by Larry EderRenaud Lavillenie is the French superstar of the pole vault. Lavillenie is also one of the future stars of our sport. Speaking fluent English as well as French, Renaud gets it, and loves the sport is a amazingly patient with the media.
Tonight, it was all about vaulting, and Lavillenie focused and jumped liked the pole vault stud he is, and with the big heights come the big prizes, like gold medals….
“C’est moi”, Lavillenie at 2010 Euro Indoors, photo by PhotoRun.net
The pole vault is a chess match. Take ten talented vaulters, have them start at 5.50m or so, and see how high they can go. Tonight, it was quite high.
Renaud Lavillenie is the immensely talented pole vaulter from France. Technically precise, physically gifted and coming back from a broken hand, Renaud used all of his pole vault powers to win the gold tonight.
Lavillenie took two times to clear 5.50m, then skipped to 5.75m, where he cleared on his first attempt.
Bjorn Otto of Germany had cleared 5.50m on his second, 5.70m on his first, skipped 5.75m, cleared 5.80m on his second, and missed all three times, going for the win, at 5.90m. Otto took the silver.
Brad Walker of the USA cleared 5.60m on his second attempt, passed at 5.70m, missed once at 5.75m, passed his final two attempts to 5.80m, cleared on his second attempt, then went for the win at 5.90m, missed twice, took last attempt and went for win or nothing at 6.00. He did not clear it, but his 5.80m, on his second attempt gave the American the bronze!
So, here is how Renaud Lavillenie won the gold:
First, Lavillenie clears 5.80m on his second attempt. Then, he clears 5.85m on his first attempt, and he cements the victory when he clears 5.95m on his second attempt. He then went for 6.00m, missed, and took his two last attempts at 6.02, the highest height recently cleared in recent years. Steve Hooker of Australia (the world highest vaulter, Olympic and World champ, off twitter told us that he was kind of nervous seeing Lavillenie attempt 6.02m).
For today, Renaud has the world title. Tomorrow, he can attempt the 6.02m.
Lavillenie admitted his frustration at not winning titles earlier: ” It’s been a long time I have been waiting for a title. I am happy that a good performance comes alongside. The competition did not happen as expected. I did a few mistakes in the beginning, but I managed to sort them out and raise the bar. When I cleared 5.95m, I was so relieved! I remembered that I broke my hand three months ago, and the emotion came at once. I did good things at 6 meters, which is interesting for the future. “
C’est bon!
Men’s Pole Vault: 1. Renaud Lavillenie, France, 5.95m, WL, 2. Bjorn Otto, Germany, 5.80m,
3. Brad Walker, 5.80m, US, 4. Malte Mohr, Germany, 5.75m, 5. Lazaro Borges, Cuba, 5.70m,
5. Steven Lewis, GBR, 5.70m.
For more on the second day of World Indoors, please see: World Indoors 2012, Day 2
