Munich. Look, it’s ripping!
Mundo Duplantis showed a human side, as he broke on the first try at entry high 5.65 in qualifying here in EC.
But soon the shock wave that passed through the pole vault world subsided.
Now I’ve seen worse things happen, when I’ve seen Serge Bubka Breakthrough at a peak entry of 5.70 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
It was a real shock to the audience and above all to Bubka himself.
But this was typical of his Olympic curse, which saw him win seven consecutive World Cup golds during his career, but only one Olympic gold.
Before his first Olympics, he fell victim to the Eastern District of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was not allowed to go.
In Seoul 1988 he took his only gold medal, but after suffering two clearances in a winning height of 5.90 before making the last attempt.
In Barcelona, he tore himself, as I said, and when it was time for the Olympics in Atlanta, he hit his heel and didn’t make it to the start.
It will be bigger than Bubka
So when it comes to Olympic gold, the Ukrainian legend will be defeated by Mundo Duplantis by horse lengths.
Mondo who of course sailed high over 5.65 on his second try and was ready for the final on Saturday night after just two jumps.
But just that it tore it once at 5.65 and it didn’t feel so flawless like the biggest thing that happened in the Thursday morning session.
This says more about how superior the Swede is.
Other than that, the Swedish darkness continued this morning as well.
Only one of the last jumps has made it into the running competitions.
It was Andreas Kramer who made the 800m semi-final, but “just” on time in the race that led him to the race.
Kramer got hooked there, but fixed the last point by breaking into the lead and maintaining pace.
However, Lovisa Lind, who was discussed as a bonus and was without a chance in the women’s 800m, disappeared.
2:03.48 was good enough for a 5th place in the heat and 21st overall.
No, this has not been Lovisa’s season, although I still insist she should have been allowed to go to the Olympics in Tokyo after a total of five races under two minutes last summer.
But the big bang was that Karl Bengstrom disappeared into the 400 hurdles.
I saw him as an honorable hope here in Munich.
He finished fourth in Europe before the tournament, but missed the final and ended up thirteenth when it was all over.
It was a blast, even if few Swedes managed to win this tournament.
There is a significant difference to Finland, where Wilma Murtaugh won a gold medal in the European group and a Nordic record (4.85) in the women’s pole vault final on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, Vivi Lehikoinen followed a new Finnish record in the 400 hurdles, when she won the semi-finals with a time of 54.50.
In Finnkampen it can be difficult in a few weeks.
