Vlasic

2 December 2008After cruising through the winter, spring and summer of 2008 piecing together one of the longest winning streaks in recent memory, it’s rather unfortunate for Blanka Vlasic that her season may be mostly remembered for the two occasions in which she faltered in her 24 starts this year.

They certainly were big losses. One cost the World High Jump champion Olympic gold and the other a $500,000 share of the ÅF Golden League Jackpot, providing fertile fodder for analysts, fans and critics alike to weigh in on the 25-year-old Croatian’s ability to produce on the big stage. Among them Pole Vault World record holder Yelena Isinbayeva.

“I felt sorry for her, but as I could see, I think she was a little too confident,” the Russian said of her late season high profile defeates. “A little over-confident.”

Isinbayeva likened Vlasic’s season to her own 2003 campaign when, after setting a World record in Gateshead, she arrived in Paris for the World championships thinking the world title was a foregone conclusion.

“I thought, ‘Oh, who are all these athletes here. I can win without any problems.’ I was ready to have the gold medal around my neck. But then I finished only third.”

“And I think that’s what happened to Blanka,” Isinbayeva continued. “Because from the beginning she seemed more concentrated. But then when she started to make a show at each competition, that can disturb you, I think. She must be concentrated from beginning to end. It’s good that she shows that she’s confident and that she puts on a show. It’s very nice for the crowd. They like to see that. But she must be calm on the inside.”

But according to Vlasic, nothing could be further from the truth.

“I was never too self-confident for these competitions,” Vlasic said. “I knew exactly what was awaiting me.” The difficulty and inherent pressure of maintaining a winning streak, she added, left no room for over confidence. “I was very concentrated and focused on these events.” She’s long maintained that she takes no competitors for granted, and her dominating victories at the World championships last year and World indoor championships this year certainly illustrate her ability to produce when it matters. In Beijing, her 2.05m effort was history’s highest non-winning leap.

As for her ‘show’, Vlasic said it’s not a distraction, but simply a way to express her delight with a particular jump. “When I feel happy, and am satisfied with a certain height, this feeling just comes automatically.”

Another full competitive slate indoors

That show will resume in January when she’ll officially turn the page on 2008 with her first start of the new year at the inaugural High Jump meet in Rijeka, a coastal city in northeast Croatia, on 26 January. Her primary rival will be a familiar one: Russian Anna Chicherova, the Olympic bronze medallist, who raised her career best outdoors to 2.04m in Zagreb in September, finishing second to Vlasic. Early confirmations also include Czech indoor record holder Barbora Lalakova (1.99m, 2006) and Canadian Nicole Forrester (1.97m, 2007).

Other appointments in the Vlasic 2009 indoor datebook include 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).

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF