One of the last events of the evening and certainly the most exciting, the men’s high jump final was pure drama.
With four remaining finalists having cleared 2.14, the bar was pushed up to the Championship record height of 2.17. Aleksey Dmitrik was the first to attempt this height and cleared it at his first attempt, maintaining his unbroken series of clearances to that level. Next to go was Belarussian Aliaksandr Plisko, who failed the height at his first attempt and then cleared it at his second, a scenario repeated by Michal Beniak of Poland and Australian James Watson.
With all four remaining finalists back in contention, the bar was raised 2.19. Once again Dmitrik was clear on his first attempt, while Plisko needed three, clearing it on his third and Watson two. Bieniek, though had reached his limit and was unsuccessful in all three attempts.
On to 2.21 and the first signs of weakness by Dmitrik, who was unsuccessful with his first jump – the first failure for the Russian in this competition – then cleared the new height with bhis second jump. Plisko was not so fortunate and this was the end of his competition with three failures. The stadium held its collective breath as Watson knocked the bar off twice and then roared as he made a successful third attempt.
2.23 a massive new Championships record and Dmitrik was back on winning form with a successful first clearance. But it was the end of the road for Watson with three failures.
One attempt at 2.25 (unsuccessful) and Dmitrik collected the Russian flag for a well-deserved and loudly cheered victory lap.
8 finalists set new PBs in the event.
