… then the bar falls after all
Duplantis almost had a new world record
2/4/2022, 9:16 p.m
At the Istaf Indoor, the spectators and the numerous top-class participants experience almost a world record – but pole vault star Armand Duplantis shakes the pole a touch too hard at a dizzying height. Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo misses the victory.
Long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo started her short indoor season with third place. At the Istaf Indoor in Berlin, the 28-year-old from the LG Kurpfalz had to beat the Swede Khaddi Sagna with 6.68 meters and Merle Homeier (also 6th place) in her parade discipline with a distance of 6.66 meters in front of 1500 spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Arena .66 meters) beaten.
For the sportswoman of the year, only two more appearances in the hall at the Istaf Indoor in Düsseldorf on February 20th and a weekend later at the German indoor championships in Leipzig follow the start in Berlin. In the sprint over 60 meters, Mihambo failed in the lead, the competition served to get a better start for the long jump.
Armand Duplantis provided the highlight of the evening. The 22-year-old Swede had already jumped the bar in the third and last attempt over 6.19 meters, the organizers had already ignited the columns of fire as a sign of triumph, before the pole, to the horror of Duplantis and most of the spectators, finally fell after moments of fear fell.
The Tokyo Olympic champion had to settle for the meeting record with a jump of 6.03 meters. He improved the height set up by Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie in 2015 by one centimeter. Third was Oleg Zernickel from ASV Landau. With a personal best of 5.81 meters, the 26-year-old German champion set the norm for the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade from March 18th to 20th. On the other hand, Zernickel’s predecessor as national champion, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, failed because of the standard height. The 22-year-old from Bayer Leverkusen had to be content with 5.70 meters and fifth place.
Completely free of times, Gina Lückenkemper ran 1099 days after her last indoor competition on her comeback in 7.33 seconds to fifth place over 60 meters. The 25-year-old from SCC Berlin is focusing on the World Cup in the summer from July 15th to 24th in Eugene/USA and the home European Championships in Munich from August 11th to 21st as part of the European Championships.