Switzerland’s Angelica Moser once more demonstrated what a talent she is by winning pole vault gold at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz on an historic day for Montenegro with Kristina Rakocevic’s triumph in the discus.
And in the women’s 100m, Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda twice broke the national record on her way to silver.
Moser might be only 18 still but she is very much part of the senior stage, as she proved a fortnight ago when she was seventh at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
But now she has a world gold medal to go with her success at last summer’s European Junior Championships in Eskilstuna, and she achieved it with a championship record.
Moser won with 4.55m ahead of Venezuela’s Robeilys Peinado (4.40m) on countback from Finland’s Wilma Murto, who rubberstamped her own great year with bronze.
Moser, who will also be at the Olympics in Rio, did not enter the competition until 4.20m, which she failed at the first attempt before going over second time. And it was not a straightforward path to gold, with Moser needing three vaults to go over at her next height of 4.35m before then really swinging into the groove with first time clearances at 4.40m, 4.45m, 4.50m and 4.55m.
After one go at 4.60m, she retired from the competition but the title was hers – and at this rate there will surely be more to come.
When Marija Vukovic won the high jump at the world juniors in Moncton in 2010, it was Montenegro’s first medal, let alone gold, at any major athletics championships. Well, now they have a new heroine in discus thrower Rakocevic.
With a third round throw of 56.36m, Rakocevic, 18, earned Montenegro their second gold in the history of the championships and said: “It is an amazing feeling, the best feeling of my life.”
Rakocevic beat Australian Kirsty Williams (53.91m) with Moldova’s Alexandra Emilanov securing more European glory with bronze (53.08m).
Home star Swoboda was delighted with her day in Bydgoszcz – even if it did not bring gold.
In the 100m semi-finals, she lowered her Polish under-20 record to 11.17 before then bringing it down again in the final to 11.12 as American Candace Hill won gold in a championship record(11.07) and Khalifa St. Fort, of Trinidad and Tobago, took bronze (11.18).
France’s Melvin Raffin had much to cheer about, too, as he made the podium in the triple jump, winning bronze with 16.37m from the first round as Cuba achieved a one-two with Lazaro Martinez (17.06m) and Cristian Napoles (16.62m).
Europe will be looking for more medals today as Austria’s Sarah Lagger (3510 points) and Sweden’s Bianca Salming (3441) chase leader Adriana Rodriguez (3691) on the second day of the heptathlon.