Pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall and his endless chase for perfection

Pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall is locked in an endless chase for technical perfection as he prepares to step up his bid for Tokyo.

Kurtis Marschall celebrates clearing 5.80m in Perth in February

Pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall is soaring nearly six metres off the ground, but his mind is clear.

“You never even really think about it when you‘re up there,” Marschall says. “It‘s just a fraction of a second where you’re just trying to execute, trying to hit shapes and just trying to execute a technical model.

“By the time you’ve cleared the bar you don’t even think about it. My first bar I think I ever tried (to clear) was only two metres, which is just over head high.

“That’s not very scary for a young little kid. It’s more fun. And after that you just try to execute technically and you just get higher and higher and higher, getting bigger and bigger poles, and start becoming more aggressive.

“The more aggressive and confident you are in this particular sport, the further you go. You can’t be hesitant in this sport.

“Definitely not. You can’t be like scared of heights or soft.”

Marschall will head into the national titles this weekend as the prohibitive favourite to win the men’s pole vault. At 23, he is a Commonwealth Games champion and veteran of one Olympics.

He has been pursuing pole vaulting perfection since the age of 13, inspired by Steve Hooker’s gold medal deeds at the 2008 Olympics.

“You don‘t really have to be that talented, you have to be kind of co-ordinated, a little bit fast and like springy as a kid,” Marschall says.

“You can just develop the technique over time. I’m always looking for the perfect jump. The pursuit of perfection is what keeps me going.

“I feel like I’m in pretty good physical condition compared to the rest of guys in the world. I’ve got all the stats behind me.

“Just technically, I still need a little bit of work. The technical pursuit of being perfect — it’s like teasing me. It’s a like a sport that I’m good at, but I’ll never be perfect.

“I’m always like trying to chase more and trying to get better and better and better. I feel like when I‘m out there, like it’s just me and my pole and I can just do my thing.

“It’s like I’m being rewarded for something that I’m good at. It‘s such a good feeling.”

That said, it hasn’t always been kind. Two years ago, Marschall fractured both feet when his landing went awry and he missed the mat at a Diamond League meet.

It was the beginning of a testing time as injury stalled his momentum. Bad feet gave way to a bad shoulder. A bad shoulder in turn led to stress fractures in his back.

“I feel like it all stemmed from me missing the mat,” Marschall said. “I just didn‘t hit it correctly. It was in the Diamond League final in 2018. I just landed on my feet. Tough act, terrible. Yeah, yeah, it sucked.

“And even now, like, I still get some lingering pain. That’s just the pain pathways in your brain telling you something’s wrong, even though something’s not wrong.

“So it‘s all good. Now, I still get a little bit of sensation back there, but it’s not hindering my performance at all. It definitely put things in perspective of what it actually does take to be a professional athlete.

“It’s not going to be like sunshine and rainbows the whole time. I‘ve learned the hard way of trying to work on myself and becoming more holistic athlete and trying to look after things outside of sport, get on top of all the little things like sleep, recovery and nutrition and stuff.

“It gave me a real kick up the arse. I reckon and kind of was maybe even a blessing in disguise leading into this year because now I’m fully recovered.

“And I feel like coming back from that is tough because knowing that you failed, like once you’re trying to get your head back in the game to be able to do it again.

“It’s just hectic. I think you have to do the same thing again to push it aside and not bury those kind of doubts and demons.

“I‘ve learned a lot about myself and I put myself in a really good position to hit Tokyo hard.”

Along with his fellow West Australian athletes, he has spent the past fortnight preparing for the national titles in Sydney with coach Paul Burgess, Marschall training alongside fellow pole vaulters Nina Kennedy and Angus Armstrong.

He has squeezed in a couple of trips to Bondi, but been forced to take a break from his other passion, golf.

“I play golf like two or three times a week,” he says. “Especially after stress fracture, it’s a good mental kind of relief from the game and it teaches you a fair bit about yourself.

“It’s a really good outlet whenever you need like a couple hours in the arvo to distract yourself.”

The holy grail remains six metres, a height that he will need to reach if he is to truly contend for a medal in Tokyo.

He cleared 5.87m two years ago and has been consistently jumping at the 5.80m mark in this campaign. If things go to plan, he will crash through the six-metre barrier over the weekend and keep soaring all the way to Tokyo.

“This year is quite extraordinary,” he said. “I think there’s going to be like five or six guys who can jump six metres. So depending on the preparation, depending on the conditions …. then I think it’s going to take close to six metres to even medal.

“The bronze medal in Rio was 5.85. I think it‘s going to be probably six metres to come top three this time. Hopefully I can get close to that.

“It’d be nice to get over to Europe and get to see those guys again and compete against the big dogs because that’s where like they push you.

“We’re a really, really tight knit group. It’s different to sprinters who are all just like in each other’s faces and really want to get in each other’s throats.

“It’s a little bit hostile in those events. But in pole vaulting, we’re all just like best mates and understand how hard this event is and you have to get around each other to help each other out, so that everyone can perform well.

“We’re out there on the field as well for like three, four hours for competition. It’s not time for you to just like, stay focused. You can’t do that. You have to be able to switch on, switch off and chat.

“Like, literally for me, it’s this much (his hands are about 10cm apart). But to do that in the competition on the day, you’re going to have to be like feeling sharp, take off on a really big pole and, you know, hit it as hard as you can and commit.

“For me, it’s all just about mindset, really. Everything’s in there. I have plenty of time. I have jumped 5.80m three times now this prep and I still don‘t think that is that high. I think that (six metres) is in my realm of capability.

“It’s going to take some time but I definitely think there is more in the tank.”