by Stuart Weir
The Lausanne PV set up, photos by Athletissima, Lausanne DL
“If you hold it, they will come”, Lausanne Athletissima holds the pole vault, photo by Stuart Weir, via BBC TV
This is Stuart Weir’s piece on the exciting pole vault in Lausanne today!
Athletissima
Amazing! @SamKendricks at 6.02m, and @mondohoss600 at 6.02m and 6.07m! @lausanneDL, 2 September 2020, photo by @stuartweir via BBCTV, #athletissima, #diamondleague, #theshoeaddicts, #runblogrun, #europeathletics, @worldathletics, #polevault, pic.twitter.com/6QHvnfE4c6
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) September 2, 2020
An outdoor pole vault event is normal at the Athletissima in Lausanne. What was different this year is that the pole vault WAS the Diamond League, not an add-on. With Covid 19 meaning that no normal event could take place, the program consisted of men’s and women’s pole vault competitions. In previous years this street event took place on the shore of the lake. This year it was at a city center location, which could accommodate more spectators.
Sam Kendricks cleas 6.02 meters! @lausanneDL, 2 September 2020, photo by @stuartweir via BBCTV, #athletissima, #diamondleague, #theshoeaddicts, #runblogrun, @euroathletics, @worldathletics, #polevault, @mondohoss600, @samkendricks, pic.twitter.com/zUp9Z8b5jd
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) September 2, 2020
The men’s event was one of those rare occasions when an athlete (Sam Kendricks) vaulted 6:02 and came second. Mondo Duplantis won with 6:07. Duplantis had one attempt at 6:15 -which would have been the highest ever outdoor vault – in the failing light before indicating that he could not see well enough to continue.
Cole Walsh snaps his pole, photo by Stuart Weir, photo via BBC TV
Mondo now has a day off before competing in Brussels on Friday. The two matadors’ approach to the competition was fascinatingly different. Kendricks enter the competition earlier and jumped every bar, meaning that when the two cleared 5:82, Kendricks had jumped seven times; Duplantis twice.
Mondo Duplantis ups the WL to 6.07 meters! @lausanneDL, 2 September 2020, photo by @stuartweir via BBCTV, #athletissima, #diamondleague, #theshoeaddicts, #runblogrun, #europeathletics, @worldathletics, #polevault, @mondohoss600, @samkendricks pic.twitter.com/j0fhYmiScR
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) September 2, 2020
With Thiago Braz (third) and Renaud Lavillenie (fourth) both succeeding at 5.72 but failing at 5.82 it was left to Kendricks and Duplantis to go head to head over 5.82, 5.87, 5.92, 5.97 and 6.02 before Duplantis successfully negotiated 6.07 while Kendricks failed three times.
Mondo Duplantis ups the WL to 6.07 meters! Enjoying the accolades! photo 2, @lausanneDL, 2 September 2020, photo by @stuartweir via BBCTV, #athletissima, #diamondleague, #theshoeaddicts, #runblogrun, #europeathletics, @worldathletics, #polevault, @mondohoss600, @samkendricks pic.twitter.com/NuI57Q1yU0
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) September 2, 2020
Mondo commented afterwards: “It was a fantastic evening. The conditions, crowd, competition were all fabulous. Sam is a fabulous competitor, and I feel we bring the best out of each other. We kept pushing each other and you can see the result. It reminded me a bit of the Garden Challenge, we kept going after the next height. It was quick. I loved it.
.@mondohoss600 clears 6.07m, the highest outdoor vault in 26 years.#LausanneDL report👇
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 2, 2020
“In the end it got too dark to go for 6.15 and I felt it was unsafe to continue any further. I felt I was in the zone. But you have to be prudent. You can see a lot of us are getting back to our best shape – Renaud was good, Thiago is getting back there. We could be looking at some great pole vaulting in what is left of this season”.
Competitions with two 6.00m vaults:
Lausanne 20
Duplantis 6.07m
Kendricks 6.02mBerlin 18
Duplantis 6.05m
Morgunov 6.00mAthens 99
Tarasov 6.05m
Hartwig 6.00mFukuoka 97
Bubka 6.05m
Tarasov 6.00mSestriere 95
Bubka 6.00m
Brits 6.00mLievin 93
Bubka 6.14m
Gataullin 6.00m pic.twitter.com/kY9DfiFCWQ— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) September 2, 2020
Kendricks, gracious as always, said: “We pole-vaulters always push each other and Mondo pushed me to pass this great bar of 6.02. At the end people may have thought that the light wasn´t good but it was actually just fine for me”.
Angelica Bengstton, photo by Stuart Weir, via BBCTV
The women’s event was won by Angelica Bengtsson (Sweden), the only athlete to clear 4.72. Holly Bradshaw, who looked strong all through the event before failing at 4.72, took second ahead of the Swiss athletes, Angelica Moser and Michaela Meijer, all of whom succeeded at 4.64. It was the second time in a week that Bengtsson had got the better of Bradshaw.
Holly Bradshaw, photo by Stuart Weir, photo via BBC TV
Benstsson summed up her evening: “This has been a beautiful experience; the energy from the fans has been amazing and the city is a great backdrop. I’m happy to be able to come out and put on a show for the fans and hopefully help to lift their spirits as it’s been a tough year for everyone. For us as athletes it’s been tough as well. Personally, it has been hard to find the motivation to train after the postponement of the Olympic Games because we focus on that for four years, but I have been able to tell myself, summer 2021 will come soon. Until then I try to put on a show for the fans and I am happy with my performance today”.
🥈 It’s second place for @HollyBradshawPV in Lausanne with a 4.64m best #LausanneDL pic.twitter.com/msiSXXshsG
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) September 2, 2020
Holly Bradshaw also took positives from her evening: “It was really important to come out here today and perform for the fans considering everything that has happened this year. The competition was great and I really enjoyed being able to compete alongside the male athletes as we were able to feed off the energy from each other while competing. Being able to be here in the center of the city in front of all the fans knowing that they have come out just to watch us (with Pole vault being the only event on today) really gave me goosebumps and I appreciate their support. The organizers have done a great job and I believe these city events will feature more in the future”.
