Bergqvist raises year’s best mark
An untimely miss at the relatively low height of 1.93 failed to derail Kajsa Bergqvist’s climb to the high jump gold. The favored Swede came to Lisbon with the year’s best mark, 1.99, but she missed her first attempt at 1.93, then saw four others go through that height without a miss, her prospects looked somewhat compromised.
Bergqvist got back on track with a first-try clearance at 1.96, but even that was only good enough to raise her into a tie for the No. 3 position with American Amy Acuff. Perfect records to that point by Russia’s Inga Babakova and Bulgaria’s Venelina Veneva found them holding down a share of the top position. Jumping first in the order, Bergqvist put on the pressure with a first-try make at 1.98, but was dropped into 2nd as soon as Babakova continued her day of perfection. Veneva and Acuff each missed, at which point the American announced she would pass her last two tries, instead opting to utilize them at the next height. Veneva missed twice more and the bar was raised to 2.00. Babakova and Bergqvist were guaranteed medals at this point. Veneva’s fate depended on what Acuff could do with her two attempts.
Continuing to put the pressure on from the leadoff position, Bergqvist skimmed the bar with her thighs on her first attempt, but after a brief quiver, the crosspiece remained on. The performance tied her Swedish record and upped by a centimeter her yearly lead. When Babakova came a cropper for the first time, the Swede was finally back in the lead. Acuff missed, then Babakova missed again. A second miss for Acuff put her out of the competition and gave the bronze to Veneva. On third try Babakova slid over to tie the year’s best performance and force the conclusion of the event to another height.
So 2.02 featured a battle of two jumpers clad in yellow and blue, Bergqvist approaching from the left side, Babakova from the right. The former had by far the better tries, looking as if she could make 2.02 very soon, but neither was successful.
