paralympic village competitors result report photos
The high-jump event was scheduled for Thursday, september 23rd, at 10.15 in the morning. The first height of 1.45 m was only jumped by Hristo Gerganski. He had a successful first attempt.
At 1.50 m three athletes entered the competition, Leszek, Heinrich and myself. Heinrich and me easily made our attempts, Leszek already missed once, Hristo even twice. Soon there were only three of us jumping for bronze. Hristo missed three times and was 6th in the result list with a height of 1.50 m. Leszek, Heinrich and me, we all cleared 1.55 m in our first jumps. The two chinese guys hadn't even entered the competition yet.
Guo Wei Zhong made his first jump at 1.60 m. Surprisingly he missed in his first attempt. Perhaps his injury on his knee caused some troubles. Because he needed a second attempt and Heinrich and me we only had one attempt at 1.60, we were in the lead. We were sure that Leszek would miss three times at that height, but surprisingly in his second attempt he succeeded. He still saved a small chance for a medal.
At 1.65 m the last athlete, Hou Bin, entered the competition. He had absolutely no problems with his first height. Surprisingly me neither. It felt so easy to clear 1.65 m. The run was good, the jump was good. Everything was perfect, the crowd cheered. My Austrian teammates that watched the event said they loved me. You could hear them though it was very loud in the stadium, some 10.000 people watched the highjump event. Heinrich, my most dangerous rival for the bronze-medal was very unlucky in his first attempt. I already thought that his attempt was valid, I prepared to clap with my hands and then ... the bar fell down. That meant for me. I was in front of Heinrich at the moment, I even was in front of Guo Wei Zhong but that was not really relevant, I knew he would jump better than me. Leszek missed three times at 1.65 m. He was ranked 5th in the end.
The next height was 1.68 m. Four athletes were left. Heinrich and me we jumped for bronze. Heinrich missed in his first attempt. I hopped to my tape which marked the spot where I had to start my run. I was focused on the floor, on the bar and on myself. I ran, I jumped, I landed on the mat, I didn't even touch the bar. I raised my hands and celebrated with the crowd. What I didn't notice, the guards came together to discuss if my jump was valid or not. I didn't pay any attention to the clock which gave me one minute for my attempt. I didn't even notice that it was there. Heinrich argued that my attempt was too late. The guards discussed and finally said it was a valid attempt. I easily jumped 1.68 m, my personal best. The medal was as close as never before now. Heinrich had 2 more attempts at that height. He missed. It was done, I had at least bronze for sure.
At least bronze in that case meant I had bronze. Against the two chinese guys I never had any chance. They both jumped 1.71 m in their first attempts. My attempts number 1 and 3 were very close. But almost successful is not enough. For my last jump I took one foot more run to be able to be more agressive. I reached a very good spot for the take-off but still I missed.
The next jump that was not valid happened at 1.77 m. Guo Wei Zhong missed three times and ended the event with 1.74 m. Hou Bin succeeded in his second try. After Atlanta and Sydney he now had won his third Paralympic Games in a row. At 1.80 m he also missed three times.