters.
This was Yefremova’s third competition within the past month. On May 15, she won at an international meet in Tashkent with a result of 13.22 meters. On May 27, she finished sixth with 13.57 meters at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea. And now, the Kazakhstani athlete takes fifth place with 13.31 meters. So far, she has not been able to surpass her indoor season’s best of 13.87 meters set earlier this year.
In the photo: Maria Yefremova at the Znamensky Brothers Memorial.
