2002 – Jumps Review

In the sixth part of their end of year review, athletics statisticians A. Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava continue with their appraisal of 2002, here concentrating on the highlights of the jumping competitions which took place in 2002.

MEN - Jumps

High Jump
Much has been said and written in recent years about standards in the high jump having fallen drastically. It is true that the overall levels are lower now than a decade ago but the change is not really as dramatic as is the contention. Actually the main difference is just at the very top, i.e. that currently there isn’t any jumper around capable of matching the exploits of Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor and Sweden’s Patrik Sjöberg, the only two ever to have cleared 2.40m more than once.

In early 2002, it did look like there was finally someone in the process of filling that void. South Africa’s Jacques Freitag, still a teenager then, produced seven straight meets at 2.30 or better with a 2.37 peak! Unfortunately, he then suffered an injury that effectively ended his year before the northern hemisphere summer season had begun.

After that, it was just like last year with Stefan Holm, Mark Boswell and Jaroslav Rybakov the main contenders, thanks to their consistency at 2.30-level. Holm won the IAAF Grand Prix final and the Zurich Golden League, Boswell the Commonwealth Games and the Eberstadt meet, and Rybakov the European Championships and the IAAF World Cup competitions.

In the high jump there has traditionally been an exceptionally strong correlation between brilliant junior marks and success at the senior level. The likes of Sotomayor, Sjöberg, Mögenburg (GER) e.g. all cleared 2.33 or more as juniors. In view of that, it is interesting to note that 2002 was one of the very best junior years in recent history with four at 2.26 or better - of which three, including World Junior champion (2.31) Andra Manson, have one more year left as juniors.

High Jump - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Stefan HOLM 76 SWE 1338
2. Mark BOSWELL 77 CAN 1323
3. Yaroslav RYBAKOV 80 RUS 1314
4. Staffan STRAND 76 SWE 1295
5. Abderrahmane HAMAD 77 ALG 1251
5. Charles CLINGER 76 USA 1251
7. Tomáš JANKŮ 74 CZE 1245
8. Andrey CHUBSA 82 BLR 1238
9. Matt HEMINGWAY 72 USA 1237
10. Jacques FREITAG 82 RSA 1236
 

Pole Vault
Although four years have passed since Ukraine’s great Sergey Bubka left the pole vault throne vacant, it appears that the event is still in some kind of shadow of the great man. The Soviet conveyor belt of pole vaulting talent had already stopped before that, and Bubka’s heir apparents like Okkert Brits (RSA), Dmitriy Markov (AUS) and Danny Ecker (GER) while reaching the magical six metres, have never managed to achieve consistency at such “withering” heights.

The effect of this has been a situation with a remarkably large group of vaulters tightly clustered around 5.80m, without anyone really standing out from the rest. Not surprisingly the greatest consistency in 2002 was shown by the two most experienced athletes: Jeff Hartwig of the US and Tim Lobinger of Germany.

All this points to the possibility that someone will soon “break out” of the dense group of talent by raising his level by “just” 10-15 centimetres. Perhaps it will be Markov who seemed well on his way but who has been much too hampered by injuries in recent years. But more likely the new dominator will come from the younger generation of vaulters who were born in the 1980’s. Don’t forget that Bubka was still a teenager when he took his first World title in 1983, and got his first 6m at 21!

Pole Vault - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Jeff HARTWIG 67 USA 1355
2. Aleksandr AVERBUKH 74 ISR 1352
3. Tim LOBINGER 72 GER 1338
4. Lars BÖRGELING 79 GER 1328
5. Timothy MACK 72 USA 1302
6. Nick HYSONG 71 USA 1300
7. Vasiliy GORSHKOV 77 RUS 1272
7. Viktor CHISTYAKOV 75 AUS 1272
9. Patrik KRISTIANSSON 77 SWE 1271
10. Okkert BRITS 73 RSA 1265
 

Long Jump
It was only a couple of years ago that it was said that the perennial long jump super power, the USA had lost it’s magic, as she failed to find successors to Carl Lewis, Larry Myricks and Mike Powell. But things can change quickly in the world of athletics and this year the long jump was again very much US dominated territory.

