Report19 Jul 2015


Girls' pole vault – IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015

FacebookTwitterEmail

Sweden's Elienor Werner at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 (© Getty Images)

Fitting well into an evening when dominant victories in the field events was the norm, Sweden’s Elienor Werner produced a commanding victory in the girls’ pole vault, winning by no fewer than 21 centimetres at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 on Saturday (18).

In what amounted to a relatively easy road to gold, the 17-year-old Werner sailed clear at six heights through to 4.22m — she had already clinched Sweden’s second title in the event at 4.15m — with her first attempts, the latter a lifetime best.

Obviously jumping well, she had the bar raised to 4.26m; that height too was conquered but she needed all three of her attempts.

It was a world youth lead, but still not enough for Werner, who was enjoying the competition of her life.

“I felt so good here in Cali’s stadium, I just wanted to try and try,” said Werner, who had a 4.20m best to her name prior to Saturday night. “That’s why I didn’t finish after the world youth lead.”

Alluding to world record-holder Yelena Isinbaeva, who won the inaugural world youth title in 1999, Werner said: “I dreamt of gold and now I could realise it. Now I will dream of Olympic gold. Who knows?”

Behind her, the results were more modest. The next four finishers topped out at 4.05m, with Australia’s Phillipa Hajdasz and China’s Chen Qiapling jointly awarded silver medals on countback.

Russia’s Valeriya Nikonova and Belgium’s Hanne de Baene also topped 4.05m but missed out on the medals.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Pages related to this article
AthletesDisciplinesCompetitions
Loading...