 |
| Renaud Lavillenie of Frnace successfully retained his European pole vault title with a massive clearance of 5.97m in an epic battle in Helsinki on Sunday. |
Renaud Lavillenie, the world indoor champion, lived up to his position as favourite to retain his pole vault title here. But only after a prodigious struggle with Bjorn Otto, one of three Germans who ended up disputing the medals, which prompted the Frenchman to a clearance of 5.97m that was only four centimetres less than his 2009 personal best of 6.01 and now sees him head towards the Olympics at the top of the 2012 world rankings.
It was world class entertainment for an appreciative home crowd enjoying sunny weather which was in total contrast to the heavy rain of the previous night.
Lavillenie, who had required 5.85 to win European gold in Barcelona two years ago, underlined his supremacy with three first time clearances at 5.87, 5.92 and then 5.97 as the 34-year-old Otto, surely producing the performance of his career, settled eventually for silver with 5.92, a personal best by two centimetres.
“It was a different type of competition than I expected,” said Lavillenie. “From my second attempt at 5.82 I started to believe I could win this. A great result and an unbelievable competition.”
“It was quite a battle,” said Otto after earning his second silver of the year following his success at the World Indoor championships in Istanbul. “The atmosphere was pretty awesome as well. Of course, Lavillenie is in good shape this season, but I think I can be very satisfied with my performance.”
Otto’s 22-year-old team-mate Raphael Holzdeppe took bronze as he equalled his seasons’ best of 5.77. The third German contender, Malte Mohr, competing a week after he had supplanted Lavillenie at the head of the 2012 world listings with a vault of 5.91, had to settle for fourth place on countback after also clearing 5.77. It was a frustrating outcome for Mohr, who failed to qualify at the last Europeans.
“It was great,” said Holzdeppe. “I wanted to be among the first five and now I have got a medal. It was a great competition for me, especially with the season’s best.”
Lavillenie had put himself at an initial tactical disadvantage when, after joining the competition on 5.60, he narrowly failed to clear at his first attempt – something both Mohr and Jan Kudlicka of the Czech Republic subsequently managed. After his first failure he remained kneeling momentarily on the landing bed, eyes raised to the sky. As things turned out, he needn’t have worried.
The Frenchman cleared the height at his next attempt, although his chest brushed the bar on the way down, and as the bar rose to 5.60 there were just six vaulters in contention – Lavillenie, the three Germans, Kudlicka and Konstadinos Fillipidis of Greece.
Fillipidis, one of three men – along with Otto and Holzdeppe – to have gambled on passing at 5.60 after managing first time clearances of 5.50 – made good on his risk as he cleared 5.66 at the first attempt, a season’s best performance. Otto also sailed over 5.66 at his first attempt.
Tactics came into the competition again as Holzdeppe remained out, and 5.66 was also skipped by Mohr, Kudlica and Lavillenie. Thus, with the bar now raised to 5.72, Filllipidis re-applied himself to the competition, clearing for a season’s best. But he was to go no further. Lavillenie, Mohr and Otto, continuing to play the tactical cards, passed at this height, and Holzdeppe duly became the first to clear it, at the first attempt.
After two failures at 5.72, Kudlicka passed, opting to try his luck with one attempt at the new height of 5.77. It was a gamble that did not pay off, and his exit – and that of Fillipidis - left four contesting the medals – three Germans and a Frenchman.
Lavillenie’s easy first time clearance put him back in charge of the competition – but when Holzdeppe cleared it with the next jump – clenching both fists as he stood watching a bar that was still juddering above him – it was the 22-year-old German, for whom this equalled the season’s best, who was in pole position with three clearances out of three.
Mohr attempted to join his team-mate there with the next vault, but his immediate ambitions were dampened as he clipped the bar off. Now it was the turn of the third German finalist to attempt to join Holzdeppe and Lavillenie – but Otto also registered a first failure at 5.77 as he stuttered in the run-up and then ran through his attempt.
Otto required another two attempts before securing his passage to the level of 5.82, and he was joined by his fellow countryman Mohr, who cleared 5.77 at his second attempt.
All four failed their first attempts at 5.82. Second time around, Lavillenie briefly held his head in his hands as he fell after dislodging the bar again. Holzdeppe, too, failed a second time. Mohr’s second attempt went awry as he lost control of his pole 10m before taking off and he flung the offending item down in disgust before running onto the landing pit. Otto, too, failed with his second attempt.
Lavillenie, on silver by countback, made his final attempt at 5.82 – and, to a huge roar of acclaim, achieved it, soaring over in the sunshine. Now Team Germany had to try and match him to deny him.
Neither Holzdeppe nor Mohr could do so, but, to another huge roar of acclaim, Otto rose to the challenge. There was still work ahead of him, however, as he was behind Lavillenie on countback by dint of one extra failure.
If the gold was still in doubt, Lavillenie did his best to settle the matter as he cleared 5.87 at his first attempt, snaking artfully around the bar to leave Otto with a mighty challenge ahead of him. The German gambled again, passing at 5.87 and moving on to 5.92 – two centimetres higher than he had ever managed.
The gamble appeared to have backfired, as Lavillenie rose to this challenge too at the first attempt, the bar bouncing and juddering in his wake but remaining on its rest to send the Frenchman to the top of the year’s world rankings. Once again, however, after one failure, Otto upped the ante again with a lifetime best effort.
And so the bar rose to 5.97. Astonishingly, Lavillenie cleared with another first time attempt, landing in jubilation. His opening failure at 5.60 now seemed a very long way away. And it was to be the last clearance of a memorable competition.