by Alfonz Juck
Mariya Lasitskene, Birmingham 2018, photo by PhotoRun.netLasitskene 203 over Chicherova 201
MOSCOW (RUS, Jan 20): Reigning World and European champion Mariya Lasitskene made an amazing gift for her coach Gennadiy Gabrilyan birthday, when she won the special mixed high jump meeting among men and women ‘The Battle of the Sexes’ in new World season best and meeting record 203. The 26-year-old Russian cleared all heights in first attempts, but was unsuccessful at 205. London Olympic champion Anna Chicherova repeated her season best of 201 as second and then had one failure at 203 and two unsuccessful, but very close jumps over 205. The best from men’s field was Ilya Ivanyuk who cleared 226 and took third place overall. London Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov went over 223 (fourth place), but then he skipped 226 as well as 229 and didn’t cope with 232.
Anna Chicherova, Brussels 2015, photo by PhotoRun.netrunblogrun opines: Lasitskene and Chicherova bring out the best in each other. This writer would love to see the two high jump dieties compete over a few meets indoors. The Battle of the Sexes are so intimate and give Russian fans a chance to see two of the finest high jumpers in the world.
