When Ernest John Obiena, the Philippines pulled away, when Armand Duplanti’s WC gold was secured – then Kajsa Bergqvist stood in the stands with the Swedish flag in her hands.
However, the star was not prepared to receive it and the national team captain simply had to sit down again.
From there she got to see three high jumps, world record attempts of 6.23 meters.
“Almost always good”
In Budapest, however, the final did not end in the same way as in Eugene last year – gold and world record – but in Hungary it was “only” gold.
For Bergqvist, it was still enough to praise the 23-year-old, especially after the thigh injury the pole vaulter received at the Diamond League competition in Monaco before the championship.
— What “Mondo” does time after time, championship after championship… He’s almost always good, but he’s at his best when it’s a championship, she says.
— He has the ability, despite the trickier process before this championship, to gear up even more when it’s a championship.
Bergqvist was not alone in paying tribute to the Swedish gold medalist.
Can jump higher
The other medalists also joined in the chorus and were aware that 6.22 meters, Duplanti’s current world record, will not be valid for very long.
Ernest John Obiena:
“I don’t know how high he can jump… It’s already that high,” he says.
Australian Kurtis Marschall, who shared the bronze with American Christoper Nilsen, was also impressed.
— Seeing which poles he jumps with compared to the rest of us, he can jump even higher than he does now, but I can’t put a number on it.