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Lukyanenko joins 6-metre club, while Vlasic takes 30th straight victory in Bydgoszcz
Yevgeniy Lukyanenko celebrates his surprise winning clearance of 5.90m in the men's pole vault (Getty Images)
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Bydgoszcz, Poland - With multiple World champions in attendance, a brand new track and excellent weather conditions, the Tamex Cup European Athletics Festival in Bydgoszcz was bound to provide world-class performances. And the stars did not disappoint. Two results in jumping results stood out – Yevgeniy Lukyanenko won the men’s pole vault with a new personal best of 6.01 and Blanka Vlasic triumphed in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 2.05.
The Tamex Cup is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 13-14 September in Stuttgart, Germany.
Lukyanenko joins elite company
With three members of the 6-meter club in attendance, the men’s Pole Vault competition promised to be one of the highlights of the meet, and so it turned out to be. As the bar was moved up to 5.81, five men were still in competition. Steve Hooker of Australia, Alhaji Jeng of Sweden, Steven Lewis of Britain and the German veteran Tim Lobinger all cleared 5.71, while the Russian World indoor champion Lukyanenko did not enter the competition until 5.61 and, after a first-time clearance, moved right up to 5.81. That height proved too much for Jeng, Lewis and Lobinger, but Hooker, competing in Europe for the first time this summer, cleared first time. Lukyanenko started with a failure, but made amends with an impressive second-time clearance. The two men left in competition went on to attack 5.91. Both failed first time, but on his second attempt the Russian cleared to go from second to first place in the contest. The Australian, after two failures, passed his remaining attempt to 5.96, but did not manage to go clear.
Lukyanenko might have had the competition won, but he was not yet finished. After having the bar moved up to 6.01, he cleared on his first attempt with a few centimetres to spare, improving his personal best by a full 10cm and moving him to seventh place on the world all-time list. It was also the first ever six-meter clearance on Polish soil. The Russian then took three more attempts at 6.05, and was close to succeeding the second time.
