Christian Obrist was the biggest surprise of Italian athletics in the 2008 season. The 27-year-old athlete from Bressanone became only the fifth Italian 1500 metres middle distance runner in history to reach the Olympic final at this distance.

It was a big surprise to see Obrist in the Olympic final considering that he travelled to Beijing as the 38th fastest in the entry list thanks to his 3:35.32 PB which he had set in the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix in 2007. However in the 2008 season his leading time before Beijing Obrist was only a 3:38.01 run in Milan.

His Olympic dream began to come true on 15 August when he reached the semi-finals finishing fourth in his heat in 3:35.91, his fastest time of the year and the fifth best time among the qualifiers. This time was also the fourth fastest time in Obrist’s entire career. The race was won by Olympic champion Rachid Ramzi in an impressive 3:32.89.

German high jump star Arianne Friedrich travels to next week’s European Indoor Championships in Torino after remaining unbeaten in her seven indoor high jump competitions during the 2009 winter season. Friedrich is the world seasonal leader with her 2.05 in Karlsruhe on 15 February where she beat Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic on a countback in their only direct clash of this winter season.

Friedrich cleared the 2 metres barrier six times also winning the German title in Leipzig with 2.00 and three close attempts at 2.06 m. and clinched three wins in prestigious high jump meetings in Hustopece (2.00 m.), Arnstadt (2.02 m.) and Weinheim (2.00 m.).

Friedrich made three unsuccessful attempts at 2.07 m. in Karlsruhe which would have equalled Heike Henkel’s national record set in the same arena back in 1992. Friedrich and Vlasic may produce another fabulous clash in the Oval Lingotto in Torino where Kajsa Bergqvist’s world indoor record of 2.08 may be under threat. The women’s high jump final is scheduled on Sunday 8th March 2009 at 15.40.

Arianne Friedrich was born in Nordhausen in the former East Germany on 10 January 1984 but moved with her family to the village of Helsa in the central German province of Hessen. Friedrich was a talented volleyball player but she realized that she had the potential to emerge in the high jump.

She came to the limelight for the first time at international level in 2003 when she won the european junior title in Tampere. Later she won two University Games medals (bronze in 2005 and silver in 2007) and the bronze medal at the 2005 European Under 23 Championships.

The german fulfilled her potential during the 2008 indoor season when she made a major breakthrough improving her lifetime best by eight centimetres from 1.94 to 2.02 but she did not finish higher than eighth in the World Indoor Championships final in Valencia where she suffered from some back problems.

She began her 2008 outdoor season on a high note clearing 2.00 metres in the ISTAF Golden League meeting in Berlin finishing second to Blanka Vlasic and won the European Cup in Annecy with her outdoor PB 2.03. She did not fulfil the expectations in the Olympic Games in Bejing where she finished seventh. Two weeks after Bejing Friedrich bounced back with a superb win with 2.00 metres on a countback over Blanka Vlasic in the last leg of the Golden League in Brussels dashing the croatian’s dream to win a share of the Million Dollar Jackpot.

Friedrich benefits to the sport development programme for elite athletes and is training to become a Police Commissioner. She has been training for the Eintracht Frankfurt club since 2003 and is coached by Günther Eisinger. Arianne is engaged to Polish olympic swimmer Lukasz Wojt.