ATHLETICS. Anna Chicherova: certainly Vlasic appears to be the unconditional favorite

Today, 31 August, the qualification round of the women’s high jump took place at the World Athletics Championship in Osaka. 16 participants reached the 1.94 m standard, including all three Russian women - Olympic champion Yelena Slesarenko, Anna Chicherova (both cleared 1.84 – 1.88 – 1.91 – 1.94 on their first attempts) and Ekaterina Savchenko (the 1.80 – 1.84 – 1.88 heights were taken on first attempts, and 1.91 – 1.94 on the second). 2004 Olympic Games finalist Anna Chicherova shared her impressions with the special correspondents of the Agency of sport information “All Sport” in Osaka.

“I didn’t feel very well myself today,” acknowledged Anna Chicherova. “But it’s nothing serious; it was just necessary get up very early, since qualifications were scheduled for the morning. Because of this I felt a little bit out of sorts. But overall I feel good. All my injuries have healed, the acclimatization passed normally, and before the jumps I was well relaxed. I cleared all the heights on the first attempt. On the whole I feel my jumps weren’t bad. Although I need to get used to the local surface. It’s a pity that we can’t do any training in the main stadium before the final. In the training arena the surface is a bit softer. I hope this won’t be a problem for me.”

Anna Chicherova also recognized that the favorite for the final, which will take place on the last day of championship, 2 September, appears to be Blanka Vlasic from Croatia, who has consistently jumped two meters this season and already achieved the second highest result in history – 2.07 m. “Judging by the results, Vlasic is the unconditional favorite. But these are the world championships, and it effects everyone differently. It frees some, releasing new reserves, while some it enslaves. If we judge by the Russian championships, I’m ready to jump two meters. How much more than two, only the competition will show. I do not plan a concrete placing. I’ll try to take each successive height,” said Anna Chicherova.