Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia during the women's Pole Vault qualification (© Getty Images)
After failing all attempts to better her own 4-day-old World indoor record, Russia’s World, Olympic and European Pole Vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva still ended up the winner of the Pedro’s Cup competition in Bydgoszcz last night (14).
The other highlight came in the men’s High Jump as Swede Linus Thörnblad beat Ukraine's World champion Yuriy Krymarenko. Both men ended up with 2.34m, Thörnblad levelling his personal best with his first time clearance and Krymarenko bettering his own PB by 1cm with this third approach to the bar at that height.
Isinbayeva – 4.84 on first attempt
Yelena Isinbayeva competed in Bydgoszcz four days after setting her 20th World record in Donetsk. She kept in mind her unsuccessful appearance in August in Warsaw, also at the Pedro’s Cup meeting, when rain prevented her from jumping even the first height. Isinbayeva promised to make an effort to set her 21st World record (in Poland number 21 is as lucky as 7).
Isinabayeva began with a marvellous clearance at 4.64m. She missed her first attempt at 4.74, the height which her compatriot Svetlana Feofanova, the former World champion cleared easily. As a result Isinbayeva moved her other attempts to 4.84m. Vaulting this height on the first attempt gave her the victory, and then three attempts at 4.94m followed. All of them were quite good, but unfortunately unsuccessful. A tired Isinbayeva was too slow on the last part of the run-up to give her a better vault.
After the competition the Russian confirmed that she will not change her plans, and so will certainly miss the European Indoor Championships next month. Her most important competition of the year is going to be the outdoor World Championships in Osaka, Japan, this summer.
Feofanova back in top shape
Feofanova is getting back to shape, and although she lost during the Russian indoor championships (jumping 4.60), in Bydgoszcz she cleared 4.74 what is her best result since the Olympic Games in Athens. She vaulted her first height of 4.44 on the third attempt but after that she improved her run-up and impressed with a dose of dynamism.
Enthusiastic cheers for home favourite Anna Rogowska almost helped her to clear 4.74. The Pole is doing better and better this season after last year’s trouble with her health (she skipped the European Championships in Gothenburg). In Isinbayeva’s absence she will be one of the favourites for the European indoor title in Birmingham, and this weekend she will have the opportunity to take her first ever Polish indoor championship.
Czech record but with some unexpected difficulty
Czech Pavla Hamackova-Rybova went through some unexpected emotions during the Pole Vault competition. She managed to set an “absolute” Czech Republic Record on Saturday in Valencia with the result of 4.61m. In Bydgoszcz she cleared 3cm more on her first attempt.
However, her happiness was quickly interrupted by careful officials who perceived that the bar jumped and one of its ends landed on the supporting part which even extends above the pegs. According to IAAF rules the jump could not be marked as valid. Rybova protested but without any result, only to focus for her next attempt and although this time she also touched the bar, the vault was successful. In clearing 4.64m, Rybova established the highest ever fourth place mark in a competition.
But later on the same evening in Prague, her Czech compatriot Katerina Badurova leapt 4.65m to establish a better national mark. Click here for Prague meeting report
Pole’s Roza Kasprzak and Joanna Piwowarska again had the same result – this time it was 4.44 (1cm less then their season bests), while a much bigger Polish vaulting name, World Championship silver medallist Monika Pyrek continued her comeback from surgery.
Pyrek had an operation on her right foot in October and is behind in her training schedule and her run-up was again definitely unstable. In Donieck she cleared 4.52 and in Bydgoszcz last night she was unable to jump the first height of 4.34. Pyrek is planning to finish her indoor competitions during the National Championships – out of the 9 editions so far held she has won them all!
Thörnblad wins 2.34m duel with Krymarenko
In the men’s High Jump, European Championships silver medallist Tomas Janku was able to jump only 2.15m, as it was his 8th start during the last 25 days. The Polish jumpers didn’t show too much either, with the best of them Michal Bieniek jumping 2.24, while Grzegorz Sposob and Aleksander Walerianczyk, with personal bests of 2.34 and 2.36, both settled for 2.20m.
However, the overall level of the competition could not to be complained about, with three athletes attempting to jump 2.36.
1.80m tall Swede Linus Thörnblad jumped 2.30 on his third attempt and at that moment of the competition it gave him only fourth place! Trained by Pole Stanislaw Szczyrba, Thörnblad had more luck on his next heights and managed to clear them on his first tries. For the third time in his career he jumped 2.34. Along with his compatriot Stefan Holm the two Swedes will be the main opponents for the Russians during the European Indoor Championships.
Helsinki World champion Yuriy Krymarenko definitely feels good in Poland. During the Artur Partyka meeting in Lodz he won jumping 2.30. In Bydgoszcz he bettered his personal best with the jump of 2.34, his first two attempts having been hopeless.
The American who is currently in most even shape, national champion Tora Harris jumped 2.30 and unsuccessfully tried to beat the Europeans by jumping 2.36.
World Indoor Championships silver medallist from Moscow, Russian Andrey Tereshin also managed to clear 2.30 but in this high level competition there was no place for him on the podium.
Janusz Rozum for the IAAF
RESULTS
Women’s Pole Vault
1. Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) 4.84
(4.64/1, 4.74/x, 4.84/1, 4.94/xxx)
2. Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) 4.74
(4.44/3, 4.54/1, 4.64/1, 4.74/2, 4.84/xxx)
3. Anna Rogowska (POL) 4.64
(4.34/3, 4.54/2, 4.64/1, 4.74/xxx)
4. Pavla Rybová (CZE) 4.64 NR
(4.24/1, 4.44/1, 4.54/2, 4.64/2, 4.74/xxx)
5= Róza Kasprzak (POL) 4.44
(4.24/1, 4.34/1, 4.44/1, 4.54/xxx)
5= Fabiana Murer (BRA) 4.44
(4.34/1, 4.44/1 4.54/xxx)
7. Joanna Piwowarska (POL) 4.44
(4.24/1, 4.34/2 4.44/2 4.54/xxx)
8. Nastja Ryjikh (GER) 4.34
(4.24/1, 4.34/1, 4.44//xxx)
nh - Monika Pyrek (POL)
(4.34/xxx)
Men’s High Jump
1. Linus Thronblad (SWE) 2.34
(2.20/1, 2.24/1, 2.28/1, 2.30/3, 2.32/1, 2.34/1, 2.36/xxx)
2. Yuriy Krymarenko (UKR) 2.34 pb
(2.15/1, 2.20/1, 2.24/1 2.28/3, 2.30/1, 2.32/1, 2.34/3, 2.36/xxx)
3. Tora Harris (USA) 2.30
(2.15/1 2.20/1 2.24/1, 2.30/2, 2.34/xx, 2.36/x)
4. Andrey Tereshin (RUS) 2.30
(2.15/1, 2.20/1, 2.24/1, 2.28/3 2.30/2, 2.32/xxx)
5. Michal Bieniek (POL) 2.24
(2.15/1, 2.24/1, 2.28/xxx)
6. Svatoslav Ton (CZE) 2.24
(2.15/1, 2.20/1, 2.24/3, 2.28/xxx)
7. Aleksander Walerianczyk (POL) 2.20
(2.15/1, 2.20/1, 2.24/xxx)
8. Grzegorz Sposób (POL) 2.20
(2.15/2, 2.20/1, 2.24/xxx)
9. Tomáš Janku (CZE) 2.15
(2.15/2, 2.24/xxx)
nh - Sylwester Bednarek (POL)
(2.15/xxx)
