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While I quite enjoyed the men's preview, I felt we would be remiss if we didn't carefully examine this women's competition. Who do I like? Let's see... you've got:

Jennifer Are-you-SUHR you got the training right this year?? - she's looked out of sorts. Did she find some magic in the majestic dry county of Jonesboro last week?? We can't be SUHR.

Holly "The Freeze" Bleasedale - she's ice cold y'all. The poles are wrapped in gold for a reason, and she's ready for a holly jolly national anthem atop the podium. Has she found her form? The black hand will be ready to spank everyone else's bottoms if she's got it dialed in!

Silke SMOOOOVE - always ready for a championship, the Silke road has found herself off the podium too many times. Is this her year to shine? Prepare the brats and the pilsner and ready the train for a party all the way back to Germany.

And we can't forget the hometown hero - Anna "Plogowska" Rogowska - Plogowska, translated directly, means "ball buster", and Anna is on for a show. If her homeboy can Pave(l) the road for her, the stage could be set for a hometown sweep.

Lastly, you've got the wildcard. The Queen of the Caribbean. The Sultana of Havana. The Cuban Missile. She's got the spirit of LZB in her, and a couple of cannons for legs that could cause another cuban missile crisis. Yarisley "aint notbody got time for" Silva is going for Gold, and she's got 4 poles from 3 different manufacturers ready to take her there.

http://www.iaaf.org/news/preview/world- ... le-vault-p

WOMEN'S POLE VAULT PREVIEW – IAAF WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS SOPOT 2014


The host nation’s best bet for gold possibly lies with Anna Rogowska.

The 2009 world champion cleared 4.76m in Gent in early February to achieve her best height in three years and top the 2014 world list.

A 4.85m vaulter at her best, Rogowska collected world indoor silver in 2006 and bronze in 2010, but she was beaten on count-back at last year's European Indoor Championships by Holly Bleasdale. The Briton took bronze in Istanbul two years ago and will want to improve on that.

Germany’s Silke Spiegelburg came close to clearing a national indoor record this season and is desperate to break her run of fourth-place finishes at major championships.

World indoor record-holder and 2012 Olympic champion Jenn Suhr was beaten by Mary Saxer at the US Indoor Championships, but won't be discouraged as all of her recent training has indicated that she could be in the best form of her life.

Nicola Bamford for the IAAF

1 Woman at 4.76 (Rogowska) 8 more have jumped 4.71 to 4.73 this season. Should be a nip and tuck competition. I'll say 4.80 wins it, and I'll pick Suhr since she's probably the most capable. But I do think Silke is still hungry for World medals and she'll be in it. The youngsters (Bleasdale, Saxer, and the Russian) might put it together for a medal too.

I'm looking forward to Sunday. Is there any internet coverage to watch?

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/othe ... at-6783024

Cardiff-based Holly Bleasdale vows to defeat 'weak' home-town favourite at World Indoor Championships
6 Mar 2014 22:18

Bleasdale won pole vault gold at the European Indoors last year following a rare jump-off with Poland’s Anna Rogowska, who was born in Sopot and still lives just a few minutes’ drive away from the town’s Ergo Arena

Cardiff-based Holly Bleasdale is ready to make herself public enemy number one at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot on Sunday by again beating a psychologically “weak” home-town favourite.

Bleasdale won pole vault gold at the European Indoors last year following a rare jump-off with Poland’s Anna Rogowska, who was born in Sopot and still lives just a few minutes’ drive away from the town’s Ergo Arena.

Rogowska was the defending champion in Gothenburg and wanted to retain her title by sharing the gold with Bleasdale after they had failed with their three attempts at 4.72 metres and could not be separated on countback.

However, Bleasdale insisted she wanted to battle for the gold medal outright and when both athletes failed again at 4.72m, the bar was moved down to 4.67m and Bleasdale produced a fine clearance to secure a first major title.

Asked if she would be seen as the ‘villain’ again in Rogowska’s home town, Bleasdale said: “I guess in some people’s eyes....especially as last year she wanted to share the gold and I refused.

“I wanted to fight for it in the jump-off and beat her, it’s a bit awkward really. That’s the fighter in me and I’m surprised she didn’t want to fight for the gold anyway, it shows to me she was weak in that situation and I took advantage of that.

“Her coaches were really persistent with my coach, saying ‘We want to share the gold, they’re both tired, they’re not going to clear any higher bars, let’s share’. Scott (Simpson) came up and asked me and not for a second did I even contemplate saying yes. I would rather have got silver than share the gold.

“I am such a fighter and competitor I don’t want to share a gold with someone, I want to fight to have it on my own. I felt really confident and by her telling me she wanted to share gold I knew she was done, she was tired, she was psychologically a little weak and I thought I’ll take advantage of that. It sounds harsh when I say it but that’s what athletics is.

“I think she was a little upset as she was defending champion, I could tell she wasn’t happy but I want to win gold for Great Britain, I don’t want to have it joint with Poland. I would definitely go in a jump-off again (on Sunday).”

Bleasdale was unable to fight for another medal in the World Championships in Moscow later that year after being ruled out through injury, a situation the 22-year-old describes as “heart-breaking”.

She will have her work cut out to reach the podium in Sopot with the women’s pole vault boasting a star-studded line-up which features Olympic champion Jenn Suhr, London 2012 silver medallist Yarisley Silva and former world champion Fabiana Murer all competing.

“This year the IAAF are trying out something new with a straight final,” added Bleasdale, who won bronze in the last world indoors in Istanbul in 2012.

“The qualifying standard was 4.71m which was unheard of. They were going to take the top 12 that cleared that and we have all cleared 4.71 or above.

“There is Jenn Suhr (who also holds the world indoor record at 5.02m), Murer, Rogowska and Silva but it just gets me more excited. I am always better in a competition where I have people pushing me, it really fires me up and drives me on. I feel like I am a true competitor and I always step my game up.”

Bleasdale has achieved a measure of longed-for consistency this season with three clearances of 4.71m or better, but admits she did have “a bit of a howler” in her last competition when clearing just 4.48m - albeit in the unusual surroundings of a German shopping centre.

“Pole vault is one of those events where you can feel amazing on the day and I was just unlucky that the three attempts at 4.63m didn’t come together,” she added. “It hasn’t knocked my confidence. So far my series has been really consistent.

“There is a little bit of pressure on me to deliver a medal but I just need to stay focused. It’s the same runway and bed everywhere, there is nobody affecting me and my performance. I have no excuses not to go out there and deliver a solid performance.”

Live now! http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-w ... -4952/live

Kiriakopoulou breaks a pole, passes 4.45. Suhr passing too.

Bleasdale takes 3 jumps to clear opening ht of 4.45.

All are still in, going to 4.55

5 Women, Sidorova, Svobodova, Rogowska, and Murer and Suhr are all over 4.65 with no misses at all, tied for 1st.

Spiegleberg and Silva also over 4.65 with some misses so 6th and 7th 7 over 4.65 Saxer 8th, Bleasdale 9th out there.

Rogowska and Spiegleberg out. Suhr passes 5 jumping at 4.75 with Silva's 1st attempt clearance in the lead.

Down to final attempts, no one has cleared. If no one clears Silva is the winner. Suhr will be last up, clear to win or miss for 5th place

Suhr out ! Silva is the Winner at 4.70.