¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

[Dietmar239]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

I have a sneaky suspicion that Soto's 2.43m (indoors) may be the first to go.

Reminds me of Ukhov's most recent indoor attempts at 2.44 where he came darn close, having plenty of height but scraping with a calf. It was much closer than Bondarenko did here. Had he only given 2.42 or 2.43 a shot first he would have gotten it. Instead he is stuck with a PR of 2.40, grossly under-representing his ability in his peak year. Of course with Ukhov, even his peak year seemed to not match his potential. But that is another discussion to be had with a good bottle of vodka.

Bondarenko's close attempts were at 2.46m. I don't know if I'd compare his jumps to Ukhov's from a couple years ago. A couple of centimeters and the indoor style flooring can make a big difference. However, his extremely close attempt at 2.43m a few weeks ago tells me that he could definitely get it indoors.

Some call his passing strategy brazen, but I just don't see it that way. This guy is supremely confident and he knows what he can do. I can recall Sotomayor passing at some insane heights as well. This guy is the real deal and his passing 2.38m and skying over 2.41m answers all doubters. I was one who would have loved to see him jump 2.43m for a Euro record, but they couldn't have raised the bar to 2.43m anyway since the progression didn't call for it and he hadn't yet won. I do agree with a previous poster who stated that the 2.42's and 2.43s may not come unless he's pushed to clear them. His sights are set firmly on 2.46+ and I think it's a matter of time.

[jhc68]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Tough deal to jump for a WR (or any other kind of record) after the jumper has already won the event.
It takes a certain mind-set to keep focus that not everyone has. But the greats from Sotomayor back through Yash to Brumel and Dumas and beyond have set milestone records solo.

Seems like you have to want the record even more than you want to win, and that ain't easy under any circumstance, let alone the WC or OGs.
No easy trick to maintain your adrenaline level without a challenger to beat... probably starts with something like Bondarenko's apparent absolute confidence that he was going to win from the get go.

An earlier poster said that one of the jumpers looked tired (Drouin, I think.)
Me, I don't believe that an afternoon of high jumping competition causes a well-honed athlete to physically tire. Much more likely that a jumper loses confidence or concentration and the adrenaline level falls. Ya gotta be pumped way up (if that weren't necessary you could match your PR anytime) and once the hormonal level is deflated you seldom re-start. That is when you feel really tired.

[Per Andersen]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Drouin said that after he cleared 2.38 (new Canadian record) and was in the medals he needed to re-focus and felt he was not close at 2.41 but he still felt it gave him confidence that 2.41 was doable for him.

Why should we doubt Bondarenko when he said he was in pain and did not want too many jumps?
From what I understand he's not sure he can or will compete more this year.

[jhc68]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Can't fault Bondarenko for anything in this competition. He had absolute confidence and had a legit chance at the WR. He may not jump again this year but if all major players this year stick through 2014, the WR is in great jeopardy... who woulda thought so last winter?

[Per Andersen]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Can't fault Bondarenko for anything in this competition. He had absolute confidence and had a legit chance at the WR. He may not jump again this year but if all major players this year stick through 2014, the WR is in great jeopardy... who woulda thought so last winter?

You are right! I thought Barshim could be able to get to 2.40 this year after how he finished last year but Bondarenko up by 10 cms, never could imagine that. He certainly has the right attitude, he seems to take the whole thing totally in stride.
When watching Ukhov now, compared to Barshim and Bondarenko, he seems almost heavy. He gets enormous force into his take-off but to me at least it's beginning to look like the ship has left.

[Dietmar239]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Can't fault Bondarenko for anything in this competition. He had absolute confidence and had a legit chance at the WR. He may not jump again this year but if all major players this year stick through 2014, the WR is in great jeopardy... who woulda thought so last winter?

You are right! I thought Barshim could be able to get to 2.40 this year after how he finished last year but Bondarenko up by 10 cms, never could imagine that. He certainly has the right attitude, he seems to take the whole thing totally in stride.
When watching Ukhov now, compared to Barshim and Bondarenko, he seems almost heavy. He gets enormous force into his take-off but to me at least it's beginning to look like the ship has left.

I agree with the Ukhov assessment. He looks like Jan Zvara out there power-flopping and crushing the plant. This gives him more of a straight up and down trajectory in his jump. His timing has to be impeccable to get his height on top of the bar. By contrast, Bondarenko flies around that curve and carries it thru the plant. His speed also allows him to plant further away from the bar than most. He's going so fast he has to fight to get a good penultimate step in. You can see a good example of this when watching his London jump at 2.43m. Of the taller jumpers I've seen (1.98+), he may be the fastest.

[Suso2]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

That was a great high jump competition. I watched it on some site that had basically hijacked the national Austrian TV network. Ja! Viel Dank!!! (I stopped watching track on USA TV several years ago, it was not good for my blood pressure.)

