News28 Oct 2008


For Holzdeppe, 2008 witnessed high hopes and happy memories

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Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany on his way to victory in Men's Pole Vault Final (© Getty Images)

Raphael Holzdeppe may have equalled the longstanding men's Pole Vault World junior record of 5.80m this summer but the German teenager isn't getting too carried away with speculation that he could finally be the man to break Sergey Bubka's seemingly untouchable outdoor World record of 6.14m.

"After all, Maksim Tarasov jumped 5.80m when he was 19 to set the World junior record which I equalled this year and he went on to eventually jump 6.05m.

"That's great in itself, and nobody apart from Bubka has ever jumped higher than that, but I'm sure there were plenty of people at the time saying that he was going to break the World record," reflected the 19-year-old from Zweibrücken.

"I don't know what Bubka did as a junior but I know it wasn't even 5.60m so you can see what I mean. I lot of things can happen in the future which you can't predict now," added Holzdeppe wisely.

"I think, in around three or four years, I'll get over six metres.   That's my target and after that, then we'll see, what happens."

Living the dream

Nevertheless, regardless of whatever happens to Holzdeppe from this point in his life, he will always have happy memories of 2008.

It was a phenomenal year for the teenager who could become one of the poster boys for next year's IAAF World Championships in Athletics on home soil in Berlin.

Not only did Holzdeppe set a World junior record but he showed his championship pedigree when he won a gold medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, as well as making the Olympic Games final.

"I jumped 5.50m last year but had a disaster at the European Athletics Junior Championships where I didn't even clear a height in the qualifying round so I worked hard during the winter.

"This fantastic year started when I jumped 5.60m, in my second indoor competition, that was a national junior record. After that, I tried 5.70m several times but I didn't get it. Maybe there was a little bit of a problem in my head at that stage as that height would have been a world junior indoor record and also the qualification height for the World Indoor Championships so maybe I was a little blocked.

"After not qualifying for Valencia, I had one more indoor competition left to go and so I put the bar at 5.68m in my last competition and cleared it for as new World junior record.

"The outdoor season carried on from there. I jumped firstly 5.65m for a new German junior record, then I jumped 5.70m in Mannheim, which was very important as it was not only another junior record but also a qualification height for the Olympics," reflected Holzdeppe.

Shock treatment

Holzdeppe carried on getting closer to the stars, in every sense, during the rest of the summer.

"Before my next competition, in Biberach, I was really nervous because I wanted to jump 5.70m again. In Germany, we had to jump that height twice to actually be able to go to Beijing... but instead I jumped 5.80m which equalled Tarasov's World junior record.

"To be honest, I was really shocked when I realised what I had done. I had previously thought 5.70m was possible this season but I wasn't thinking about 5.80m.

"In fact, I almost didn't try 5.80m. After clearing 5.70m, my coach (the former German record holder and 5.95m vaulter Andrei Tivontchik) told me to finish the competition there and then but I said to him 'why not let me have a go at 5.80m, I can't do anything more than fail,'" joked Holzdeppe.

"If you look at my reaction after I cleared 5.80m on my third attempt at the height, I think the jump is on the internet and it's been shown on TV a few times, I think you can see I'm genuinely shocked. After clearing 5.70m I was jumping up and down on the landing bed, I'd achieved my target, but after 5.80m I just sort of collapsed to my knees."

Back on his feet

A week after his World junior record, Holzdeppe's dream season continued with third place at the German Championships to secure his place on the plane to Beijing.

"Third in the German Championships wasn't so much of a surprise to me but the first time I walked into the Olympic Village, then I really thought I was dreaming," said Holzdeppe, still with the undisguised joy of a memory which he admits will stay with him all his life.

"After that, when I saw the Olympic stadium and walked into it, well, it was a struggle to believe I was really there. Remember this was the stadium, one of the most spectacular stadiums in the world, which had been on German television so often in the last year.”

However, he returned to earth in the Bird's Nest stadium long enough to confirm his promise and reach the final, in which he was by far the youngest competitor, and place eighth.

To round off the season, earlier this month Holzdeppe was honoured with the accolade of being awarded the Waterford Crystal European Athletics Rising Star 2008 trophy for the continent's most outstanding young performer.

Early start

Even though he is still only 19, Holzdeppe has already spent nearly a decade practising the art at which he has become a prodigious exponent.

"The club I now jump for (LAZ Zweibrücken) arranges what they call a Talent Cup for all the schools in the area and the first three of each age group get an invitation to join the club and when I was 10 years old I placed third in this competition and so got an invitation," explained Holzdeppe.

"I didn't do anything about it for six months and then went along. I tried nearly all the events, I tried sprinting and I tried long jumping, but not throwing because I wasn't good at that, and I eventually came to try pole vaulting. It fascinated me so I decided to go on with it.

"It quite quickly became my only sporting activity, I can't explain my feeling about it. At first, I was also doing judo and gymnastics as well, along with pole vaulting, but obviously it soon became too much. First, I quit gymnastics then I quit judo."

He has discovered over time about how to successfully juggle his academic responsibilities with being the latest in a long line of outstanding German pole vaulters.

"Training sessions have increased steadily over the years, at first it was a little bit difficult to arrange everything between school and athletics work, but now everything is fine and organised properly.

"I got to school until three in the afternoon. I train from half-past-four until seven in the evening and after that I have to do my homework but I've got used to that routine now.

"People sometimes ask me if I'm a little crazy doing this. Well, I think everyone who does pole vaulting is a little bit crazy so I guess I must be," added Holzdeppe with a self-depreciating smile.

Phil Minshull for the IAAF

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