by RBR Admin
Elena Vallortigara, photo by Getty Images/ IAAF
Last weekend, at the London Diamond League, Elena Vallortigara, after some difficult years, gave Maria Lasitskene some competition. Elena cleared 2.02 meters, a huge new PB and upping her position in the upcoming European Championships. Steve Landells, one of the finest and most prolific writers in our sport, captures the challenges this fine athlete has gone through, to reach such heights. RunBlogRun encourages our readers to check out the iaaf.org site each and everyday.
After taking world U18 bronze in 2007 and world U20 bronze in 2010, Italian high jumper Elena Vallortigara experienced some particularly dispiriting and lengthy injury setbacks. The 26-year-old is currently – and quite literally – on a high, though, having re-emerged even stronger than before.
LOW
I have endured many low moments over the past eight years, but 2014 and 2016 were the worst.
I had enjoyed a good career as an U18 and U20 athlete but the brakes were put on my career after I twisted my ankle at the end of 2010. I re-injured the ankle six months later, seriously damaging the ligaments. I had to undergo ligament reconstruction surgery.
The road back to full recovery was long and tough. The next year I suffered an inflammation of my ankle, which took six months to rectify, and I then I endured a period when I changed coaches and cities several times. During one four-month period, I lived in three different houses.
After a prolonged struggle following the surgery, it was in early 2014 when I realised how bad things had become. For some time, I had been waking up feeling anxious, finding it hard to face the day ahead. Unfortunately, the injuries also continued and I struggled to put in any consistent training.
I have had so many injuries over the years, I can’t even remember them all. I had very little balance in my life and in 2016 I started to suffer from persistent migraines. I was stressed and after the Italian Championships that year (where she finished seventh with 1.77m) I had some big decisions to make on my future in the sport.
HIGH
At the end of the 2016 season, I wrote down all the characteristics a good coach should have or what an ideal training environment should look like. That is when I chose my current coach (Stefano Giardi), who is based out of the city of Siena. It is a decision which has transformed my career.
There is little doubt from 2011 I had endured some tough times which had tested my love for the sport. But even in the darkest times, there was a voice inside me which said, ‘try another time, learn from your past mistakes and find something better’.
I was always aware of my value as an athlete and I would not accept never being able to fulfil my potential. I wanted some kind of redemption for all those years I’d struggled in the sport. I want to be able to tell my children – should I have them one day – that I was able to overcome the injuries and the challenges because of my love of the high jump.
For the past year and a half, my coach has worked on my technique but also on my mind set and mental approach to the sport. He has given me many good thoughts. Last year I knew I was capable of jumping 1.90m but never managed to put it together.
A month-long injury in January 2018 restricted my ability to find my best during the indoor season but my high moment came in Siena in April when I jumped 1.94m. I did not expect to jump that high (her previous best of 1.91m was set eight years earlier).
I had won age-group championship medals in the past, but that day was the highest moment of my career. Everything felt so easy and natural – it was the best feeling of my life.
Since her breakthrough performance in Siena, Vallortigara went on to set a lifetime best of 2.02m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
