Timur Morgunov showed that at the end of a tiring season, he is not at all worn out, but instead wide awake. The Authorised Neutral Athlete from Russia made his 5.91m clearance look very easy. The European silver medalist from three weeks ago always had firm grip on his poles making the crowd along the 50m runway go wild.
At Morgunovs winning jump, enthusiastic spectators turn Zurich main station's great hall into a football arena filled with tens of thousands of fans. 5.91m are a lifetime indoor best for Morgunov. Only at the European championships in Berlin earlier this month, he had aligned himself with the history's best, having cleared 6m for the first time in his life.
Shawn Barber shows off a season best
Canadian Shawn Barber, the 2015 world champion, was successful in his first attempts at 5.81 and 5.86m, improving his season best by 5 centimetres. He only narrowly missed out on 5.91. Australian Commonwealth champion Kurtis Marshall cleared 5.86m on the second time of asking and achieved a personal indoor best. "That kind of performance must be thanks to Zurich and Swiss chocolate", the 21-year-old said as he came third.
Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 world champion from Poland vaulted over 5.81m successfully on his first attempt and was awarded fourth. His Polish friend and world silver medalist Piotr Lisek came an equal fifth with indoor world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (FRA), both showing 5.81. Disappointed Lavillenie tried to explain his performance with growing fatigue. "It has been a long season which cost a lot of energy", the 31-year-old said. "Today I lacked in energy but I will come back next year."
Two more athletes came home seventh. Neither Greek record holder Konstantinos Filippidis nor reigning world champion Sam Kendricks (USA) made it over 5.81. They had to settle for 5.71. After a failed attempt at 5.81, Kendricks tried his best at 5.86 for two more jumps but tore down the bar twice. "I am still very impressed by the atmosphere here and hope to do better on Friday", he said. In two days time, Kendricks and his fellow pole vaulters will go for the win at the Diamond League final in Brussels. Olympic champion Thiago Braz da Silva (BRA) had a disappointing night, missing out on 5.71 three times and ending up with 5.56 to his name.
Find out about the results <link https: zurich.diamondleague.com en programme-results-zurich external-link-new-window internal link in current>here.
