Eugene. Ahead of the World Cup, Lisa Gunnarson honed her form with Greg Duplantis and after the tournament, former Angelica Bengson coach Peter Wyden will take over the role from distance.
But here in Eugene, Sweden’s only hope for women’s pole vaulting will be to compete without any of them on their side.
– That letter came a little late, and it became a misunderstanding, she says.
Lisa Gunnarson feels at home in Eugene. It’s been just over a month since she finished her college career at LSU by finishing third in the NCAA Tournaments here.
A college career that included many athletic qualifications – but also great study results. The Swede is noted for the third out of every five possible years for her ability to combine the best athletic performance with equally good results in school, the so-called “All-American academic”. And most recently, Thursday, she was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award
It is also the basis of what happens to the career after the World Cup.
– I will move to California, Stanford University, where I will get a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. It’s not like college, but there I created my own training plan, so I’m looking forward to it too, she says.
“Very New”
That means a change of coach when you leave Greg Duplantis in Louisiana.
– I will train with a group at Stanford, but after my own setup that comes from Sweden, I have another coach in San Francisco that I will go to occasionally.
It will be Peter Weeden, the remote coach who coached Angelica Bingson until a notable hiatus before the Olympics.
– He’s very new but he said yes to him, it would be very good, she says.
But Widén is not yet involved and Greg Duplantis cannot attend the World Cup due to his work as a lawyer. Then a third coach entered, former American record holder Jeff Hartwig who now serves as a manager.
– I know what to do and I’m the one who jumps, so it’s going to be fine.
But the solution was not planned in advance.
– He came a little late, there was a misunderstanding with Greg. But I’m not worried about that, I just thought of Jeff.
“against my nature”
Lisa Gunnarson comes to WC with a best year of 4.65, and in a year the women’s pole has been unusually weak, he is just five centimeters short of the top six in the rankings this year.
– It characterizes me a lot, it’s open and I feel very good. The biggest goal is to take me to the final and then be open and just move on.
Part of that is giving up on thinking about analytical study for a while. When Sportbladet spoke to Greg Duplantis, he noted that Lisa Gunnarsson’s biggest hurdle is “she’s rethinking things”.
– Yes, that’s right, she says.
It goes against my nature not to think things through. But it’s something I’m really working on, being shiny and letting it all go and driving the car. This is often when things are going best.
The women’s pole vault qualifiers will be decided the night before Saturday, Swedish time.