Blanka Vlasic clears 2.05 to win the IAAF / VTB Bank Continental Cup in Split (© Getty Images)
Statisticians A. Lennart Julin (SWE) and Mirko Jalava (FIN) continue their 2010 ‘end of season’ event category reviews with a look at the JUMPS.
MEN –
For the men’s jumping events the 2010 season was quite calm in terms of results. This doesn’t mean the standard were low low, but apart from the Triple Jump the absolute top marks did not come outdoors. In the Triple Jump 21-year-old Frenchman Teddy Tamgho did what was expected after his 17.90m World indoor record at the World Indoor Championships in Doha as he topped the world list outdoors too with an early 17.98m result to move to third place in the world all-time list, just behind World record holder Jonathan Edwards (18.29m) of Great Britain and U.S. record holder Kenny Harrison (18.09m). Russian Ivan Ukhov again was the world leader with an outdoor personal best 2.36m, but also once again could not come up with a gold medal from major championships outdoors in Barcelona. Australian reigning Olympic and World champion Steve Hooker won the inaugural Continental Cup with a world leading 5.95m in the Pole Vault, but 24-year-old Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) was the clear number one in this event after an almost perfect season. German Christian Reif surprised as the Long Jump world leader winning with a shock 8.47m leap in Barcelona while reigning World champion (three titles in total) American Dwight Phillips was the strongest jumper during the season.
High Jump -
The 24-year-old Ukhov began the indoor season in exceptional style with a 2.37m leap in his first competition of the year in Hustopece in January. Ukhov only lost one competition indoors, to fellow Russian Aleksandr Shustov in Moscow in January (2.30m-2.27m), but went on to jump an indoor season’s best 2.38m in Banská Bystrica at the start of March, the last competition before the World Indoor Championships. In Doha Ukhov won his first world title with a good 2.36m result and everyone was looking forward for the young Russian to rule the event outdoors too.
But it wasn’t as easy during the summer with another loss coming already in June in Moscow to Aleksey Dmitrik (2.28m-2.25m) and Ukhov also placed only third at the National Champs in July. In Barcelona things were looking good for Ukhov after he lead the competition at 2.31m with just Shustov left with him in the competition, but then a first time clearance at 2.33m for Shustov gave him the European gold medal with Ukhov ending up with silver. Ukhov beat Shustov 5-3 in their eight clashes during the season, but lost in two most important competitions - the Russian nationals and European Championships.
For 26-year-old Shustov the 2010 season was a real break-through. Personal best both indoors (2.32m) and outdoors (2.33m) and a European title did not a bad season make. Previously Shustov had not competed at a major championships outdoors - he was fourth at the European Indoors in 2009 and won the World University Games in 2007.
A new fresh face was introduced to the event with 19-year-old Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim showing incredible talent during the season. Barshim broke the national record in six competitions during the season raising it from 2.20m to 2.31m and bettered his previous personal best 2.14m from 2009 by a huge 17cm. The youngster also comfortably won the World Junior title in Moncton and then took the Asian Games gold in Guangzou in November in similar style.
The United States has 19 athletes in the world top 100 with Russia second at 13 and Italy third with seven.
Pole Vault –
The top two of the men’s Pole Vault from 2009 were again fighting for the top spot this season as well. Although 28-year-old Australian Steve Hooker has established himself as the clear number one vaulter in major championships having now won the Olympics, World Championships and World Indoor Championships within just two years, he hasn’t exactly maintained the same level of performance in other meets during the year. Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie didn’t succeed in challenging Hooker in Berlin last year, but his 2010 season was a fine one and very consistent too. The Frenchman competed 24 times during the season winning 19 of them including 5-2 against Hooker, and won 10 straight meets from 30 May to 31 July with the streak finally ending in London in August where he couldn’t clear his opening height. Lavillenie, who also won the 2009 European Indoor title, was crowned European champion in Barcelona with a good 5.85m result and his only bigger loss of the season came in Split where Hooker was better 5.95m to 5.90m in a high standard competition.
Hooker started well winning seven straight from the start of the season including his second six metre vault indoors, 6.01m in Doha where he won the World indoor title. But summer was inconsistent for the Australian with five no heights and several other low performances although he did gather himself well for the final push winning the Continenal Cup with a world leader and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi as well.
Malte Mohr, 24, also showed promise of a better future. Mohr set personal bests indoors with 5.83m and outdoors with 5.90m and took a surprise silver from the World Indoor Championships in March. But it wasn’t all good for Mohr either as he could not qualify for the European final, only placing 17th with a 5.50m leap in qualification.
The United States heads this event with 22 athletes in the world top 100. Germany and Russia were tied for the second place each having 12.
Long Jump –
Thirty-three-year-old American Dwight Phillips wasn’t at the top of the Long Jump world in 2007-2008, but his return to form in 2009 was particularly convincing with an 8.74m personal best and a third World title in Berlin. In 2010 Phillips was in form from the start winning his first meet in Baie Mahault with a good 8.32m opener. Phillips competed 12 times during the season winning 10 and placing second in the remaining two. An 8.46m season’s best in Monaco was the world leader and only a miracle winning jump at the European Championships a bit later denied Phillips the best mark of the season. The American went on to win in London, Zürich and the Continental Cup in Split and was the clear number one in the event in 2010.
That the 26-year-old Christian Reif would top the world list was a big shock. The German, who was fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Doha, came to Barcelona having already jumped an 8.27m personal best. But life in Catalunya wasn’t so easy as the top European only had a 7.79m result after two rounds of qualification. But facing elimination from the final Reif answered with a monster jump equalling his 8.27m personal best and it wasn’t just that the result came at an important moment, but the fact that it came behind the board. In the final Reif again faced the same situation with just a 7.87m after two rounds which would not have been for the last three rounds, and again Reif hit a perfect jump when he needed to, hitting the board better this time while adding a huge 20cm to his personal best with a world leading 8.47m leap. Interestingly that was it for the German - he competed four more times and while placings were OK, the results were nowhere near the Barcelona mark.
Australian Fabrice Lapierre started the outdoor season strongly with a wind aided 8.78m winning the Australian Champs in April after taking the World Indoor title. Later on the 27-year-old got some good wins including Shanghai and the Commonwealth Games.
The United States is the number one in this event with 13 athletes in the world top 100. Russia had seven for second and China six for third place.
Triple Jump –
The early talk in the men’s Triple Jump was all about 21-year-old Frenchman Teddy Tamgho. The young star, who had injury problems in 2009, did almost nothing before the World Indoor Championships in Doha and then produced a real show. Leaps of 16.72m in Mondeville, 15.66m in Stockholm before a pre-Doha best 17.25m at the U23 French Indoor Champs in Aubière followed by a runner-up 17.01m at the French Indoor Champs hardly suggested what was going to happen later. But a 17.90m World indoor record and the World indoor title however altered the landscape and the start to the outdoor season was very different.
In 13 outdoor meets (including Barcelona qualification) Tamgho beat 17 metres in each of them, but was still a little inconsistent in some important ones. A 17.63m national record in the second outdoor meet of the season, the French Club Champs in Franconville, was followed by a windy 17.63 (17.60 best legal) in Montreuil and then the outdoor national record 17.98m at New York’s Diamond League meet. But after that the rest of the season wasn’t that perfect. First Tamgho (17.10m) could only place third in Bergen at the inaugural European Team Champs behind Ukrainian Viktor Kuznyetsov (17.26m) and Briton Phillips Idowu (17.12m). Then Tamgho was beaten again in Barcelona at the European Champs being a clear favourite for the win to place third with a mediocre for him 17.45 result. But the Frenchman gathered himself well for the rest four meets of the season winning in Stockholm, placing second in London and then winning in Lille and Brussels.
European champion Idowu has won medals in many major championships before and therefore it wasn’t a big surprise that although his season before Barcelona was far from impressive, he was right there fighting for the gold medal from the first jump in the final. Still the 31-year-old was able to jump a personal best 17.81m in round five and also surpass a 17.75m indoor mark which was set winning the World Indoor Championships in Valencia 2008. Swede Christian Olsson made his return to the major championships placing fourth in Doha, but could not quite find full strength yet and had to pass on Barcelona. But Olsson is far from done - he came back in August to win in London with a 17.41m season’s best.
The United States was the best country in this event with 10 athletes in the world top 100. Russia and Ukraine tied for second place at nine.
WOMEN –
High Jump -
For some years now Blanka Vlasic has ruled this event thanks to her consistency at 2.00m+. She has not won every meet but the losses have been very few and almost exclusively due to another jumper on a given day raising her game and not to Vlasic lowering hers. But these occasions have as said been few and "nine times out of ten" Vlasic has come out on top.
The summer started out with an improved Chaunté Lowe appearing to have become a jumper capable of challenging Vlasic on a more continuous basis: In the Diamond League opener in Doha both made 1.98m, then followed with Lowe winning Ostrava 1.98m-1.92m, then both clearing 2.01m in Oslo, 2.03m in Rome and 2.00m in Barcelona.
But then halfway through the summer Vlasic begun to move slightly ahead (2.02m vs 2.00m in both Paris and Stockholm) and then Lowe picked up an season-ending injury. So the Croatian powered on as ever with 2.01m – 2.00m – 2.02m before capping her season at the Continental Cup on home turf in Split by equalling Lowe's outdoor WL mark of 2.05m.
So everything once more ended as in previous years with Vlasic as the undisputed No. 1 in the event. She had three losses to Lowe but only once (Ostrava) was she out-jumped and in the final analysis her season was regarded as so impressive (including the only 7-0 record by any athlete in any event in the Diamond League) that she was crowned Women's Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Gala!
Germany's Ariane Friedrich who in 2009 seemed well on her way to become Vlasic's equal had a very limited season in 2010 (e.g. no DL appearance) due to recurring back problems and never was able to reach the same kind of heights as last year. But still she was the only jumper besides Vlasic and Howe showing reasonable consistency at 2m-heights (five meets at 2.00m-2.02m).
Actually only three other jumpers made 2m even once this summer, "veterans" Anonietta Di Martino (age 32) and Ruth Beitia (age 31) plus newcomer Emma Green of Sweden. Green who took a surprise World Championships bronze five years ago in Helsinki finally surpassed that barrier and she did it on the perfect occasion, the European Championships. Her 2.01m there even brought her the silver medal ahead of everyone but Vlasic. She later proved that it was no fluke as during the rest of the season – including two Dimaon Leauge meets and the Continental Cup – she was only out-jumped heightwise by Vlasic (three times) and Lowe (once).
Russia has always been a major power in women's High Jump but with Yelena Slesarenko still troubled by injuries and Anna Chicherova taking the year off to become a mother they were not as competitive. The new generation represented by Svetlana Shkolina and Irina Gordeyeva however indicated by their consistency at 1.95ish heights that they might quite soon be up there at the 2+ level necessary to challenge for the major medals.
For another "perennial" High Jump super power Ukraine the nearest future looks less promising. Vita Styopina, who turned 34 this autumn, was their only entry in the European Championships and they had only one more jumper over 1.90m. Where is the new generation of Babakovas, Myhalchenkos, Palamars and Styopinas?
In late winter there was a surprise announcement that Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut had found the urge to come out of retirement. It however turned out to be a rather short-lived second career: After two warm-up meets at 1.95m she finished 5th at 1.97m in the European Championships and then some weeks later announced that she would re-retire as she was pregnant with her second child.
Pole Vault -
"Year 1 AI" ("After Isinbayeva") produced nothing exceptional - i.e. the others went on doing what they had done before. The only difference being that they were not overshadowed directly by her achievements. But of course the memory of Isinbayeva's exploits at the 5m-level still lingered, just like their male counterparts still have to suffer the comparisons with Bubka's supreme performances in the 1980s and 1990s.
The top mark of the year belonged to Jenn Suhr (ex-Stuczynski) with her 4.89m at the USA Championships but once more injury cut the season very short for the American: Just three meets at 4.50m - 4.89m - no height, all on US soil. And with surprise 2009 World champion Anna Rogowska also obviously (half a season, no great heights) hampered by injuries the fight for the No 1 position left vacant by Isinbayeva's winter decision to take time-out from the sport became a three-way battle.
The three contenders – thanks to their consistency at 4.70m or better – were Fabiana Murer (BRA), Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) and Silke Spiegelburg (GER) and looking back at the complete season they sorted out their internal order quite clearly: In the Diamond League Murer was 4-1-1 for top-3 places, Feofanova 2-2-1 and Spiegelburg 1-2-2 (plus a 4th). Murer also was the only one (besides Suhr) getting over 4.80m - and she did it three times – so the No 1 ranking for Isinbayeva's part-time training partner in the end turned out indisputable.
It will be very interesting to follow the effects Isinbayeva's announced return to the "Pole Vault wars" in 2011 will have on the others. Will she remain as supreme as before or will she make the others raise their game to her level, i.e. to seriously challenge the 5m-barrier? The mostly likely candidates then would be Suhr (if she can stay healthy) and Murer. Or will we have to wait for someone from the current crop of talents born in the 1990's?
The two main names then appear to be Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden and Liz Parnov of Australia who despite being youths born in 1993 and 1994 respectively also were the top-2 juniors in the world. Bengtsson – who received the Rising Star Award at the World Athletics Gala – has shown extraordinary "Big time ability" having – despite her tender age – already picked up no less than three global titles: World Youth in 2009, World Junior in 2010 and Youth Olympics in 2010.
Long Jump -
This probably is the event with the widest group of athletes fitting the brand "world class". Looking at the seven Diamond League meetings the 7 x 3 = 21 podium positions where spread around no less than 12 different athletes. The only four with multiple top-3 placings were Brittney Reese (3-1-0), Russian junior Darya Klishina (2-0-1), Naide Gomes (0-3-1) and Lyudmila Kolchanova (0-2-0).
Typically the World leader Olga Kucherenko (7.13m in May) after winning the DL opener in Oslo never had any real success finishing 5-6-8 in her other three DL appearances. She was lucky to get on the Russian European Championship team after finishing 4th in the national championships. Her Barcelona effort (3rd in 6.84w) was her only top performance in the second part of the season.
Klishina on the other hand was not selected for Barcelona where Russia instead went for experience (Tatiana Kotova age 33, Kolchanova, 30 and Kucherenko, 24) but in hindsight that was a mistake. While Kotova was eliminated in the qualification youngster Klishina age 19 impressed in the post-Barcelona season winning the Diamond League fixtures in Stockholm and London.
In this so evenly balanced event it was perhaps only logical that the European title went to Latvia's Ineta Radevica who both before and after Barcelona was just one not very conspicuous member of the large group of jumpers at the 6.60m/6.70m level. But Radevica – a former junior talent who at age 29 had just returned after a year of absense to become a mother - was the one peaking perfectly for Barcelona - She needed just one jump (6.72w) to qualify and then in the final she produced a string of good jumps including her two longest ever: Opening with 6.73w she improved to 6.87w (wind-aided PB) in the second round, did 6.79m (one cm from her 5 year old legal PB) in the third and the winning 6.92 (PB) in the fourth! So although Gomes also reached 6.92m it was definitely the best jumper that day winning as the Portuguese had merely 6.68m as second best in her series.
Going into 2011 Brittney Reese despite her very conspicuous inconsistent technique remains the World No 1. Because now she appears to have to her supreme physical talent added the mental strength to bring out that winning jump when it is needed in the big meets. This year this was illustrated when Reese took the outdoor World title in 2009 and added both the World Indoor and the Diamond League titles.
But perhaps she should be looking out for a new challenger of exceptional talent: High Jump specialist Chaunté Lowe surprised everyone when she on 1 May in Kingston went straight from 2.00m in the HJ to win the Long Jump at 6.61m. The expert eyebrows were raised even further at the USA Championships in Des Moines on 26 June when she first won the HJ at 2.05m (World lead, USA record) and then the same afternoon got the Long Jump silver behind Reese's 7.08w with 6.90m!
However, Lowe's long jumping in Europe was not nearly as good and she actually injured herself doing it in early August, which forced her to abandon the season also in her main event the High Jump. So perhaps she won't dare to venture away like this from her main event in the future?
Triple Jump -
This event was dominated by two quite evenly matched athletes: Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan and Yargelis Savigne of Cuba. They really took advantage of the opportunity provided by the new Diamond League to compete on the world scene with Rypakova contesting all seven meets (two wins, five 2nd places) and Savigne doing six (four wins, two 2nd places). Both were consistent around 14.70m and had one 15m-competition each: Rypakova 15.25m at the Continental Cup and Savigne 15.09m at the Monaco DL.
Their rivalry by the way had begun already in March when they had an exciting dual for the gold at the World Indoors, a fight which Rypakova finally sealed with her magnificent 15.14m in the last round.
Outdoors both Rypakova and Savigne suffered only one loss each to any other jumper. Rypakova lost in the Eugene Diamond League (14.45m to 14.62m) to the highly inconsistent (three of five DL meets at 14.05m or worse) Nadezhda Alekhina of Russia while Savigne at the Continental Cup had to concede 2nd place to Olha Saladuha of Ukraine (14.63m vs 14.70m). Saladuha was the only jumper besides the top 2 that could be labeled "consistent at 14.50m+" and very deservedly took the European title.
Generally this event seems for some reason to be much more influenced than other events by the Olympic cycle standard-wise. For example, the number of 15m+ jumpers per year (outdoors) normally hovers around two (like this year and last) but then rises markedly - in 2004 to seven and in 2008 to six. Also if one looks deeper into the list the same pattern is clear: In 2008 there were 58 at 14m+ with legal wind. This year there were just 41.
One could also ponder the question why the USA presence in the world elite year after year remains so very weak compared to the other jumping events, especially the closely related Long Jump. In the Long Jump the USA has six athletes on the 2010 World top-20, in the Triple Jump just one and she is barely making it as she lies in exactly 20th place! Their No 2 in the Triple Jump is way further down in 35th place.
Also the Western European presence is remarkably feeble with Simona La Mantia of Italy in 7th and Svetlana Bolshakova of Belgium (but originally from Russia) in 9th being the big exceptions. The top French jumper is to be found at No 36 and the top Briton at no 73! Why almost 20 years since its addition to the women's programme does the Triple Jump still find it so hard to attract the talents that must be out there - just like in the High Jump and the Long Jump?
MEN –
For the men’s jumping events the 2010 season was quite calm in terms of results. This doesn’t mean the standard were low low, but apart from the Triple Jump the absolute top marks did not come outdoors. In the Triple Jump 21-year-old Frenchman Teddy Tamgho did what was expected after his 17.90m World indoor record at the World Indoor Championships in Doha as he topped the world list outdoors too with an early 17.98m result to move to third place in the world all-time list, just behind World record holder Jonathan Edwards (18.29m) of Great Britain and U.S. record holder Kenny Harrison (18.09m). Russian Ivan Ukhov again was the world leader with an outdoor personal best 2.36m, but also once again could not come up with a gold medal from major championships outdoors in Barcelona. Australian reigning Olympic and World champion Steve Hooker won the inaugural Continental Cup with a world leading 5.95m in the Pole Vault, but 24-year-old Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) was the clear number one in this event after an almost perfect season. German Christian Reif surprised as the Long Jump world leader winning with a shock 8.47m leap in Barcelona while reigning World champion (three titles in total) American Dwight Phillips was the strongest jumper during the season.
High Jump -
The 24-year-old Ukhov began the indoor season in exceptional style with a 2.37m leap in his first competition of the year in Hustopece in January. Ukhov only lost one competition indoors, to fellow Russian Aleksandr Shustov in Moscow in January (2.30m-2.27m), but went on to jump an indoor season’s best 2.38m in Banská Bystrica at the start of March, the last competition before the World Indoor Championships. In Doha Ukhov won his first world title with a good 2.36m result and everyone was looking forward for the young Russian to rule the event outdoors too.
But it wasn’t as easy during the summer with another loss coming already in June in Moscow to Aleksey Dmitrik (2.28m-2.25m) and Ukhov also placed only third at the National Champs in July. In Barcelona things were looking good for Ukhov after he lead the competition at 2.31m with just Shustov left with him in the competition, but then a first time clearance at 2.33m for Shustov gave him the European gold medal with Ukhov ending up with silver. Ukhov beat Shustov 5-3 in their eight clashes during the season, but lost in two most important competitions - the Russian nationals and European Championships.
For 26-year-old Shustov the 2010 season was a real break-through. Personal best both indoors (2.32m) and outdoors (2.33m) and a European title did not a bad season make. Previously Shustov had not competed at a major championships outdoors - he was fourth at the European Indoors in 2009 and won the World University Games in 2007.
A new fresh face was introduced to the event with 19-year-old Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim showing incredible talent during the season. Barshim broke the national record in six competitions during the season raising it from 2.20m to 2.31m and bettered his previous personal best 2.14m from 2009 by a huge 17cm. The youngster also comfortably won the World Junior title in Moncton and then took the Asian Games gold in Guangzou in November in similar style.
The United States has 19 athletes in the world top 100 with Russia second at 13 and Italy third with seven.
Pole Vault –
The top two of the men’s Pole Vault from 2009 were again fighting for the top spot this season as well. Although 28-year-old Australian Steve Hooker has established himself as the clear number one vaulter in major championships having now won the Olympics, World Championships and World Indoor Championships within just two years, he hasn’t exactly maintained the same level of performance in other meets during the year. Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie didn’t succeed in challenging Hooker in Berlin last year, but his 2010 season was a fine one and very consistent too. The Frenchman competed 24 times during the season winning 19 of them including 5-2 against Hooker, and won 10 straight meets from 30 May to 31 July with the streak finally ending in London in August where he couldn’t clear his opening height. Lavillenie, who also won the 2009 European Indoor title, was crowned European champion in Barcelona with a good 5.85m result and his only bigger loss of the season came in Split where Hooker was better 5.95m to 5.90m in a high standard competition.
Hooker started well winning seven straight from the start of the season including his second six metre vault indoors, 6.01m in Doha where he won the World indoor title. But summer was inconsistent for the Australian with five no heights and several other low performances although he did gather himself well for the final push winning the Continenal Cup with a world leader and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi as well.
Malte Mohr, 24, also showed promise of a better future. Mohr set personal bests indoors with 5.83m and outdoors with 5.90m and took a surprise silver from the World Indoor Championships in March. But it wasn’t all good for Mohr either as he could not qualify for the European final, only placing 17th with a 5.50m leap in qualification.
The United States heads this event with 22 athletes in the world top 100. Germany and Russia were tied for the second place each having 12.
Long Jump –
Thirty-three-year-old American Dwight Phillips wasn’t at the top of the Long Jump world in 2007-2008, but his return to form in 2009 was particularly convincing with an 8.74m personal best and a third World title in Berlin. In 2010 Phillips was in form from the start winning his first meet in Baie Mahault with a good 8.32m opener. Phillips competed 12 times during the season winning 10 and placing second in the remaining two. An 8.46m season’s best in Monaco was the world leader and only a miracle winning jump at the European Championships a bit later denied Phillips the best mark of the season. The American went on to win in London, Zürich and the Continental Cup in Split and was the clear number one in the event in 2010.
That the 26-year-old Christian Reif would top the world list was a big shock. The German, who was fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Doha, came to Barcelona having already jumped an 8.27m personal best. But life in Catalunya wasn’t so easy as the top European only had a 7.79m result after two rounds of qualification. But facing elimination from the final Reif answered with a monster jump equalling his 8.27m personal best and it wasn’t just that the result came at an important moment, but the fact that it came behind the board. In the final Reif again faced the same situation with just a 7.87m after two rounds which would not have been for the last three rounds, and again Reif hit a perfect jump when he needed to, hitting the board better this time while adding a huge 20cm to his personal best with a world leading 8.47m leap. Interestingly that was it for the German - he competed four more times and while placings were OK, the results were nowhere near the Barcelona mark.
Australian Fabrice Lapierre started the outdoor season strongly with a wind aided 8.78m winning the Australian Champs in April after taking the World Indoor title. Later on the 27-year-old got some good wins including Shanghai and the Commonwealth Games.
The United States is the number one in this event with 13 athletes in the world top 100. Russia had seven for second and China six for third place.
Triple Jump –
The early talk in the men’s Triple Jump was all about 21-year-old Frenchman Teddy Tamgho. The young star, who had injury problems in 2009, did almost nothing before the World Indoor Championships in Doha and then produced a real show. Leaps of 16.72m in Mondeville, 15.66m in Stockholm before a pre-Doha best 17.25m at the U23 French Indoor Champs in Aubière followed by a runner-up 17.01m at the French Indoor Champs hardly suggested what was going to happen later. But a 17.90m World indoor record and the World indoor title however altered the landscape and the start to the outdoor season was very different.
In 13 outdoor meets (including Barcelona qualification) Tamgho beat 17 metres in each of them, but was still a little inconsistent in some important ones. A 17.63m national record in the second outdoor meet of the season, the French Club Champs in Franconville, was followed by a windy 17.63 (17.60 best legal) in Montreuil and then the outdoor national record 17.98m at New York’s Diamond League meet. But after that the rest of the season wasn’t that perfect. First Tamgho (17.10m) could only place third in Bergen at the inaugural European Team Champs behind Ukrainian Viktor Kuznyetsov (17.26m) and Briton Phillips Idowu (17.12m). Then Tamgho was beaten again in Barcelona at the European Champs being a clear favourite for the win to place third with a mediocre for him 17.45 result. But the Frenchman gathered himself well for the rest four meets of the season winning in Stockholm, placing second in London and then winning in Lille and Brussels.
European champion Idowu has won medals in many major championships before and therefore it wasn’t a big surprise that although his season before Barcelona was far from impressive, he was right there fighting for the gold medal from the first jump in the final. Still the 31-year-old was able to jump a personal best 17.81m in round five and also surpass a 17.75m indoor mark which was set winning the World Indoor Championships in Valencia 2008. Swede Christian Olsson made his return to the major championships placing fourth in Doha, but could not quite find full strength yet and had to pass on Barcelona. But Olsson is far from done - he came back in August to win in London with a 17.41m season’s best.
The United States was the best country in this event with 10 athletes in the world top 100. Russia and Ukraine tied for second place at nine.
WOMEN –
High Jump -
For some years now Blanka Vlasic has ruled this event thanks to her consistency at 2.00m+. She has not won every meet but the losses have been very few and almost exclusively due to another jumper on a given day raising her game and not to Vlasic lowering hers. But these occasions have as said been few and "nine times out of ten" Vlasic has come out on top.
The summer started out with an improved Chaunté Lowe appearing to have become a jumper capable of challenging Vlasic on a more continuous basis: In the Diamond League opener in Doha both made 1.98m, then followed with Lowe winning Ostrava 1.98m-1.92m, then both clearing 2.01m in Oslo, 2.03m in Rome and 2.00m in Barcelona.
But then halfway through the summer Vlasic begun to move slightly ahead (2.02m vs 2.00m in both Paris and Stockholm) and then Lowe picked up an season-ending injury. So the Croatian powered on as ever with 2.01m – 2.00m – 2.02m before capping her season at the Continental Cup on home turf in Split by equalling Lowe's outdoor WL mark of 2.05m.
So everything once more ended as in previous years with Vlasic as the undisputed No. 1 in the event. She had three losses to Lowe but only once (Ostrava) was she out-jumped and in the final analysis her season was regarded as so impressive (including the only 7-0 record by any athlete in any event in the Diamond League) that she was crowned Women's Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Gala!
Germany's Ariane Friedrich who in 2009 seemed well on her way to become Vlasic's equal had a very limited season in 2010 (e.g. no DL appearance) due to recurring back problems and never was able to reach the same kind of heights as last year. But still she was the only jumper besides Vlasic and Howe showing reasonable consistency at 2m-heights (five meets at 2.00m-2.02m).
Actually only three other jumpers made 2m even once this summer, "veterans" Anonietta Di Martino (age 32) and Ruth Beitia (age 31) plus newcomer Emma Green of Sweden. Green who took a surprise World Championships bronze five years ago in Helsinki finally surpassed that barrier and she did it on the perfect occasion, the European Championships. Her 2.01m there even brought her the silver medal ahead of everyone but Vlasic. She later proved that it was no fluke as during the rest of the season – including two Dimaon Leauge meets and the Continental Cup – she was only out-jumped heightwise by Vlasic (three times) and Lowe (once).
Russia has always been a major power in women's High Jump but with Yelena Slesarenko still troubled by injuries and Anna Chicherova taking the year off to become a mother they were not as competitive. The new generation represented by Svetlana Shkolina and Irina Gordeyeva however indicated by their consistency at 1.95ish heights that they might quite soon be up there at the 2+ level necessary to challenge for the major medals.
For another "perennial" High Jump super power Ukraine the nearest future looks less promising. Vita Styopina, who turned 34 this autumn, was their only entry in the European Championships and they had only one more jumper over 1.90m. Where is the new generation of Babakovas, Myhalchenkos, Palamars and Styopinas?
In late winter there was a surprise announcement that Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut had found the urge to come out of retirement. It however turned out to be a rather short-lived second career: After two warm-up meets at 1.95m she finished 5th at 1.97m in the European Championships and then some weeks later announced that she would re-retire as she was pregnant with her second child.
Pole Vault -
"Year 1 AI" ("After Isinbayeva") produced nothing exceptional - i.e. the others went on doing what they had done before. The only difference being that they were not overshadowed directly by her achievements. But of course the memory of Isinbayeva's exploits at the 5m-level still lingered, just like their male counterparts still have to suffer the comparisons with Bubka's supreme performances in the 1980s and 1990s.
The top mark of the year belonged to Jenn Suhr (ex-Stuczynski) with her 4.89m at the USA Championships but once more injury cut the season very short for the American: Just three meets at 4.50m - 4.89m - no height, all on US soil. And with surprise 2009 World champion Anna Rogowska also obviously (half a season, no great heights) hampered by injuries the fight for the No 1 position left vacant by Isinbayeva's winter decision to take time-out from the sport became a three-way battle.
The three contenders – thanks to their consistency at 4.70m or better – were Fabiana Murer (BRA), Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) and Silke Spiegelburg (GER) and looking back at the complete season they sorted out their internal order quite clearly: In the Diamond League Murer was 4-1-1 for top-3 places, Feofanova 2-2-1 and Spiegelburg 1-2-2 (plus a 4th). Murer also was the only one (besides Suhr) getting over 4.80m - and she did it three times – so the No 1 ranking for Isinbayeva's part-time training partner in the end turned out indisputable.
It will be very interesting to follow the effects Isinbayeva's announced return to the "Pole Vault wars" in 2011 will have on the others. Will she remain as supreme as before or will she make the others raise their game to her level, i.e. to seriously challenge the 5m-barrier? The mostly likely candidates then would be Suhr (if she can stay healthy) and Murer. Or will we have to wait for someone from the current crop of talents born in the 1990's?
The two main names then appear to be Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden and Liz Parnov of Australia who despite being youths born in 1993 and 1994 respectively also were the top-2 juniors in the world. Bengtsson – who received the Rising Star Award at the World Athletics Gala – has shown extraordinary "Big time ability" having – despite her tender age – already picked up no less than three global titles: World Youth in 2009, World Junior in 2010 and Youth Olympics in 2010.
Long Jump -
This probably is the event with the widest group of athletes fitting the brand "world class". Looking at the seven Diamond League meetings the 7 x 3 = 21 podium positions where spread around no less than 12 different athletes. The only four with multiple top-3 placings were Brittney Reese (3-1-0), Russian junior Darya Klishina (2-0-1), Naide Gomes (0-3-1) and Lyudmila Kolchanova (0-2-0).
Typically the World leader Olga Kucherenko (7.13m in May) after winning the DL opener in Oslo never had any real success finishing 5-6-8 in her other three DL appearances. She was lucky to get on the Russian European Championship team after finishing 4th in the national championships. Her Barcelona effort (3rd in 6.84w) was her only top performance in the second part of the season.
Klishina on the other hand was not selected for Barcelona where Russia instead went for experience (Tatiana Kotova age 33, Kolchanova, 30 and Kucherenko, 24) but in hindsight that was a mistake. While Kotova was eliminated in the qualification youngster Klishina age 19 impressed in the post-Barcelona season winning the Diamond League fixtures in Stockholm and London.
In this so evenly balanced event it was perhaps only logical that the European title went to Latvia's Ineta Radevica who both before and after Barcelona was just one not very conspicuous member of the large group of jumpers at the 6.60m/6.70m level. But Radevica – a former junior talent who at age 29 had just returned after a year of absense to become a mother - was the one peaking perfectly for Barcelona - She needed just one jump (6.72w) to qualify and then in the final she produced a string of good jumps including her two longest ever: Opening with 6.73w she improved to 6.87w (wind-aided PB) in the second round, did 6.79m (one cm from her 5 year old legal PB) in the third and the winning 6.92 (PB) in the fourth! So although Gomes also reached 6.92m it was definitely the best jumper that day winning as the Portuguese had merely 6.68m as second best in her series.
Going into 2011 Brittney Reese despite her very conspicuous inconsistent technique remains the World No 1. Because now she appears to have to her supreme physical talent added the mental strength to bring out that winning jump when it is needed in the big meets. This year this was illustrated when Reese took the outdoor World title in 2009 and added both the World Indoor and the Diamond League titles.
But perhaps she should be looking out for a new challenger of exceptional talent: High Jump specialist Chaunté Lowe surprised everyone when she on 1 May in Kingston went straight from 2.00m in the HJ to win the Long Jump at 6.61m. The expert eyebrows were raised even further at the USA Championships in Des Moines on 26 June when she first won the HJ at 2.05m (World lead, USA record) and then the same afternoon got the Long Jump silver behind Reese's 7.08w with 6.90m!
However, Lowe's long jumping in Europe was not nearly as good and she actually injured herself doing it in early August, which forced her to abandon the season also in her main event the High Jump. So perhaps she won't dare to venture away like this from her main event in the future?
Triple Jump -
This event was dominated by two quite evenly matched athletes: Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan and Yargelis Savigne of Cuba. They really took advantage of the opportunity provided by the new Diamond League to compete on the world scene with Rypakova contesting all seven meets (two wins, five 2nd places) and Savigne doing six (four wins, two 2nd places). Both were consistent around 14.70m and had one 15m-competition each: Rypakova 15.25m at the Continental Cup and Savigne 15.09m at the Monaco DL.
Their rivalry by the way had begun already in March when they had an exciting dual for the gold at the World Indoors, a fight which Rypakova finally sealed with her magnificent 15.14m in the last round.
Outdoors both Rypakova and Savigne suffered only one loss each to any other jumper. Rypakova lost in the Eugene Diamond League (14.45m to 14.62m) to the highly inconsistent (three of five DL meets at 14.05m or worse) Nadezhda Alekhina of Russia while Savigne at the Continental Cup had to concede 2nd place to Olha Saladuha of Ukraine (14.63m vs 14.70m). Saladuha was the only jumper besides the top 2 that could be labeled "consistent at 14.50m+" and very deservedly took the European title.
Generally this event seems for some reason to be much more influenced than other events by the Olympic cycle standard-wise. For example, the number of 15m+ jumpers per year (outdoors) normally hovers around two (like this year and last) but then rises markedly - in 2004 to seven and in 2008 to six. Also if one looks deeper into the list the same pattern is clear: In 2008 there were 58 at 14m+ with legal wind. This year there were just 41.
One could also ponder the question why the USA presence in the world elite year after year remains so very weak compared to the other jumping events, especially the closely related Long Jump. In the Long Jump the USA has six athletes on the 2010 World top-20, in the Triple Jump just one and she is barely making it as she lies in exactly 20th place! Their No 2 in the Triple Jump is way further down in 35th place.
Also the Western European presence is remarkably feeble with Simona La Mantia of Italy in 7th and Svetlana Bolshakova of Belgium (but originally from Russia) in 9th being the big exceptions. The top French jumper is to be found at No 36 and the top Briton at no 73! Why almost 20 years since its addition to the women's programme does the Triple Jump still find it so hard to attract the talents that must be out there - just like in the High Jump and the Long Jump?
