News19 Jul 2004


Vlasic leaps 2.02 but disaster for Bergqvist who snaps Achilles

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Blanka Vlasic clears 2.02 in Bastad, Sweden (© Göran Lenz)

Båstad, SwedenTwo years ago the precocious teenage talent Blanka Vlasic scored her first ever triumph against world class senior competition when she won the 2nd edition of the High Jump gala at the “Swedish Wimbledon”, i.e. the venerable Båstad tennis stadium.

The combination “Blanka & Båstad” worked magic again this year (Sunday 18 July) as the 20 years old not only won convincingly but also produced her best ever jumping by making first 2.00 and then a few minutes later also the new Croatian national record 2.02!

“I feel I am only jumping at 50% of my ability today,” was Blanka’s comment about halfway through the competition although she still had managed to compile a clean sheet of clearances through 1.95. She said she felt a little sluggish physically and that she had some problems getting her technique a tuned to the synthetic runway placed on top of the tennis court.

But apparently the 2000 and 2002 World Junior champion managed to raise her “output level” significantly from that 50% for the second part of the competition. Because when the last opponent – Inga Babakova – was eliminated at 1.98 Vlasic asked for 2.00 and on her second attempt she flew over the bar with at least a couple of centimetres to spare.

Perfect third time clearance at 2.02 – Croatian record

It was the only third time in her career that she had cleared two metres, but Vlasic was still not content and with the vociferous support of the 2,500 spectators at the Båstad centrecourt she attempted 2.02. The first two attempts were decent and the third was perfect. She did touch the bar ever so slightly but there was never any doubt that it would remain on the supports.

But Blanka Vlasic was still not content as she asked for 2.05, a height which would put her on top of the 2004 World List! Despite having already made nine jumps in a competition that started over two hours earlier she produced three strong attempts where especially the second was really good.

Freitag raises his game – 2.31

With Stefan Holm competing simultanously yesterday in Eberstadt, Germany (2.36 personal best) the South African World Champion Jacques Freitag and Poland’s Grzegorz Sposob – both having jumped 2.34 this summer looked like the main contenders in the men’s competition. However, neither of them looked really crisp in their jumping on the early heights.

Freitag made 2.12 and 2.16 on first attempts but then needed two attempts at both 2.20 and 2.24. At that stage of the meet Sweden’s Staffan Strand was leading on the count-back. But just like Vlasic in the women’s event Freitag managed to “raise his game” as the bar went up.  At 2.27 he went over in an impressive fashion on his second attempt and then he also had a clean clearance in his third attempt at 2.31.

At 2.35 Freitag was feeling the cumulative effects of his eleven jumps to get there and after one attempt he called it a day.

“After loosing more than three months of jumping since last summer due my ankle problems and after making significant changes to my technique – run-up, take-off, bar clearance – I still need many more jumps to get my rhythm working,” confirmed Freitag.

“But I am very satisfied with my last two meets – Salamanca and here. At the moment I have no more competitions planned before the Olympics. I will now go back to South Africa for a couple of weeks of training.”

Disaster for Bergqvist
 
The brilliant jumping of Vlasic and Freitag of course gained a strong vocal response from the enthusiastic spectators, but this pleasantly sunny afternoon also had one moment of almost eerie complete silence:  When the left foot suddenly gave way for Kajsa Bergqvist on the second step in her approach towards 1.88 the clapping and cheering from the stands stopped in probably less than a millisecond!

The spectators watched in almost disbelief Bergqvist hopping the remaining steps on her right leg before landing in the pit clutching the left ancle in obvious agony. Of course everybody was aware that this was Bergqvist’s comeback competition after the bursitis operation in late February - but just a few minutes earlier they had watched her in characteristic fashion bounce effortlessly over 1.80 with 10-15 centimetres to spare. So absolutely no one was prepared for this drama.

Bergqvist was rushed to hospital for medical inspection of the injury and the verdict was harsh and sad: The left Achilles tendon had snapped (or rather detached from the heel) and her Olympic season was over almost before it had begun. An operation will be performed within a day or two and then will follow several months of rehabilitation before Bergqvist can resume proper athletics training with the aim of returning to competition.

Having been the most consistent female high jumper in the world in recent years – she won medals in all eight in- and outdoor championships on World and European level during the last Olympiade (2000-2003) – Bergqvist will be a very noticeable absentee in Athens but hopefully she will be able to reclaim her position in the world elite for championships to come.

Lennart Julin for the IAAF

Men
1) Jacques Freitag RSA 2.31, 2) Staffan Strand SWE 2.24, 3) Oskari Frösén FIN & Grzegorz Sposob POL 2.20, 5) Pavel Fomenko RUS 2.20, 6) Joan Charmant FRA 2.12, -) Andrey Chubsa BLR X.

Women
1) Blanka Vlasic CRO 2.02, 2) Inga Babakova UKR 1.95, 3) Tatiana Efimenko KGZ 1.92, 4) Melanie Skotnik GER 1.84, 5) Emma Green SWE 1.84, 6) Amy Acuff USA 1.84, 7) Kajsa Bergqvist SWE 1.80.

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