World Record (WR) holder in the men’s Pole vault, Renaud Lavillenie cleared a World Leading (WL) 6.03m to win his event at the Jablonec Indoor Gala in the Czech Republic on Saturday.
This victory will serve as a major boost for the Frenchman ahead of the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, which comes up in less than two weeks. He would seek to reclaim the title he won in Istanbul four years ago.
Homeboy Jan Kudlička placed a distant 2nd in 5.74m, while Lavillenie’s compatriot Stanley Joseph clocked a Personal Best (PB) of 5.64m to finish 3rd.
Other top performers at the meet include the British pair of Richard Kilty and Tiffany Porter who won the 60m and 60m Hurdles respectively in Season’s Bests (SB).
The reigning World and European Indoor 60m champion won his race in 6.50m, while Porter set a Meeting Record (MR) of 7.93s before bettering her time to 7.89s in the 60m Hurdles final.
Lavillenie was not the only one in excellent form over the weekend. Veteran jumper Ruth Beitia also stunned her compatriots to claim her 15th successive indoor title, which she did by clearing a WL of 1.98m at the Spanish Indoor Championships.
Beitia won a Bronze medal in Sopot two years ago, but will be aiming for GOLD in Portland. Her recent feat definitely places her as one of the favourites for the top spot as the 36-year old has shown no signs of calling it quits anytime soon.
Meanwhile Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic enjoyed an impressive start to her season which kicked off at the National Winter Throwing Championships in Split on Sunday.
The Croatian’s winning mark of 70.59m in the Discus throw is the second best throw of her career after recording a National Record (NR) of 71.08m in 2014.
