by Larry Eder
Ivan Ukhov at Nike Prefontaine Classic, 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
With about one week before the World Indoor Champs in Doha, Qatar, Ivan Ukhov cleared a world leading 2.38m in Banská Bystrica at the 17th Europa Shopping Center high jump competition. Blanka Vlasic wowed the crowd with her 2.04 clearance and good jumps at 2.09m! On to Doha!
Blanka Vlasic, Greece 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Ukhov 238 and Vlasic 204
BANSKA BYSTRICA (MAR 4, 2010): In her final competition before the Doha World Indoor Championships next week, Blanca Vlasic (CRO) won the women’s event at the 17th Europa Shopping Center High Jump competition with 2.04. It was the fourth win in five consecutive appearances in Banská Bystrica for the 26-year-old Berlin world champion. She ended the evening with three unsuccessful tries at a would-be world record of 2.09. Emma Green (SWE) jumped a season-best 1.95 to take second, as Viktoriya Klyugina (RUS) placed third on misses ahead of Kamila Stepaniuk (POL) at 1.92, with Stepaniuk’s mark her best for the year and equaling her personal indoor best. With only Vlasic and Green clearing 1.95, the Croatian passed 1.98 as the Swede exited at that height. Already the winner at that point, Vlasic opened at 2.00 with a miss before executing well on her second effort to send the bar to 2.04. Again, a failure preceded her successful jump on try number two, and although she jolted the bar quite noticeably, she nonetheless escaped with a white flag. “Maybe I wanted too much, I cried for first time in my career after not jumping the world record. I would wish third attempt would be the first, because then I started to have the right feeling. But I should be satisifed with 204 before Doha,” she said.
Ivan Ukhov made his first visit to Banská Bystrica a successful and memorable one with a world-leading 2.38 winning jump in the men’s division of the Europa Shopping Center High Jump competition. It was also a meeting record and a personal best for Ukhov. The 23-year-old Russian took his usual minimalist approach during the evening, with widely-spaced jumps at 2.21 and 2.28 before finally shedding his warmups at 2.33 for the jump which secured the victory. He took one wildly unsuccessful attempt at 2.41 before retiring. Britain’s Samson Oni started the evening ignominiously with a miss at the opening 2.11. Utilizing the shortest run of all of the male competitors, he recovered immediately, clearing the next six bars consecutively for a PB 2.31 before going out at 2.33 and ending in second. Viktor Shapoval of Ukraine saw his season-best 2.28 take third ahead of Sergey Mudrov on a countback. The 19-year-old Mudrov, the reigning European junior champion, was the workhorse of the night. On three occasions he went to a third attempt and successfully extended his jumping evening. “I felt the surface moved little bit during my first attempt at 241 and also felt something in my foot. So I decided not to continue. Otherwise the meet felt great for the first time for me. But you know, championships is a different story. But I will return here next year to jump 240,” said Ukhov.
Results:
1. Ukhov 238 WL, MR (221/, 228/1, 233/1, 238/3, 241x), 2. Oni, GBR 231 PB, 3. Shapoval, UKR 228 SB, 4. Mudrov, RUS 228, 5. Horak, SVK and Torro, FIN 225, 7. Diarra, FRA 225 indoor PB, 8. Bubenik, SVK 221 PB, 9t. G. Ciotti and N. Ciotti, ITA 221, 11. Kabelka, SVK 216, 12: Sayevich, UKR 216, Ninov, BUL nh at 216
1. Vlasic 204 (185/1, 192/1, 195/1, 200/2, 204/2, 209/xxx), 2. Green, SWE 195 SB, 3. Klyugina, RUS 192, 4. Stepaniuk, POL 192 SB, 5, Kufaas, NOR 185, 6, Lalakova, CZE 185, 7. Szabo, HUN 181, 8. Blazej, POL 181, 9. Dunajska, SVK 176
Special thanks to our friend, Alfons Juck, EME News, who loves the sport and keeps us informed!
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