Taking the ‘A’ entry standard of 8.25m for the 2003 World Championships and the 2004 Olympic Games as the ‘norm’,  it turns out that just three (yes, three!) athletes surpassed that standard more than once in the summer of 2002. Also of those three, all were Americans - Savanté Stringfellow (five times), Miguel Pate (four times) and Dwight Phillips (four times)! So although the USA has some way to go to match the achievements of their predecessors, they have certainly recaptured the event.

However, they should still be advised not to bet against four-time World Champion Iván Pedroso, when the World gold medal is up for grabs next August 2003. Due to injury problems the Cuban maestro had a fairly low-key 2002 but he still managed a 8.30, and in the IAAF World Cup he lost to Stringfellow by a mere 2cm.

The European challenge, however, didn’t look that threatening. The continental championships competition in Munich were rather lack lustre, with just one over 8.00 in the qualification and two in the final. But history also tells us that one jumper suddenly emerges out of the somewhat anonymous base of 8m-jumpers, to become a serious challenger for the gold medal. It happened with Spain’s Yago Lamela in 1999, and to some extent with Australia’s Jai Taurima in 2000.

Long Jump - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Savante STRINGFELLOW 78 USA 1317
2. Miguel PATE 79 USA 1282
3. Dwight PHILLIPS 77 USA 1273
4. Iván PEDROSO 72 CUB 1261
4. Oleksiy LUKASHEVICH 77 UKR 1261
6. James BECKFORD 75 JAM 1254
6. Kevin DILWORTH 74 USA 1254
8. Hussein Taher AL SABEE 79 KSA 1247
9. Yago LAMELA 77 ESP 1242
10. Younes MOUDRIK 77 MAR 1224 
 

Triple Jump
Following the spectacular peak in the mid 1990’s, the triple jump has been a rather quiet event for a few years. Not only because Britain’s Jonathan Edwards has been unable to duplicate his world record form but also because there was no one else looking capable of approaching the magical 18m barrier. Actually it was hard finding jumpers consistently surpassing 17m!

But this negative trend now appears to have turned around, as a group of triple jumpers, 12-14 years younger than Edwards, has emerged on the international scene. The number of 17.50-plus jumpers that had been stuck at 1, 2 or 3 since 1998 suddenly increased to 6. This challenge seemed to have rejuvenated Edwards, who at 36-years of age has produced his best season for four years in 2002.

Just like last year, Edwards’ main opponent was Swede Christian Olsson who defeated the Briton at the European Championships and the IAAF Grand Prix Final, and who made his top mark of last year (17.49) his “average” mark this year. But Olsson was not the only threat to Edwards’ supremacy this summer. Although not displaying the same consistency as Olsson, both American Walter Davis and Briton Phillips Idowu clearly indicated exciting potential.

Combining their talents with others in their early twenties like Alexander Martinez, Leevan Sands, Tim Rusan and Marian Oprea, it seems that the triple jump is set for an exciting future, even if the illustrious career of the greatest triple jumper of all time is nearing its end.

Triple Jump- IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Jonathan EDWARDS 66 GBR 1379
2. Christian OLSSON 80 SWE 1372
3. Walter DAVIS 79 USA 1334
4. Alexander MARTÍNEZ 77 CUB 1302
5. Phillips IDOWU 78 GBR 1292
6. Tim RUSAN 77 USA 1263
7. Jadel GREGORIO 80 BRA 1261
8. Charles Michel FRIEDEK 71 GER 1258
9. Aleksandr GLOVATSKIY 70 BLR 1253
10. Fabrizio DONATO 76 ITA 1250 
  

WOMEN - Jumps

Women’s jumps are very difficult to compare because two of the four events are quite young. However, still it seems that pole vault, which is the youngest of the jumps, is in best shape.

Although a 16-metre woman triple jumper was thought as a possibility quite soon after Inessa Kravets jumped the standing World Record of 15.50 at Gothenburg 1995, this possibility now seems quite far away. This is quite surprising, because even the first major championships were won by a 15m+ result at Stuttgart in 1993. Anna Biryukova (RUS) jumped 15.09 to win then, but in 2002 the world leader was only 14.95 by Francoise Mbango (CMR).

