From the point of view of spectators and competitors, there is reason to hope that the organizers have learned from the fiasco of the Olympic final in Tokyo, writes Atte Husu.
Atte Husuurheilhu reporter
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
PARIS. On Wednesday, dubious athletics history will be made at the Stade de France when a record 20 athletes compete in the women’s pole vault Olympic final.
In Monday’s qualifying, it was once again proven that pole vaulting is the most sensitive of the athletics to changing conditions. In the qualifier, the increases were 420, 440, 455, 465 and 470, which is in line with the previous value competitions.
The athletes were able to jump the training and the first two starting heights in a small tailwind, which is ideal for pole vaulters.
However, at 455, the wind changed and only 11 jumpers cleared that height.
When a minimum of 12 jumpers are needed for the final, the organizers had no choice but to take nine athletes who crossed 440 on their first attempt.
It is not the first time that the women’s pole vault championship final is held with more than 12 competitors. When the Olympic medals were fought for last time in Tokyo in 2021, there were 15 finalists.
At that time, the technical delegates of the race set the starting height at 450, from which the bar was immediately raised to 470. 13 of the 15 finalists cleared the starting height, but only four jumpers got over 470.
Like the qualifying in Paris, the final in Tokyo also turned into a bar dropping party due to the changed wind in the middle of the race.
See Wilma Murro’s and Elina Lampela’s crossings of 455 in pole vault qualifying:
Will the same song continue?
All eyes now turn to the technical delegates, of which there are three in the stadium sports. Since there are 20 athletes waiting for their turn on the field in Paris, the bar has been raised sadly, so that the race can be completed in even a somewhat decent time.
The big question is whether the decision-makers will implement the 20-cent increase seen in Tokyo immediately after the opening height.
Before the finals in Tokyo, the representatives of the Nordic countries approached the technical delegates to ask them to reconsider the increases. They didn’t consider.
The answer the teams got was, in short, the following: Get better athletes.
Wilma Murron coach Jarno Koivunen hoped after the Paris qualification that the starting height in the final would be 450 and that the decision-makers would be patient with the first increase. According to Koivunen, an increase of 15 cents would be understandable considering the number of competitors, 10 is probably utopia.
In vertical jumps, tactics are an essential and fascinating part of the competition. However, if the increases are too hard and the conditions change in the outdoor sport, the overall result level of the race will easily collapse.
That’s what happened in Tokyo. Will the same happen again in Paris?
Respect for competitors
The competition is far from crowd-friendly if it turns into a relegation party in the early stages.
A year ago, at the World Championship qualification in Budapest, 12 jumpers exceeded the qualifying height of 465. At that time, the final started at 430, from which the bar was raised to heights of 450, 465 and 475. After that, increases of five centimeters came into the picture. This served not only the competitors but also the audience.
In Tokyo, the line was 450, 470, 480, and the audience watching the race with TV receivers saw more than one crossing from only four athletes in the final.
It is to be hoped that the people responsible for the elevations will set the starting height at 450 and otherwise follow the Budapest line. Above all, it would be right for the athletes. The athletes have earned a proper competition at the most important moment of their career.