European Athletics (EA) – Triple joy for Menkov as Zurich beckons

Alexander Menkov has triple cause for celebration as the season draws to a close: a world title, national record and the overall Diamond League title.

In the Luzhkniki stadium, Menkov sailed to a stunning 8.56m world championship victory over his rivals with silver medallist, Ignisious Gaisah of the Netherlands, fully 27cm down on the Russian while Mexican hope, Luis Rivera, was a further 2cm down on Gaisah.

Now all three medallists go head to head once again in the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, but nothing is certain in the highly technical world of long jumping.

In Stockholm last week, Menkov pulled off yet another win after a draining World championship campaign. Getting off to a modest start on a chilly evening at the Olympic stadium, Menkov went into the lead in round three with 8.06 before consolidating that in round four with the winning leap of 8.18.

But his most recent win came at a price as he then sat out the remaining rounds and later indicated there was a problem: "During competition I realised I had a problem with my legs and my back," admitted Menkov.

Luckily for him, everyone else in Stockholm was as tired as he was from competing at the World championships so no one was able to overtake him and he lifted the Diamond League title for the second successive time.

"Winning the overall Diamond League is an excellent addition to the season," said Menkov. "To win two in a row is a respectable result.

"This season winning the Diamond League has proved much easier than in the past, but both titles are equally satisfying."

If anyone encapsulates a winning formula for progression envisaged in the European Athletics age-group series of competitions, it is Menkov.

In 2009 he was proclaimed European Junior champion, in 2011 he captured the U23 crown in Ostrava and now this year he first became the European Indoor champion before going on to become the first European to lift the world long jump title.

"This season has turned out not too bad at all," commented the 22-year-old with some understatement. "I managed to become world champion, set a Russian record and won the overall Diamond League. But this is not the end. There is still a lot to be done. I have still not succeeded in my main aim, so I have got a lot of work ahead of me."

His main aim now is to break the world record which stands at a formidable 9.95 from Tokyo 1991 standing to the USA's Mike Powell.

He was clearly thinking of that when he embarked on his final effort in Moscow which was a huge foul.

So what of Zurich? Both Gaisah and Rivero will be present and more rested than they were in Stockholm. Apart from these two, there are four other Moscow finalists who would be looking to take advantage of the Russian's physical problems.

But maybe they should not get their hopes up too high. Before the Moscow final, Menkov was suffering from similar issues with his back, but hot showers and frequent massage put him in record shape.

What ensued was two Russian records of 8.52m and 8.56m for the man from Minusinsk in the southern Krasnoyarsk region. You would not bet against him jumping even further in the Zurich Diamond League dubbed the Olympics in one night.

European Athletics (EA) –