The long jump, despite Tatyana Kotova’s one big jump this season, is quite far off it’s best times, although many people think that one can’t compare results of recent years, with those of 1970’s and 1980’s.

The high jump has also been improving lately, especially at the top most level with Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE) this year but the pole vault is still going strong. Stacy Dragila’s World record of 4.81 from last year stayed, but the next five places behind her in the world all-time list were overwritten, and Emma George’s earlier World record of 4.60 from 1999, is now lying in the 7th place all-time.

High Jump
This event has seen a new generation of jumpers - born in the late 1970’s - take over at the top. This year it was particularly the blond Swede Kajsa Bergqvist who was in command. Bergqvist originally said at the start of 2002 that the season would practically be a ‘year off’ but apparently she changed her mind! She bettered her own national record twice in her first Grand Prix meeting of the season at Lausanne. She stopped at 2.04m there and after that, she was a clear favourite to win the European Championships.

The Swede’s season included nine competitions at 2.00 or higher which is a very great achievement. Bergqvist’s world leading height of 2.05 is equal third in the world all-time list, with just two Bulgarians, World Record holder Stefka Kostadinova and Ludmila Andonova ahead of her.

Bergqvist lost three times, but one of those was in terrible rainy conditions at the Båstad tennis court. Two other defeats were handed out by Hestrie Cloete (RSA), who found a good form late in season, jumping her year’s best at the IAAF World Cup in Madrid - 2.02m.

Women’s high jump is also doing quite well in depth. The level has stayed almost the same for the last five years. For example, in 2001 there were 22 women at or above 1.94m, and 2002 produced exactly the same figure. There have also been more women over 2.00m in the last few year, 5 in total in 2002, where as in 1998 there were only 3, which rose to 5 in 1999, 7 in 2000, and 5 in 2001.

High Jump - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Kajsa BERGQVIST 76 SWE 1372
2. Hestrie CLOETE 78 RSA 1349
3. Marina KUPTSOVA 81 RUS 1322
4. Inga BABAKOVA 67 UKR 1264
5. Irina MIKHALCHENKO 72 UKR 1247
6. Vita PALAMAR 77 UKR 1246
7. Tisha WALLER 70 USA 1243
8. Viktoriya SERYOGINA 73 RUS 1238
9. Amy ACUFF 75 USA 1233
9. Olga KALITURINA 76 RUS 1233 
 

Pole Vault
As expected after the thrilling 2001 Edmonton World Championships final, Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) became the number one pole vaulter in the world in 2002. The only thing she did not achieve was the outdoor World record of Stacy Dragila (USA).

The Russian’s best mark of the season was 4.78, only 3cm short of Dragila’s mark from last year. Dragila jumped 4.72 twice during 2002, but her season in Europe was near catastrophe. She had already had four losses during the indoor season with three low placings. She won all her outdoor meets prior to her European tour and also won her continental opener in Madrid with 4.65, but after that her season was a disappointment.

One of the most surprising vaulters of the season was indeed Germany’s Annika Becker, who shocked a lot of people by breaking Feofanova’s European Record at the National Championships in Bochum. Becker’s winning height there was 4.77 and although it didn’t last long as a record, she still managed to put her name into the minds of athletics fans. The German also handed a rare defeat to Feofanova in IAAF World Cup in Madrid, in a very interesting competition which was kind of jumped twice because of difficult weather conditions.

The women’s pole vault also took giant steps upwards during 2002. Earlier it had been just one jumper, like Emma George earlier and or more recently Stacy Dragila recently, who raised the bar but in 2002 a lot of jumpers came closer to the world top.

The standard in the event has grown decisively: this year 14 athletes went over 4.50, in 2001 there were 12, 2000 - 11, 1999 - 4, 1998 - 2. So has the number of jumpers risen over 4.00: 1998 - 65, 1999 - 96, 2000 -139, 2001 -140, and in 2002 – 166.

