Mighty personal-best jump to send pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall to Rio Olympics
ADELAIDE teenage pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall has leapt into Rio Olympic selection in Germany on the weekend with a giant PB as he prepares for the under-20 world championships.
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ADELAIDE teenage pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall has leapt into Rio Olympic selection in Germany on the weekend with a giant PB as he prepares for the under-20 world championships.
The 19-year-old from Happy Valley cleared 5.70m to win the boys’ pole vault at the Bauhaus Junioren Gala in Mannheim, which was an Olympic qualifier.
The jump was a personal best for Marschall by a whopping 15cm and, as the current national champion, will ensure his nomination for the Rio Olympics in August.
“This is absolutely insane,” Marschall said.
“I never expected to have a jump as big as the Rio standard in me this year. I’ve only attempted it a couple of times but this one was just perfect, everything about it was right.
“There was great conditions, I had my coach (Kym Simons) here with me, and it unfolded exactly as I wanted it too.
“I am absolutely over the moon. It’s just ridiculous.”
Marschall has been training at SA Athletics Stadium at Mile End and using the poles that once belonged to former world champion Dmitri Markov.
“Ever since I started Little Athletics I wanted to go the Olympic Games. I have been a successful athlete as a junior, but I never expected to live my dream at this age,” he said.
“To be on the road to Rio at 19 is something very special.
“I am so privileged to just have the opportunity and I can’t wait to see what unfolds in the next few weeks and months.”
Marschall will now turn his attention to competing against the world’s best juniors at the world titles in Bydgoszcz in Poland starting on July 19.
“Bydgoszcz is first though, and it’s a huge priority,” Marschall said.
“That’s where I saw the highlight of my year coming from and I am pumped to compete there. I have the biggest jump in the world for athletes my age, but I can’t rely on that.
“I have to carry this form with me to the next event and on to Rio from there.
“The team environment I am in here, the support that I have around me here at the Australian camp, it’s perfect to make it happen so I’ll be doing my best to be the best I can be.”
Meanwhile, Australia will have a second women’s beach volleyball team competing in Rio after Becchara Palmer and Pheobe Bell, and Nicole Laird and Mariafe Artacho del Solar beat their Vanuatu opponents in a continental qualifier in Cairns on the weekend.
Selectors must choose which pairing will join Taliqua Clancy and Louise Bawden in Rio in August.
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as Mighty personal-best jump to send pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall to Rio Olympics
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