Previews14 Jul 2015


Girls' pole vault preview – IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015

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Pole vaulter in action (© Getty Images)

With just one centimetre separating the top five entrants, the girls' pole vault promises to be one of the most unpredictable events at these championships.

USA’s 16-year-old Carson Dingler and Germany’s Stina Seidler, 17, arrive with 4.11m personal bests.

Dingler’s dates back to February and Seidler’s to early June, although the German cleared that height for the first time in 2013.

In the meantime Dingler also took the US youth title with 4.07m. A victory by Dingler would be the first for the USA in this event.

Others in the chase include another German, Tamara Schassberger, who has topped 4.10m outdoors and 4.15m indoors this year; Yelizaveta Bondarenko, at 4.10m she is this season’s top Russian; and Elienor Werner (4.10m), who’ll be carrying Swedish hopes in the absence of world youth leader Lisa Gunnarsson.

Five others come armed with season’s bests of four metres or better and could also have a role in the fight for medals: Belgium’s Hanne De Baene (4.06m), USA’s Rachel Baxter (4.04m), Russia’s Valeriya Nikonova (4.00m), China’s Qiaoling Chen (4.00m), and Australia’s Phillipa Hajdasz (4.00m).

Bob Ramsak for the USA

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