European Athletics (EAA) – News – Men’s Jumps: Emergence of Tamgho, Shustov and Reif; Lavillenie gains in strength

High Jump:

It terms of just results Russian Ivan Ukhov was again a clear number one in European high jumping during the 2010 season. Indoors Ukhov was brilliant and although he did suffer one loss to compatriot Aleksandr Shustov, the 24-year-old came through to win the World Indoor Championships in style in Doha with a good 2.36m result.

The last competition before Doha had brought the Russian a world leading 2.38m clearance in Banská Bystrica. Outdoors things didn’t go as well for the Russian. Although Ukhov ended his season with a world leading 2.36m outdoor personal best, major championships outdoors seem to create problems for the indoor star.

Ukhov had a 5-3 head-to-head lead over Shustov during the season, but Shustov came up on top both at the National Championships and more importantly at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona where the 26-year-old grabbed the European title equalling 2.33m personal best in the process.

Overall it was a great season for Shustov who set personal bests both indoors (2.32m) and outdoors (2.33m) and won the gold in his first major championships outdoors. Previously the Russian had won the World University Games in 2007 and was fourth at the European indoors in 2009.

25-year-old Briton Martyn Bernard set a season’s best 2.29m for a bronze in Barcelona pushing Swede Linus Thörnblad (also 2.29m) to his second consecutive fourth place at Europeans. In 2006, Thörnblad jumped personal best 2.34m in Gothenburg, but was narrowly denied a medal in the high standard competition.

Pole Vault

Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie gained in strength in 2010.

The 24-year-old Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie rules the European pole vaulting at the moment. This season Lavillenie, who jumped 6.01m in 2009 at the European Team Championships, added a second straight win at European Team Championships and won comfortably in Barcelona.

Lavillenie is also the reigning European indoor champion from Torino 2009. In 2010, the Frenchman clearly upped his performances delivering a more balanced season with 19 wins from 24 starts and only one competition where he couldn’t clear his opening height. This season however also included one bigger failure in Doha where Lavillenie was only in equal 10^th place in the qualification with 5.45m result and did not make to the World indoors final.

Lavillenie was 5-2 against Australian Steve Hooker, the reigning Olympic and world champion making him the number one vaulter in the world as well.

In Barcelona, 27-year-old Ukrainian Maksym Mazuryk overcame an adequate early season adding 10cm to his season’s best in the European final with a 5.80m clearance, that proved sufficient for the silver medal. The 2003 World Champion Italian Giuseppe Gibilisco came extremely close to another major championships medal in Barcelona where he too was in his best form setting a 5.75m season’s best, but was narrowly denied by Pole Przemysław Czerwiński, who gambled leaving one try to 5.75m after two failures at 5.70m and grabbed the bronze with his only remaining jump, also a season’s best 5.75m.

German Malte Mohr cleared 5.90m in September, but the World Indoor Championships silver medallist was disappointed in Barcelona where he couldn’t advance to the final.

Long Jump

26-year-old German Christian Reif was in good form straight from the start of the outdoor season. Reif, who had a promising 2007 campaign with a 8.19m personal best in Osaka at the qualification of the World Championships and a 9^th place in the final, broke that PB in May in Weinheim with a 8.22m jump immediately followed by another PB 8.27m in Hengelo just a week later.

But the whole season was not just success as Reif, who placed fifth in Doha at the World Indoors; fell to sixth place in Bergen at the European Team Championships only reaching a 7.80m result. In Barcelona things didn’t go nearly as smoothly as Reif would have wanted and he only made it to the final with his last jump.

The 7.79m result he had after two rounds in the qualification was not enough, but Reif bounced back big time with his third jump landing at 8.27m, equal personal best, but the real distance being much further as the jump took off well behind the board. In the final, Reif again faced exactly same problems having only reached 7.87m after two jumps and facing elimination from the last three rounds.

Like the qualifications, Reif then found his rhythm again and this time his foot was placed on the board with the German adding a huge 20cm to his personal best with one jump: a world leading 8.47m which of course was enough for the gold medal. Competing in his first European Championships outdoors in Barcelona, Reif is an interesting athlete on the count that he never competed in any youth, junior or U23 World or European Athletics Championships. 30-year-old Frenchman Kafétien Gomis raised himself to second place in Barcelona with a huge 8.24m personal best in the sixth round just passing Briton Chris Tomlinson, who reached a season’s best 8.23m for the bronze medal.

A breakthrough year for triple jump sensation Teddy Tamgho.

The French record holder at 8.42m, Salim Sdiri was dropped to fourth place during the last round (8.20m) and reigning champion, Italian Andrew Howe who has been suffering from injuries, was fifth this time at 8.12m. A new star was born to Spanish long jumping sky – 18-year-old Eusebio Cáceres delighted the home crowd in the qualification with a 8.27m European Junior record in round three and took the eight place in the final.

Triple Jump

21-year-old Teddy Tamgho might have had injury problems in 2009 following a very promising 2008 season as a junior, but the 2010 season showed what this young Frenchman is capable of. The start was not all that promising as Tamgho did nothing much before the World Indoor Championships though he did jump 17.25m at the U23 French Indoor Champs in Aubière, but had trouble reaching his usual results in some other meets. But Doha did prove what this season was about with the young Frenchman jumping a world indoor record  17.90m and of course winning the World Indoors gold in the process.

