Parnova eclipses famous aunt Tatiana Grigorieva

Elizaveta Parnova has moved past her famous aunt Tatiana Grigorieva and into equal fourth spot on the Australian all-time pole vault list.

Pole vaulter Elizaveta Parnova. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Athletics: Elizaveta Parnova has moved past her famous aunt Tatiana Grigorieva and into equal fourth spot on the Australian all-time list with a spectacular victory in the women’s pole vault at the Oceania championships in Townsville.

Parnova, 25, defied windy conditions to go clear at 4.60m on her third and final attempt yesterday, adding 4cm to her previous best set earlier this year.

In the process, she exceeded the career best of 4.58m by Grigorieva, the 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medallist.

The only three Australians to have vaulted higher than Par­nova are Alana Boyd, Kym Howe and Nina Kennedy, all of whom spent time being coached by her father Alex Parnov.

“It just felt so good,” said ­Parnova, who was presented with the gold medal yesterday by Grigorieva. “The jump itself — I can’t describe it. I’m really looking forward to the European summer now.”

Australian teenager Riley Day stormed home to win the women’s 200m, denying New Zealander Zoe Hobbs a sprint double.

Day clocked a winning time of 23.51 ahead of Hobbs (23.68) and Australia’s Nana Owusu-Afriyie (23.86).

“I knew it was going to be a really tough race, but I just tried to stick to doing my own race and not seeing everyone else which was hard because they were in front most of the way,” Day said.

AAP