The sky’s the limit
for Buß
Jorg Wenig for IAAF
6 March 2001 - It is wonderfully ironic that Martin Buß, the in-form high jumper, studied aviation technology and space travel for some years at university. And although the 25-year-old high jumper from Berlin did not finish these studies, he has embarked on many successful "flights" to the delight of his Club Bayer Leverkusen.
Having won a bronze medal in the world championships in Seville in 1999 and a silver in the European indoors a year ago he was aiming for Sydney and for new heights. Having cleared 2.35 m in 1999 Martin Buß felt able to break the German outdoor record, which will be 17 years old this summer. Carlo Thränhardt jumped 2.37 m back in 1984. Buß, who measures 1.95 m and has a long jump best of 7.75 m (1999), was aiming for 2.38 m last year.
"My build-up towards the summer was much better than in former years", Martin Buß said. But then his Olympic season was ruined by injury. This happened two weeks before his first competition. It took weeks before doctors found out that Martin Buß had to have an operation on an Achilles’ tendon.
It was during the Olympics that Martin Buß was able to start again with some careful training. Low jumps were possible some time in November, but meanwhile he came back to competition surprisingly soon and surprisingly well. First he jumped 2.20 m in Wuppertal, but that was followed by 2.30 m in Siegen. The 2.25 m, with which he won the German indoors in Dortmund last Sunday, were achieved with a handicap. Due to the women’s pole vault taking longer than expected, the run-up for the high jumpers had to be shortened. "Three metres were missing. That is all right for heights like 2.25 m, but if you want to jump 2.31 m or higher you need a proper run-up", Martin Buß said. "It is sad because I felt that I could have jumped higher than my season’s best."
"But to have reached Lisbon after the injury is a great success for me. There will be no pressure for me. After my injury it is good to get used to jumping against world-class athletes in such a competition again", Martin Buß said and added: "Of course the summer with the world championships in Edmonton has priority for me."
German athletics was fortunate to get Martin Buß. For years and years after Dietmar Mögenburg, Carlo Thränhardt and Ralf Sonn had ended their carees no successor was within sight. And it was a big coincidence that Martin Buß found his was to athletics. In fact German athletics should thank a football coach from a local club in Berlin. Football was Martin Buß’s favourite sport when he was a youngster. But the coach of Tasmania 73 Berlin did not select the defender for his team. Instead he kept him as a reserve. Being frustrated of not playing in matches Buß left the club and wanted to change. But as it was within the season Martin Buß would have been banned from playing for several months.
To do some sport in between, Martin Buß joined an athletics club in the summer of 1994 when he was already 18 years old. He knew he could jump well and had cleared 1.85 m in 1993. Success kept him in the sport. Soon he became Berlin’s most promising young high jumper. And it took not long until it became obvious that Martin Buß had the talent for which Germany’s high jump had waited so long. His development was breathtaking: Starting with those 1.85 m in 1993 he jumped 2.04 m one year later, 2.19 m (1995) and 2.27 m (1996).
He then came in late as a reserve to jump for Germany in the European Cup in Munich in 1997. It was in the Olympic stadium where he cleared 2.30 m for the first time, taking third place. After continuing from 2.31 m (1997) to 2.33 m (1998) and 2.35 m (1999) he had achieved an improvement of exactly half a metre within six years. It was only last year that due to injury he could not continue his series of yearly personal bests. But now, Martin Buß seems to be back on his way.
