Rijeka, Croatia - With a boisterous capacity crowd as a backdrop, Blanka Vlasic made her eagerly anticipated debut an auspicious one with a world-leading 2.03m leap at the Rijeka 2009 High Jump Meeting in this northern Adriatic port city.

“It felt easy,” she said, describing her second attempt clearance at 2.03 and her first attempt effort at 2.01m which wrestled the world lead away from Germany’s Ariane Freidrich.

The 25-year-old World champion’s opener, her highest-ever season’s debut performance,  came seven days after the conclusion of what she characterized as the most difficult training sessions of her career. Her expectations weren’t particularly high.

“I felt surprisingly great,” said Vlasic, whose runner-up finish at the Olympic Games last August brought to an end a 34-meet win streak. “I wasn’t as tired as I was seven days ago. We trained so hard. I think they were the best trainings, the hardest trainings I’ve ever done. And we de did them without stopping, without any injuries.”

With the beat of Joan Jett’s ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ pumping her adrenaline, Vlasic worked the rust out with an easy clearance at 1.84, her first competitive jump since her victory at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart last 14 September. She then went on with solid first attempt clearances at 1.92, 1.95, and 1.98.

Her “easy” 2.01 was next to seal the win; she grazed the bar slightly on her second try at 2.03, but it stayed. The bar was then raised to a would-be Croatian national record of 2.06, which proved slightly too ambitious this early in the season.

“2.06, the first attempt felt easy. Just on the second one I was too fast, I couldn’t manage the speed.” She called it quits after the second try, but Vlasic was nonetheless visibly pleased.

Vlasic – ‘Better things are coming’

So was the standing room only crowd of more than 4000 that packed the Mladosti Arena in this city of nearly 150,000 to see Croatia’s biggest sporting star. Several hundred more spectators were left outside because there simply wasn’t any more room. For them, live coverage of the entire meet by Croatian national television would have to suffice.

“I was skeptical about how this competition would turn out,” Vlasic said. “There were very few days of rest until the competition. But then I was a little bit more fresh so I could jump good. I’m very happy because that means better things are coming.”

They’ll be coming fast and furious over the next four weeks. Her upcoming datebook includes stops in Gothenburg (29-Jan), Malmo (03-Feb), Stuttgart (07-Feb), Banska Bystrica (11-Feb), Karlsruhe (15-Feb), at her hometown Split (21-Feb), and Prague (26-Feb) before the European indoor championships in Turin. Surprisingly, Vlasic has yet to earn a medal of any color at a continental championship.

Behind her, the competition was surprisingly strong, with Russians Viktoriya Slivka-Klyugina and Svetlana Shkolina topping out with first attempt clearances at 1.98, a career best for the latter but one not without a touch of controversy. The moment the judge’s white flag was raised, the bar tumbled off the standards, but she was nonetheless given credit for the leap.

“I really, really enjoyed this meeting,” Klyugina said through a translator. “The crowd was fantastic, cheering for every jump and every jumper, not just for Blanka.”

Iryna Kovalenko of Ukraine was fourth and Pole Kamila Stepaniuk fifth, both at 1.92. Stepaniuk had one near-miss at 1.95, a would-be national record.

At a separate ceremony after the competition, the Croatian Athletics Federation, HAS, announced its selection of the 2008 Athletes of the Year. To no one’s surprise, Vlasic received the top honour on the women’s side. Hammer thrower Andras Haklits won the men’s award.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Results –

 1. Blanka Vlasic, CRO  2.03
 2. Viktoriya Slivka-Klyugina, RUS  1.98  PB
 3. Svetlana Shkolina, RUS  1.98  PB
 4. Iryna Kovalenko, UKR, 1.92
 5. Kamila Stepaniuk, POL 1.92  PB
 =6. Nicole Forrester, CAN, 1.88
 =6. Vita Palamar, UKR, 1.88
 8. Karina Vnukova, LTU, 1.84
 9. Barbora Lalakova, CZE, 1.75