She was the oldest athlete on the field but that didn’t stop Ruth Beitia from pursuing her dream of winning a medal at the Olympics, the only medal that had eluded the Spaniard in her memorable career.
Beitia’s dream turned to reality on the final day of Track and Field at the ongoing Olympic Games in Rio as the 37-year old sailed past her rivals, clearing a height of 1.97m to win GOLD at the Olympic Stadium.
Bulgaria’s Mirela Demireva and former World Champion Blanka Vlašic came in 2nd and 3rd respectively with the same distance, even though the mark was a Personal Best for the Bulgarian.
World Leader Chaunté Lowe also cleared 1.97m but finished outside the medals zone.
It is not yet clear if Beitia will now hang her spikes having won a Bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships, two Silver and two Bronze medals from the World Indoors, and three European titles including the 2016 event held in Amsterdam.
She is Spain’s Record holder with a height of 2.02 m, and is the only Spanish woman to have jumped higher than 2m.
