palm1234 wrote:I notice 5,87 was the highest attempted bar. Was it windy, or Lavillenie, Barber, and Kendricks were not in good form?
Rio is still far, but it seems those 3 guys will get the medals there (pick your favorite order )
I watched on CBC TV, and details were skimpy, but (referring to the detailed meet results) I was quite surprised that Barber tried every bar, starting with 5.35. I'm not sure of that strategy, but my best guess is that it was windy.
But by the time the bar was at 5.81 (when they started showing attempts on TV), there was no apparent wind, but Barber was "spent".
Maybe you're asking why Lavillenie never cleared 5.87, but I don't think we should expect him to be over 6.00 every meet (although that's one of his stated goals). 5.81 isn't bad though. Do you realize that he's cleared 5.80+ 106 times now?
I didn't see any of Kendrick's vaults, as CBC didn't show any 5.71 vaults.
To be honest, I think Lavillenie is in a class above Barber and Kendricks (despite today's 5.81), but as far as rooting for my favourites, my hope for Rio is Barber, Lavillenie, Kendricks. But Barber is more likely to get silver than gold, and I think Kendricks could be upset by one of the other Europeans.
But last year's WC proved that Lavillenie can be beat!
Kirk