Outdoor season was much more consistent for the former World junior champion. He started with a good 17.63m national record in the second meet of the season, the French Club Championships in Franconville which was followed by a windy 17.63 (17.60 best legal) in Montreuil and then the big national record 17.98m in New York at the Diamond League meet. European Team Championships in Bergen changed things a bit with Tamgho not finding a way to top a competition won by Ukrainian Viktor Kuznyetsov (17.26) with Briton Phillips Idowu (17.12) also finishing ahead of the Frenchman (17.10).

A wind aided 17.64 to win the French Nationals before Barcelona however made Tamgho again the only favourite, but after he won the qualification with a wind aided 17.37, Tamgho just couldn’t find the answers in the final. Instead the reigning world champion, 31-year-old seasoned Briton Phillips Idowu once more stepped up. Idowu had jumped a 17.48m season’s best in Brazil in May, but the next meets did not suggest a monster jump he was capable of in Barcelona.

Idowu’s form was great: a 17.46m opener followed by 17.47m and 17.40m paved way for a 17.81m personal best in round four, more than enough for his first European outdoor title. 28-year-old Romanian Marian Oprea completed his comeback after injuries with a 17.51m season’s best and a silver medal, his third consecutive at Europeans having won silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006. Tamgho faded to third place with a 17.45m effort with European Team Championships winner Viktor Kuznyetsov quite close behind in fourth with a 17.29m season’s best.

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 the European Championships. But Olsson is far from done, he came back in August to win in London with a 17.41m season’s best.

Notable stats:

High jump

New entries on the European all time list:

Tied for 16^th place 2.36 Ivan Ukhov RUS

2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:

Ivan Ukhov RUS – Aleksandr Shustov RUS 5-3

Aleksandr Shustov RUS – Martyn Bernard GBR 3-0

Aleksandr Shustov RUS – Linus Thörnblad SWE 1-0

Aleksandr Shustov RUS – Aleksey Dmitrik RUS 4-1

Career head-to-head between best Europeans:

Ivan Ukhov RUS – Aleksandr Shustov RUS 34-13

Aleksandr Shustov RUS – Martyn Bernard GBR 7-2

Linus Thörnblad SWE – Aleksandr Shustov RUS 6-5 (Shustov has won five straight)

Aleksandr Shustov RUS – Aleksey Dmitrik RUS 15-14

Pole vault

New entries on the European all time list:

Tied for 17^th place 5.90 Malte Mohr GER

2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:

Renaud Lavillenie FRA – Maksym Mazuryk UKR 8-0

Renaud Lavillenie FRA – Romain Mensal FRA 13-1

Reynaud Lavillenie FRA – Damiel Dossévi FRA 13-0

Romain Mesnil FRA – Damiel Dossévi FRA 10-7

Lukasz Michalski POL – Przemyslaw Czerwinski POL 6-3

Career head-to-head between best Europeans:

Renaud Lavillenie FRA – Maksym Mazuryk UKR 14-4

Renaud Lavillenie FRA – Romain Mesnil FRA 30-16

Renaud Lavillenie FRA – Damiel Dossévi FRA 38-8

Romain Mesnil FRA – Damiel Dossévi FRA 53-24

Przemyslaw Czerwinski POL – Lukasz Michalski POL 15-10

Long jump

New entries on the European all time list:

Tied for 6^th place 8.47 Christian Reif GER

2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:

Christian Reif GER – Kafétien Gomis FRA 3-2

Christian Reif GER – Chris Tomlinson GBR 3-1

Kafétien Gomis FRA – Chris Tomlinson GBR 2-1

Salim Sdiri FRA – Kafétien Gomis FRA 7-2

Chris Tomlinson GBR – Salim Sdiri FRA 2-1

Career head-to-head between best Europeans:

Christian Reif GER – Kafétien Gomis FRA 3-3

Christian Reif GER – Chris Tomlinson GBR 5-3

Kafétien Gomis FRA – Chris Tomlinson GBR 5-5

Salim Sdiri FRA – Kafétien Gomis FRA 41-9

Chris Tomlinson GBR – Salim Sdiri FRA 14-9

Triple jump

 

New entries on the European all time list:

2^nd place 17.98 Teddy Tamgho FRA
Tied for 5^th place 17.81 Phillips Idowu GER

2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:

 

Phillips Idowu GBR – Marian Oprea ROU 2-1

Phillips Idowu GBR – Teddy Tamgho FRA 3-2

Marian Oprea ROU – Teddy Tamgho FRA 1-1

Viktor Kuznyetsov UKR – Phillips Idowu GBR 2-1

Career head-to-head between best Europeans:

Marian Oprea ROU – Phillips Idowu GBR 8-4

Phillips Idowu GBR – Teddy Tamgho FRA 5-2

Phillips Idowu GBR – Viktor Kuznyetsov UKR 3-2

Teddy Tamgho FRA – Marian Oprea ROU 2-1

 

European Athletics (EAA) – News