Yelena Slesarenko apparently enjoys the jumping facilities at Athens Olympic Stadium. Winless in her last five competitions, the 24-year-old Russian began a new win streak in the same venue that hosted her Olympic triumph two years ago.
Slesarenko and European champion Tia Hellebaut (EUR) were the only jumpers to clear 1.97, but the Russian did so without a miss until that height, while the Belgian needed at least a pair with each height since 1.87.
“I’m happy because Greece was the Golden moment of my career,” said Slesarenko, who reached her personal best of 2.06m here two years ago. “I felt the euphoria of being Olympic champion once more.”
Three others topped out at 1.94: American Amy Acuff, Kazakhstan’s Marina Aitova (ASI) and Canadian Nicole Forrester; for Aitova and Forrester, personal bests.
Bob Ramsak
