Dresden is back on the list of major venues for athletics events. On 30th August 2024, the capital of Saxony celebrated the re-opening of the Heinz-Steyer-Stadion after a major refurbishment. The key focus was on the Goldenes Oval (“Golden Oval”), how the athletics track around the stadium is called. I have been on the opening athletics meeting – here is my report of the track events of the day. Over 10,000 people celebrated with the athletes on that Friday evening.

This posting comes with 458 major ksize pictures in the sports gallery.

 

Heinz-Steyer-Stadion – Location & Access

Heinz-Steyer-Stadion in Dresden has originally been opened in 1919. The 2024 renovation is the second one in the stadium history. Its fixed capacity after that renewal is 10,400 seats (5400 covered). Mobile stands can be added to extent that to 15,000. It is home of the Dresdner SC (soccer) and the Dresden Monarchs (American Football).

The stadium is very centrally located. Thus, there are multiple hotels in the area. The tram stop Dresden Kongresszentrum / Haus der Presse is close to the stadium. At the day of the competition, it was served by tram lines 6 and 11.

 

Goldenes Oval Opening 2024 – The Track Events

Here is my overview of the track events at Dresden. I will feature the opening ceremony in a separate posting.

 

400m Hurdles (Women)

The 400m Hurdles was the first competition in the renovated stadium. And thus, German Elena Kelety was the first winner. The first three athletes had quite a gap in front of the remaining field.

	Athlete	Seconds
1st	Elena Kelety (Germany)	54.86
2nd	Hanne Claes (Belgium)	55.06
3rd	Eileen Demes (Germany)	55.27

3000m Steeplechase Men

The first track competition on the men’s side in Dresden was the 3000m Steeplechase. One of my favorite disciplines, also because it is one of the most interesting ones photographically. What could have been a happier ending than local Dresden kid Karl Bebendorf winning this one? In a close battle, he finally beat Will Battershill (Great Britain) and Swiss Michael Curti.

	Athlete	Seconds
1st	Karl Bebendorf (Germany)	8:21.94
2nd	Will Battershill (Great Britain)	8:22.64
3rd	Michael Curti (Switzerland)	8:23.07

 

400m Women

After this thrilling run, both, men and women, went on the one lap race. The smiling winner of this one was Brazilian Anny Caroline de Bassi, who beat two domestic runners.

	Athlete	Seconds
1st	Anny Caroline de Bassi (Brazil)	52.51
2nd	Mona Mayer (Germany)	52.64
3rd	Annkathrin Hoven (Germany)	52.92

 

400m Men

Demish Graye from Jamaica was the fastest male runner over the 400m distance. He had a small gap in front of British Efekemo Okoro and French Prevot Loic.

	Athlete	Seconds
1st	Demish Gaye (Jamaica)	45.77
2nd	Efekemo Okoro (Great Britain)	46.01
3rd	Loic Prevot (France)	46.10

 

5000m Women

Dresden featured a couple of longer distance races. In the 5000m women’s race, Ethiopean Molla Birtukan just beat the 15 minute mark. The fast race featured four personal best times – a quite remarkable achievement for a late season competition. However, the enthusiastic crowd felt to push the runners to their limits – even though the best-place domestic runner was eighth-place Svenja Pingpank.

	Athlete	Minutes
1st	Birtukan Molla (Ethiopia)	14:59.10
2nd	Maureen Jepkoech (Kenia)	15:01.57
3rd	Eily Henes (USA)	15:03.14

 

800m Men

The 800m race was dedicated to German runner legend Rudolf Harbig. Leipzig runner Robert Farken had a close battle with US-American Jonah Koech, who beat the German by 0.06 seconds. However, third-placed Swiss Wipfli also just trailed by seven hundredth of a second.

	Athlete	Minutes
1st	Jonah Koech (USA)	1:45.44
2nd	Robert Farken (Germany)	1:45.60
3rd	Ramon Wipfli (Swtzerland)	1:45.67

5000m Men

The men competition also featured the twelve and a half lap race. With a season best time, US-American Woody Kincaid sealed the victory in this one. While he managed to work out quite a gap to the chasers, the battle between Ky Robinson (Australia) and Jonas Raess (Switzerland) was really close.

	Athlete	Minute
1st	Woody Kincaid (USA)	13:15.84
2nd	Ky Robinson (Australia)	13:17.77
3rd	Jonas Raess (Switzerland)	13:18.07

 

100m Women

While the men’s 100m competition had three semifinal heats, there were just four runner in total on the women side. Thus, some of them also took part in an “invitational” race over the same distance held before. The golden medal in an all-German field finally was awarded to Lisa Mayer.

	Athlete	Seconds
1st	Lisa Mayer (Germany)	11.31
2nd	Rebekka Haase (Germany)	11.44
3rd	Nele Jaworski (Germany)	11.74

 

100m Men

The last race of the day was likely the highlight of the meeting. Canadian John Blake did not only win with an amazing time of 10.01 seconds, he also partied his time and place extensively on the Dresden track. German Simon Wulff from Leverkusen finished his track & field career with a strong personal best of 10.06 sec – he will move to winter sports and take part in bobsleigh races.

	Athlete	Seconds
1st	Jerome Blake (Canada)	10.01
2nd	Simon Wulff (Germany)	10.06
3rd	Kadrian Goldson (Germany)	10.08

 

Goldenes Oval Opening 2024 (Track Events) – The Gallery

Here is the match gallery with 458 major pictures in the sports gallery section:

• 2024-08-30 Goldenes Oval Opening (Track Events)

 

Goldenes Oval Opening 2024 – Field Events

I handled the field events in a separate post:

“Goldenes Oval” Opening Meeting – Field Events (Dresden, 30th August 2024)

 

Athletics on Flyctory.com

Here are all postings related to Athletics (Track and Field):

 

Germany in Travel – 2024

Here are all my travel postings related to Germany published during 2024: