Karlsruhe WIT — Renaud Lavillenie Still Flying High

**At age 34, Renaud Lavillenie is enjoying a renaissance in the vault.** (GLADYS CHAI/ASVOM AGENCY)

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY, January 29 — In last month’s issue we noted that French vault ace Renaud Lavillenie was rejuvenated at age 34, matching his highest season-opener ever, clearing 19-5 (5.92). Two weeks later he was even better at the first gold-level stop on WA’s World Indoor Tour.

He was perfect at his first four heights, the last of them raising the yearly world lead to 19-6¼ (5.95). The last time he has vaulted higher was in the Rio final in ’16. He took two unsuccessful shots at the 6-meter benchmark (19-8¼) before passing on his third.

“It was a long competition but a good one,” he said. “Honestly I didn’t expect to jump that high today. I was going to jump off a shortened approach of 16 steps and couldn’t find my rhythm, so in my warm-up I moved to 20 steps and found that my rhythm returned, so I went with that.”

Overall, the year’s first big international competition coughed up world-leading marks in 8 out of 12 events. (Results below)

Youngsters Get In On Record Action

800 WJR To Hodgkinson
Vienna, Austria, January 30 — Still a few weeks from turning 19, young British talent Keely Hodgkinson chopped a full 2 seconds off the World Junior (U20) record with her 1:59.03. The old best of 2:01.03 was set by Ethiopia’s Meskerem Legesse in ’04.

“It was all about not panicking when they all went off so fast but to be honest it could not have gone better so I’m really happy,” said Hodgkinson. “It’s my first race of the season.”

New Youth Vault High For Volkov
Łódź, Poland, February 12 — Last year Russia’s Matvey Volkov produced the highest vault ever by a 15-year-old, clearing 18-½ (5.50). Now transferred to Belarus, the 16-year-old phenom has established a new standard at that level, 18-4½ (5.60). The mark is also a World Youth (U18) record, indoors or out, surpassing the previous high of 18-2½ (5.55) set by Greece’s Emmanouíl Karális in ’16. Volkov finished 6th in a competition won by pro Sam Kendricks.

Volkov’s father was a noted vaulter for Russia in the ’80s, winning silvers at the ’80 Olympics and ’83 WC. A 5-time World Ranker with a best of 19-2¼ (5.85), he rated No. 1 in ’81. The ongoing questions about Russia’s ability to compete internationally caused him to move the family to Belarus. Last summer he explained the move, saying, “We were never interested in neutral status, so in any case we would not apply for it.”

Iapichino Deposes Longstanding Drechsler
Ancona, Italy, February 20 — The oldest official World Junior Women’s Indoor Record is no more. East German legend Heike Drechsler jumped 22-7 (6.88) back in ’83, but that was finally surpassed at the Italian Championships when Larissa Iapichino, 18, cut sand at 22-8 (6.91) on her fifth attempt. Only 4 other U20 performers have ever jumped farther outdoors.

“Surreal, a dream, I have no words to describe it,” she said. “The first thing I thought was, ‘Man, I jumped like my mom.’ Only later did I realize that 6.91 is also the world U20 record and the standard for Tokyo!”

Her mother, Fiona May, was a much-decorated long jumper herself, winning WC golds in ’95 and ’01 and claiming Olympic silvers in both Atlanta and Sydney. And her father, Gianni, was an international-class vaulter.

KARLSRUHE WIT MEN’S RESULTS

(200 banked)

400: I–1. Marvin Schlegel (Ger) 46.61 PR; 2. Thomas Jordier (Fra) 46.68. II–1. Pavel Maslák (CzR) 46.99.

800: 1. Elliot Giles (GB) 1:45.50 (WL);

2. Benjamin Robert (Fra) 1:46.28 PR; 3. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (Fra) 1:46.38; 4. Baptiste Mischler (Fra) 1:46.51 PR; 5. Andreas Kramer (Swe) 1:46.79.

3000: 1. Bethwel Birgen (Ken) 7:34.12 PR (WL);

2. Mohamed Katir (Spa) 7:35.29 PR; 3. Jimmy Gressier (Fra) 7:39.70 PR; 4. Andrew Butchart (GB) 7:40.85 PR; 5. Abdelaati Iguider (Mor) 7:42.71; 6. Djilali Bedrani (Fra) 7:49.39; 7. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (Can) 7:49.82 PR; 8. Jonas Raess (Swi) 7:50.53.

60H: 1. Wilhem Belocian (Fra) 7.49; 2. Aaron Mallett (US) 7.59; 3. Aurel Manga (Fra) 7.64; 4. Paolo Dal Molin (Ita) 7.65; 5. Erik Balnuweit (Ger) 7.71; 6. Artur Noga (Pol) 7.73; 7. Gabriel Constantino (Bra) 7.76;… dq—Damian Czykier (Pol).

Field Events

PV: 1. Renaud Lavillenie (Fra) 19-6¼ (5.95) (WL) (18-5¼, 19-¼, 19-3½, 19-6¼, 19-8¼ [xxp]) (5.62, 5.80, 5.88, 5.95, 6.00 [xxp]);

2. Matt Ludwig (US) 19-¼ (5.80); 3. Cole Walsh (US) 18-9¼ (5.72); 4. Torben Blech (Ger) 18-9¼ PR; 5. Ernest John Obiena (Phi) 18-5¼ (5.62) PR; 6. tie, Oleg Zernikel (Ger) & Raphael Holzdeppe (Ger) 18-5¼; 8. tie, Piotr Lisek (Pol) & Valentin Lavillenie (Fra) 17-11¼ (5.47).

LJ: 1. Juan Miguel Echevarría (Cub) 26-10 (8.18) (=WL);

2. Maykel D. Massó (Cub) 26-6¼ (8.08) PR; 3. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Gre) 26-5 (8.05); 4. Thobias Montler (Swe) 25-11½ (7.91).

KARLSRUHE WOMEN’S RESULTS

60: 1. Dina Asher-Smith (GB) 7.08 =PR (WL);

2. Orlann Ombissa-Dzangue (Fra) 7.16; 3. Ajla Del Ponte (Swi) 7.17 =PR; 4. Lisa Mayer (Ger) 7.21; 5. Asha Philip (GB) 7.22; 6. Jennifer Montag (Ger) 7.26; 7. Rebekka Haase (Ger) 7.35; 8. Alexandra Burghardt (Ger) 7.36.

1500: 1. Katharina Trost (Ger) 4:12.02; 2. Winnie Nanyondo (Uga) 4:12.36; 3. Caterina Granz (Ger) 4:12.62; 4. Esther Guerrero (Spa) 4:12.81; 5. Gesa-Felicitas Krause (Ger) 4:15.38.

3000: 1. Beatrice Chepkoech (Ken) 8:41.98 (WL);

2. Fantu Worku (Eth) 8:42.22; 3. Melissa Courtney-Bryant (GB) 8:42.41; 4. Gloria Kite (Ken) 8:44.43 PR; 5. Maruša Mišmaš-Zrimsek (Slo) 8:48.82 PR; 6. Jip Vastenburg (Neth) 8:52.76 PR.

60H: 1. Nooralotta Neziri (Fin) 7.92 NR; 2. Tobi Amusan (Ngr) 7.94; 3. Nadine Visser (Neth) 7.96; 4. Elvira Herman (Blr) 7.99; 5. Luminosa Bogliolo (Ita) 8.05; 6. Reetta Hurske (Fin) 8.08; 7. Alina Talay (Blr) 8.09; 8. Cyrena Samba-Mayela (Fra) 8.31.

Field Events

TJ: 1. Liadagmis Povea (Cub) 47-8½ (14.54) PR (WL) (46-2½, 47-8½, f, 39-7¾, 47-¾, 47-6¼) (14.08, 14.54, f, 12.08, 14.34, 14.48);

2. Kristiina Mäkelä (Fin) 46-4¼ (14.13); 3. Viyaleta Skvartsova (Blr) 46-3¼ (14.10); 4. Neele Eckhardt (Ger) 45-9 (13.94); 5. Ana Peleteiro (Spa) 45-5¼ (13.85); 6. Jessie Maduka (Ger) 45-3 (13.79); 7. Tori Franklin (US) 45-3 (13.79); 8. Paraskeví Papahrístou (Gre) 45-½ (13.73).

SP: 1. Auriol Dongmo (Por) 64-5¾ (19.65) NR (WL) (61-8½, 64-5¾, 62-5¼, f, 62-9½, f) (18.81, 19.65, 19.03, f, 19.14, f);

2. Fanny Roos (Swe) 61-2 (18.64) NR; 3. Sophie McKinna (GB) 60-6¾ (18.46) PR; 4. Chase Ealey (US) 60-2 (18.34); 5. Christina Schwanitz (Ger) 59-11¼ (18.27); 6. Sara Gambetta (Ger) 59-4 (18.08); 7. Julia Ritter (Ger) 56-11¼ (17.35); 8. Raven Saunders (US) 56-6½ (17.23); 9. Alina Kenzel (Ger) 53-3¾ (16.25). □

Karlsruhe WIT — Renaud Lavillenie Still Flying High

Youngsters Get In On Record Action

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