Lisa Gunnarsson in the pole vault at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 (© Getty Images)
Sweden will be attracting quite a bit of attention in the Tampere pole vault competition, but it won't all be directed towards men's favourite Armand Duplantis. Lisa Gunnarsson – like Duplantis, just 18 – will arrive with plenty of ammo to support her role as favourite in the women's event.
A finalist at these championships two years ago finishing seventh, Gunnarsson took the European U20 title last year with 4.40m before ending the year with an appearance at her first senior World Championships. This year, her first in the NCAA ranks at Virginia Tech University, she improved to 4.60m at the Texas Relays, the best U20 vault in the world this year. She was a solid third at the NCAA Championships in Eugene in early June, again at 4.40m. But will that height be enough for her to nab her first world title?
On paper, no.
Molly Caudery of Great Britain, second to Gunnarsson at the European Junior Championships last year, began the season with a 4.35m outdoor best, one she has improved upon three times: twice to 4.40m to equal the national U20 record and again all the way to 4.53m on 23 June in Mannheim, the second highest U20 jump in the world this season. However, like Gunnarsson, who topped just 4.25m in her last pre-Tampere outing, Caudery wasn't especially impressive, topping just 4.15m at the British Championships last weekend.
Czech Amalie Svabikova will also arrive as a solid medal threat. Seventh at these championships two years ago and fifth at the European Juniors last year, the 18-year-old has a 4.45m season's best – five centimetres shy of her personal best set last year – and in her last outing went nearly as high, topping 4.40m at a meeting in Ostrava on 1 July.
Others with medal ambitions include Alice Moindrot of France and US U20 champion Rachel Baxter who have both topped 4.42m this season, and authorised neutral athlete Yelizaveta Bondarenko and Olivia McTaggart of New Zealand, who have scaled 4.40m.
Finnish hopes lie on the slim shoulders of Saga Andersson, a 4.42m jumper last year whose 2018 best is 4.39m.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
