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| Russia's Ivan Ukhov successfully defended his European indoor high jump title in Paris. |
Sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth with your geniuses and, if one athlete embodies that, it is the enigmatic Ivan Ukhov.
Two events in Ukhov’s past sum up both sides of the public image of the man from Chelyabinsk. In 2008 in the renowned Athletissima meeting in Lausanne, the home of the Olympic movement, Ukhov went on a Red Bull and vodka bender.
Nothing exceptional about that in a young man, I hear you say, except for the fact that this was prior to competition not after.
The resultant video of him jumping around 50cm before collapsing on the mat and apparently falling asleep has gone round the world several times in downloads and turned Ukhov into a kind of cult hero of the high jump.
Bur roll the frame forward to Athens one year later and you see the other side. In a largely empty indoor hall in the ancient home of athletics, the concentration on Ukhov’s face is intense as he pits himself against a new Russian record height of 2.40.
As he clears it, he leaps off the mat for sheer joy and throws himself into the arms of another competitor. He had just become the fifth highest jumper in the history of the sport.
With Ukhov, as they say, what you see is what you get and what you get is pretty astonishing all things considered. This is not a man who does things by halves and it was typical yesterday in the Palais Omnipsorts de Bercy that he should choose to have another shot at the world record.
He was politely asked first if he wanted to try a new championship record height of 2.41. It would have also been a new Russian record but since he already owned that he decided that there would be no half measures and opted for the ultimate challenge.
It was not to be, as Ukhov later admitted it had been a long competition and he was tired. But what was evident was the warmth with which he was received by the French public. As with all wayward geniuses, the public want him to succeed.
The incident in Lausanne has never been explained, least of all by Ukhov whose phone was switched off in the aftermath. There was a suggestion that he was upset at missing out on the Beijing Olympics, but that has been greeted in the Russian media with some scepticism.
But something else has happened in the recent past to suggest that Ukhov is becoming a more settled person.
In his press conference for the Russian Winter meeting, he said that the birth of his child had stabilised his existence: “Having a family helps. If it weren’t for my family, I would not be able to compete so consistently and successfully,” he said.
Consistent and successful is exactly what he has been this winter. A clean sheet of wins and three times over 2.38 speaks for itself.
As for the secret of his success, he is not so forthcoming except to say that he is relaxed about his sport and wants “to have fun” which is exactly the impression he gives.
In Bercy, he wandered about in a sloppy sweater, occasionally sweeping back his long hair. At the lower heights he did not even remove his tracksuit bottoms. Until, that is, he knocked off the bar at 2.29, a height he should go over in his sleep.
“In the Czech Republic (2.38) I knocked the bar off at 2.20, but in the end everything turned out well,” he said in justification for his relaxed approach. In other words, there is nothing to worry about and that is exactly the impression Ukhov gives.
Asked if he thought he was expending all his energy in jumping high in too many meetings and in danger of jeopardising gold in Paris, he replied with an enigmatic: “Let’s see how things go.”
Well, things went, and Ukhov won – again.