A desperate act was seen in the historic pole vault won by the phenomenal Armand Duplantis. Urheilu’s expert Jaakko Ojaniemi gathers the topics, surprises and flops of the World Championships in Athletics.
Athletics World Championships 19.8.–27.8. Ylen channels. See the schedule and broadcast information of the games at this link.
What are we talking about?
The gem of the last day of the World Championships, Saturday, was the toughest men’s pole vault ever. Armand Duplantis won his second outdoor world championship with a top score of 610.
of the Philippines Ernest John Obiena won silver, surpassing 600, Australia Kurtis Marshall and the USA Chris Nilsen shared the World Cup bronze with a score of 595 and France, who finished fifth Thibau Collet too crossed the height of 590.
For the first time at the World Championships, two jumpers went six meters in the same competition. It was also the first time for all that the top five had a score of 590 or higher.
Sports expert Jaakko Ojaniemi however, points out that the opponents still had nothing against Duplantis. The Swedish jumper also managed impressive jumps from heights of 600, 605 and 610.
– Obiena tried to play the game. He moved his last overs, but the tactic was watered down as Duplantis always pulled the next height on his first over. It was pretty desperate from the opponents.
For various reasons, the American star jumpers were absent from the World Cup final or the entire Games KC Lightfoot and Sam KendricksNorway’s six-meter indoor jump Sondre Guttormsen as well as the Brazilian Olympic champion Thiago Braz da Silva.
Ojaniemi reminds us that opponents still have a long way to go to Duplantis’ basic level. It is six meters in almost every race.
– The team behind Duplantis is getting bigger. There are more 580-590 jumpers out there. However, it is difficult to rise to the level of 610. They have only been able to do that Sergei Bubka, Renaud Lavillenie and Duplantis, says Ojaniemi.
Who surprised?
Ojaniemi, who finished 10th in the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, makes Canada, who won this match, the surprise of the day. Pierce LePage.
He won gold with the top score of 8,909 points in the world statistics. Damien Warner completed Canada’s jubilant celebration with his World Cup silver (8,804). Third was Grenada Lindon Victor with a score of 8,756.
– LePage was one of my top 3 advance favorites beforehand. Even such hard points in such weather are on the side of surprise, Ojaniemi sees.
However, the biggest talking point of the entire decathlon was the suspensions of the top athletes. Among other things, ME man and world champion Kevin Mayer (FRA), 2019 World Champion Niklas Kaul (GER) and Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Moloney had to leave the game after the opening day.
– In the pole vault, three were left without a result and 15 guys finished. Hot weather certainly increases the risk of muscle cramps and injuries. Although some were able to be carried to the end of the match, they seemed to be completely gone, says Ojaniemi.
Who flopped?
The hardest flop also comes from the 10-game side. Before the World Cup, Germany was number one in the world statistics Leo Neugenbauer dazzled on the opening day in many sports and was strongly involved in the gold fight.
On the second day, however, he fell short of the medal fight and was fifth. Neugenbauer’s elimination from the medals also meant that Germany, the former top country in athletics, is in danger of being completely without a medal in these Games.
– Neugenbauer’s second day was a disappointment, even though he took the second best points of his career. Looked so good the first day though, but then he collapsed.
What next?
In the evening final of the final day, the Finns have exciting things to do in two sports, when Oliver Helander fighting for the top spots in the javelin and Ella Junnila jumps for the first time in his career in the height WC final.
A medal is expected from Helander, who is throwing in the second adult competition final of his career. Wilma Murto reached the WC bronze in the pole vault at these games.
If Helander were to shoot for medals, it would be the first time since 2001 that two Finns have reached the top three at the World Championships or Olympics. Javelin thrower at Edmonton World Championships Aki Parviainen was second and a shot putter Arsi Harju third.
The preliminary favorite for the World Cup final is India Neeraj Chopra, who smashed his season’s best 88.77 in qualifying. Based on qualifying Jakub Vadlejch and Pakistan Arshad Nadeem are tied to other medal places.
However, Helander, who has thrown 87.32 at his best this season, has the required throw for the medal place.
– I think the medal level is there at 86-87 meters. Sure, he has the potential to throw, say, 90 meters. However, 86–87 is more realistic, says Ojaniemi.