SA pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall qualifies for IAAF Diamond League final in Switzerland

SA pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall is off to the IAAF Diamond League final in Switzerland after a whirlwind 12 months, capped by a breakout world championship performance.

SA pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall competing in the final at the world athletics championships in London. Picture: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

FLYING high before an English Premier League-style crowd has given Kurtis Marschall the belief he can excel on athletics’ international stage.

The SA pole vaulter will line up in the IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich, Switzerland, next weekend following his seventh-place finish at the world championships last week.

Marschall’s impressive display in London, coupled with his form over the European summer, earned him an invite to the season decider where he will vie for around $120,000 in prizemoney.

The 20-year-old said that clearing 5.65m in front of nearly 60,000 fans at the home ground of EPL club West Ham United had cemented his place among the sport’s elite.

“It was a pretty crazy experience,” said Marschall from his training base in Cologne, Germany.

“I was out there and it felt like I was in the middle of a Chelsea-Liverpool game.

“I guess the crowds are used to being absolutely crazy at soccer games, so they adopted that and took it to the athletics.

“But I sort of felt like I belonged in that atmosphere, which is really good for a person my age. I learned I can perform in a high-pressure situation like that.”

The promising result continued a stellar 12 months for Marschall.

He backed up narrowly missing a spot in last year’s Rio Olympics final by recording a personal best 5.73m in Lausanne, Switzerland, last month. The Happy Valley athlete said a more relaxed approach to top-level competition was helping him realise his vast potential.

“I watch all these guys on TV and I look up their pole vault videos on Youtube and try to base my technique on them.

“But you’ve just got to move past the fact that they’re your idols and now approach it as if they’re your rivals.

“I took that in my stride and used that as motivation.”

The heat of battle did have its lighter moments.

Marschall said the familiarity between vaulters on the international circuit led to a unique camaraderie.

“We’re all like best mates out there because we have such a long time to wait between jumps and we all know each other so well,” the Western Districts Athletics Club member said.

“It was a little bit different in Rio because I was the new kid on the block, so I was a bit shy and I didn’t talk as much.

“This time around, we were asking each other, ‘are you missing your girlfriend back home’ and chatting about normal stuff.

“We’re all normal guys, we just happen to be all right at doing the same thing.”

As the highest-placed Commonwealth vaulter in London, Marschall was focused on again edging out Canada’s former world champion Shawn Barber on the Gold Coast next year.

The UniSA human movement student said bettering his PB in Zurich, where he would take his place among the world’s top-12 ranked competitors, was his immediate target.

“I’ve been jumping pretty good all season,” said Marschall, who will return to SA for a fortnight’s rest following the event before ramping up his training.

“I’d like to go for another PB and then whatever the result will be, will be.”

Originally published as SA pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall qualifies for IAAF Diamond League final in Switzerland