Di Martino Unbelievable 2.04m!, Shkolina, 2.00m, by Alfons Juck, note by Larry Eder

Di Martino unbelievable 204, Shkolina 200

BANSKA BYSTRICA(SVK):As
in all women’s high jump competitions this winter, the absence of superstars
Blanka Vlasic of Croatia and Germany’s Ariane Friedrich are felt every time. Compounding
the problem this week was a veritable log jam of four traditional European high
jump competitions–Brno, Weinheim, Banská Bystrica and Prague–all in the space
of three days. Still, the women on hand on this unseasonably warm day (8C) in
the Tatra foothills found a way to reach the entertainment level that their
Slovak fans had been accustomed to over the 18 years of the fixture’s history. The
field of nine had become reduced to three by the time the bar went to
1.94.  Even by then, 20-year-old Ana Å imič
had become the crowd’s sentimental favourite. 
Entering the competition with an indoor PB of 1.87, the Croatian added
significantly to that with third-attempt successes at 1.89 and 1.92 to stay in
contention against more experienced jumpers Antonietta Di Martino of Italy and
Russia’s Svetlana Shkolina. With eleven jumps already behind her, a fatigued Å imič
exited the competition with three failures at 1.94 as the other two continued
their blemish-free evening. At 1.96, Di Martino led off with an impressive
first-jump success, appearing to have as much as five or six centimetres of
space.  The Russian, perhaps a bit
unnerved, nicked the bar off on her next jump and immediately passed to 1.98. The
Italian eschewed her attempts at this height, leaving Shkolina to jump
alone.  The lean Russian then cleared a world-leading
best on her second (and final) attempt to send the bar to 2.00. Undaunted, Di
Martino proceeded to add a second career two-metre jump on her first attempt,
keeping her scorecard clean for the day and again putting pressure on the
Russian. After one miss, it was somewhat surprising the Shkolina did not pass,
as she did in an identical situation at 1.96. 
 After a second-attempt miss, the
Russian rattled the bar on her third jump but it did not fall.  She, too, found herself over two metres
indoors for the second time in her life. Now at 2.02, Di Martino was fearless
as she again had a first-jump success to extend her Italian national indoor
record by two centimetres.   With a
two-metre jump already recorded, Shkolina found no purpose in trying 2.02, and
she passed to 2.04. After eight straight clearances, Di Martino finally lost
complete perfection with misses on her first two attempts.  But on her final attempt, she skimmed the bar
with the minimum amount of space and pushed the national record up to
2.04.  Shkolina meanwhile was
unsuccessful and ended with 2.00. In a state of euphoria, Di Martino retired
for the night, but not before she and Shkolina brought women’s high jumping
back to life for this season. “I came here hoping for something like 2.00.  To get 2.04 is absolutely incredible,” said
Di Martino afterwards.  “I trained
outdoors in fantastic weather in San Diego in January, and it prepared me well
for this indoor season,” she continued. 
But Di Martino actually felt that her overall condition in 2007, when
she was four years younger and had her previous 2.00 indoors, was better than
it is now.    “Why, then, did I jump so
high tonight?  I think it was because of
more experience than before.  And perhaps
I was better focused in my mind.”  RESULTS:
1.  Di Martino (ITA) 2.04 (national
record; world-leading jump) [1.82 – 1.86 – 1.89 – 1.92 – 1.94 – 1.96 – 2.00 –
2.02 – 2.04/3 – retired];  2.  Shkolina (RUS) 2.00 [1.86 – 1.89 – 1.92 –
1.94 – 1.96/xp – 1.98/2 – 2.00/3 – 2.04/xxx]; 
3.  Å imič (CRO) 1.92 [ 1.77/2 –
1.82 – 1.86/2 – 1.89/3 – 1.92/3 – 1.94/xxx]; 
4. Klyugina (RUS) 1.86;  5.
Stepaniuk (POL) 1.86;  6. Kufaas (NOR) 1.82;  7. Dobrinska (UKR) 1.82;  8. MareÅ¡ová (CZE) 1.82;  9. Dunajská (SVK) 1.72.