What the men’s high jump lacked in quality it made up for in excitement as German Martin Gunther won gold in a competition in which the top four shared the same height 2.11m.
All the competitors faced difficult conditions and it was unfair to expect great heights but it was Gunther, boasting a perfect score card up until attempting 2.14m who prevailed.
The 15-year-old Ukranian Oleksandr Nartov enjoyed a stay of execution at 2.05m and 2.08m after only clearing both heights at the third attempt but he won silver by virtue of clearing 2.11m at the first attempt.
The bronze went to Japan’s Hikaru Tsuchiya ahead of the unfortunate Russian, Phillip Britner, who missed out on a medal on the countback rule after two failures at 2.11m.
But it was joy for Gunther, who earned Germany their first gold medal of the Championships.