Pole Vault - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Svetlana FEOFANOVA 80 RUS 1403
2. Stacy DRAGILA 71 USA 1339
3. Monika PYREK 80 POL 1304
4. Yvonne BUSCHBAUM 80 GER 1303
5. Annika BECKER 81 GER 1302
6. Yelena BELYAKOVA 76 RUS 1264
7. Yelena ISINBAYEVA 82 RUS 1262
8. Mary SAUER 75 USA 1256
9. Krisztina MOLNÁR 76 HUN 1230
10. Shuying GAO 79 CHN 1222
10. Tatyana GRIGORYEVA 75 AUS 1222 
 

Long Jump
Has there ever been a worse slump for women’s long jump than in 2002? Although there was nothing wrong with Tatyana Kotova (RUS) and her multiple seven metre jumps during the season - world leader with 7.42m at the European Cup in Annecy – the standard at the world’s top was generally very, very low this season.

Top placings in world lists were up for grabs with record low marks. To give some clarification: in 1997 there were 34 women at 6.70m or better, 1998 had 33, 1999 - 31, 2000 - 36, 2001 – 22, where as in 2002 there were only 17. These performances were cut down to half of what we had seen in 1997, just five years ago.

Although there were four women at 7.00m or better, it is the quality of the jumpers immediately below the world top that has dropped. For example, China, a traditionally strong long jump country, was left with a national leader of only 6.69m (Liang Shuyan).

Kotova of course was easily the best jumper of the year, but her huge world lead of 7.42 in Annecy was of course helped by altitude and an exactly 2.0 wind from behind. However, Kotova was out on her own anyway, six competitions over 7 metres, and a European Championships win, although achieved with some difficulty.

Long Jump - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Tatyana KOTOVA 76 RUS 1353
2. Maurren Higa MAGGI 76 BRA 1327
3. Tünde VASZI 72 HUN 1265
4. Olga RUBLYOVA 74 RUS 1244
5. Concepción MONTANER 81 ESP 1237
6. Heike DRECHSLER 64 GER 1223
7. Jade JOHNSON 80 GBR 1214
8. Bronwyn THOMPSON 78 AUS 1211
9. Niurka MONTALVO 68 ESP 1209
9. Elva GOULBOURNE 80 JAM 1209 
  

Triple Jump
After this event was introduced to major championships at the 1993 Stuttgart World Championships, it went up and up in standard during the next years. However, this positive direction seems to have ended in the 21st century.

For a young event like the women’s triple jump, it is surprising that that the world record was only bettered during the first three years that the event was a part of major championships. All this progression ended at Gothenburg in 1995. and it doesn’t seem like there will be a real contender for world record honours very soon.

The 2001 Edmonton World Champion Tatyana Lebedeva jumped her personal best of 15.32 in 2000, and 15.25 to win in Edmonton, but no-one has been closer than that lately, and in 2002 the world leading mark did not even exceed 15 metres, so the world record is now over 0.5m away.

It’s hard to say who was the best jumper of the season, as Lebedeva didn’t compete at all. Francoise Mbango (CMR) is the world’s furthest legal jumper with 14.95 from African Champs but she lost to Ashia Hansen (GBR) at the Commonwealth Games.

At least one can definitely say that the most surprising moment of women’s triple jump was Finland’s Heli Koivula’s first jump in the European Championships. Coming to the meet with a 14.36 personal best, there really was no-one in the athletics community who could say before the competition that Finn would jump almost half a metre longer than her previous best. In the end, Koivula’s 14.83 opener - which was slightly wind assisted - was only enough for silver, as Hansen also won the European title with 15.00m (also wind assisted).

The event overall has not lost much depth, but it seems quite surprising that there aren’t more 15m jumpers nowadays. Depth is really not the problem as in 2000 there were 16 women at 14.30 or better, while 2001 had 13 and 2002 19 jumpers of this standard.

Triple Jump - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 17 Dec 2002
Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 

1. Ashia HANSEN 71 GBR 1310
2. Francoise MBANGO ETONE 76 CMR 1301
3. Magdelin MARTÍNEZ 76 ITA 1276
4. Yelena OLEYNIKOVA 76 RUS 1257
5. Heli KOIVULA 75 FIN 1238
6. Olena HOVOROVA 73 UKR 1234
6. Qiuyan HUANG 80 CHN 1234
8. Cristina NICOLAU 77 ROM 1233
9. Nadezhda BAZHENOVA 78 RUS 1219
10. Oksana ROGOVA 78 RUS 1212
10. Anna PYATYKH 81 RUS 1212