I realize that what I'm about to say is 2 days late and a dollar short, but I think people should not be misled about what the rulebook says ...

gh says, "The bar can be raised directly to WR height anytime that all the athletes remaining (could be the entire field) want it so. There's no "when one is left" rule.". This is incorrect. The rule says that "After an athlete has won the competition, the height or heights to which the bar is raised shall be decided by the athlete, in consultation with the relevant Judge or Referee." (IAAF Rule 181.4) So if there are two or more athletes left in the competition, they are stuck with the heights pre-decided by the meet organizers, even if they all wish to put up the same height. All they can do is pass until the height closest to the one they would want. But they may not get the exact height that they want.

tjallen says, "I know the rule will say, the ref "can", not "must", go in 1cm increments.". This is also incorrect. The rule says that "Unless there is only one athlete remaining and he has won the competition ... the bar shall never be raised by less than 2cm in the High Jump". (IAAF Rule 181.4)

[Per Andersen]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Yes, those are definitely the rules.
Btw do you have any impressions regarding Bondarenko's technique and speed?

[Suso2]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Per, I just downloaded Bondarenko's 241 jump from Youtube. He seems moderately fast in the run-up. Since tall guys generally seem to be slower than they really are (I think we tend to use the athlete's body as a scale!), my guess is that he has pretty good speed at the end of the run-up. Has rather little lowering in the penultimate, and single-arm takeoff action. This combination may be compensated OK by his speed. Nice vertical position at end of takeoff. Modest arch over the bar. Good timing of the un-arching. So overall (and based on very limited information and very low quality video!) I'd say he has a decent technique, but nothing super-special. The height he jumped, of course, is wonderful, and he seems to have still higher heights in him. Yes, I think Soto's record may be in danger.

Technique-wise, combining men and women, my favorite is by far Chicherova --even though she did not jump very high here by her usual standards.

[gh]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

No, this is the complete rule, with an important codicil boldfaced.

4. Unless there is only one athlete remaining and he has won the
competition:
(a) the bar shall never be raised by less than 2cm in the High Jump
and 5cm in the Pole Vault after each round of trials; and
(b) the increment of the raising of the bar shall never increase.
These Rules 181.4(a) and (b) shall not apply once the athletes still competing agree to raise it to a World Record height directly.
After an athlete has won the competition, the height or heights to which the bar is raised shall be decided by the athlete, in consultation with the relevant Judge or Referee.

[Suso2]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

gh: I stand corrected in my correction! DUH! How could I miss reading that in my rulebook? I neatly read all around it, but not that statement. I just retired, so this must be part of the programmed brain-rot that comes with retirement.

[gh]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

thou art forgiven my son: say 10 Hail Nebiolos and you are absolved.

[Per Andersen]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Per, I just downloaded Bondarenko's 241 jump from Youtube. He seems moderately fast in the run-up. Since tall guys generally seem to be slower than they really are (I think we tend to use the athlete's body as a scale!), my guess is that he has pretty good speed at the end of the run-up. Has rather little lowering in the penultimate, and single-arm takeoff action. This combination may be compensated OK by his speed. Nice vertical position at end of takeoff. Modest arch over the bar. Good timing of the un-arching. So overall (and based on very limited information and very low quality video!) I'd say he has a decent technique, but nothing super-special. The height he jumped, of course, is wonderful, and he seems to have still higher heights in him. Yes, I think Soto's record may be in danger.

Technique-wise, combining men and women, my favorite is by far Chicherova --even though she did not jump very high here by her usual standards.

Thanks, Suso2. Nice to see confirmation of things I have observed. Will study and compare his penultimate to,say, Barshim. So Bondarenko does many things well but nothing exceptional technically. I think his single-arm movement is similar to Holm's. Minimal speed loss compared to many double-arm take-off jumpers.

[Suso2]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

Loss of speed during the takeoff phase is not a problem. You SHOULD lose horizontal speed while you generate vertical speed. In fact, if you lose very little horizontal speed during the takeoff phase, it tells you that there is a problem, that you are not using the run-up speed properly for achieving vertical speed.

The options are:

(a) go super fast and high at end of run-up
or
(b) go slower but also lower

Both options are in principle OK, but some people do better with "a" and others do better with "b".

I think Barshim is also fairly high at the end of the run-up, and very fast. Paradoxically, he gets that big speed with only something like 4 or 6 running steps (I forget exactly how many), but those few true running steps are preceded by many little steps in which his speed seems to get bigger than you might expect. Unorthodox, but perfectly good technique in this regard. It's funny, Brian Brown, one of the fastest high jumpers that we ever analyzed (8.6 m/s) also had very few running steps. He just "put the pedal to the metal" from very early onvery early, and so he got a lot of speed in fewer steps than the other jumpers.

[Suso2]

Re: ¶2013 WC—mHJ: Bondarenko 7-10¾ (2.41) (WL=)

I forgot to mention that the "slower and lower" technique also goes usually together with stronger (i.e., "double") arm actions, and wider path of the lead leg.

If you go to extremes of either super-fast and very high, or very slow and super low you will have problems. You need a compromise between these two extremes. Just where exactly depends on the individual.