GERMAN MEETINGS: DÜSSELDORF – Pole-vaulter Sandi Morris will reach for the stars at the PSD Bank Meeting on February 1, 2017

The US American crossed the bar at exactly five metres in Brussels and hardly believed her luck afterwards. Now the 24-year-old high-flyer will compete for the first time indoors in Germany – at the twelfth edition of the 2017 PSD Bank Meeting in Duesseldorf on February 1.

Only outdoor world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia; 5.06m) and indoor world record holder Jenn Suhr (USA; 5.03m) have recorded better results than the 2016 Olympic silver medallist.                                               

Thus it has been ascertained that victory will be gained only via one of the current top stars of international athletics at the premiere of women’s pole-vault at the PSD Bank Meeting – and the meeting record will be set very high.

For Sandi Morris is certainly not content with joining the five-metres club. “I shall attack the world record in 2017”, announced the American after her feat in Brussels.

While Sandi Morris achieved Olympic silver in Rio and mastered the 5.00m a few weeks later, the German record holder had a difficult 2016 season: Silke Spiegelburg finished the national championships with no result at all thus missing her fourth Olympic participation. Her year of indemnification will begin with the PSD Bank Meeting. The 30-year-old may count on the support of the fans at the Duesseldorf Athletics Hall.

After all she has been competing for TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen for many years and has many supporters in the Rhineland. 

While gambling for the right height is courteous in pole-vaulting, there is just one means that counts in the sprint: full throttle! Ewa Swoboda was on a roll in 2016. Just nine days after her victory over 60 metres at the PSD Bank Meeting the Polish sprinter set a new U20 world record clocking 7.07sec.  Barbara Pierre was even faster than the 19-year-old in 2016.

The US American recorded 7.00sec last season and won the world indoor title. With such top athletes even the high-class meeting record of Murielle Ahoure (Cote d’Ivoire; 7.08sec) seems endangered. German sprinting youngsters Gina Lueckenkemper and Lisa Mayer will show their potential too. The 200m specialists want to gain international experience in the 60 metres, a short distance for them.

Pavel Maslak prefers the longer distance: The Czech is “Mr 400m” indoors. Two World indoor and two European indoor titles between 2013 and 2016 substantiate that. The 25-year-old also holds the meeting record in Duesseldorf in 45.81 seconds.

But another triumph won’t be easy on February 1. Bralon Taplin (Grenada), the Olympic finalist, boasts faster times than Pavel Maslak outdoors (44.38sec) as well as indoors (45.20sec). It is well possible that a new meeting record will be necessary for the victory on two indoor laps! 

Website: www.psd-bank-meeting.de.

Harald Gehring