by Stuart Weir
Blanka Vlašić, photo by Getty Images / British Athletics
Blanka Vlašić has been a mesmerizing athlete. She battled many in the high jump and showed her enthusiasm and absolute love of the audience. And the audiences loved her.
Stuart Weir did this 2 piece tribute to the amazing high jumper, Blanka Vlašić, who, at 37, has decided to retire.
We will miss her.
Blanka Vlašić, photo by Getty Images / British Athletics
Blanka Vlašić a tribute
Blanka Vlašić has announced her retirement from high jumping aged 37 and after continual injury problems. Arguably the greatest high jumper ever, her achievements include
World Championship
2007 winner
2009 winner
2011 second
2015 second
World Indoors
2004 third
2006 second
2008 winner
2010 winner
Blanka Vlašić, photo by World Athletics
Olympics
2008 second
2016 third
European Championship
2010 winner
Beyond the cold championship facts there was an incredible consistent excellence. Blanka has jumped over 2 meters 166 times. In 2008 she cleared 2m at 24 separate meets. Then there was the charisma. She was known as “dancing Blanka”. Marilyn Okoro. GB middle-distance runner, described the experience of sharing the arena: “Blanka was an amazing woman of grace and excellence with lots of sass. If she was on the infield as I lined up to race. It would be an electric atmosphere”.
This is Blanka’s press release in full:
Dear Friends of Athletics and Fans,
Ever since Rio, I have been trying to overcome injury, a full four years of hope that I will stand in front of the bar and challenge myself once again. I have been breathing sports since I was born, the high jump is an integral part of me, and it will always be that way. So, I let the decision to end my career come naturally.
Before I won bronze in Rio many people told me to give up as I have already done a lot in the sport. But if I had listened to them, I would not have won another Olympic medal, a medal that has a special meaning to me because I won it literally with one healthy leg. That competition took everything out of me, even what I didn’t know I had. The years that followed brought an unending circle of innumerable rehabilitation treatments, hope, and then disappointment. Yet, although it would be evident at first glance to an outside observer that it was time to dedicate myself to new life challenges, the decision had to be mine. Before it came, I went through all the stages of grief, and for me, it was the hardest period of my career. It was only after all that passed, on a very ordinary and peaceful day, my heart told me, “it’s over.” I knew it was time, and I was completely content. Unquestionably, I felt a sense of relief I would never have felt if I went ahead of myself and stopped abruptly when many people thought that I should.
Throughout this process, I had the unconditional support of my family, father and coach JoÅ¡ko, Bojan, and friends. They knew it was a struggle I had to go through on my own and come to a decision with a clear head. Every athlete will understand me – parting is not easy. We leave behind great emotions, conquered peaks, victories over ourselves, and magnificent moments that cannot be described in words. But it all remains a part of us – a part we carry into the future. And I carry all my successes and failures and I will weave them into a new story. I will always stay in the sport. With my experience and knowledge, I want to permanently and actively contribute to the further development of world athletics and sports in general.
I am proud of my career. First of all, I am grateful to God for the blessing of talent and the circumstances in which that talent could flourish. To friends and fans who believed and jumped along with me. Although athletics is an individual sport, I always felt like part of a team because I didn’t jump just for myself. Running the victory lap with the Croatian flag has always been the greatest honor for me. With peace in my heart, gratitude for every inch and every applause, I turn to the next page in my life. With peace in my heart, gratitude for every inch and every applause, I turn to the next page in my life.
​
Your Blanka
See also my article “I was born to do the high jump”
https://www.runblogrun.com/2020/12/blanka-vlasic—i-was-born-to-do-the-high-jump.html
