It is amazing what a medal can do for an athlete’s confidence and Belarusian Pavel Seliverstau is hoping to be further proof of that this summer.
High jumper Seliverstau will still be 20 by the time he arrives in Bydgoszcz for the European Athletics U23 Championships in July where his aim is gold.
It would probably have been that anyway, but he will go to Poland with renewed confidence after winning the first major medal of his career just over two weeks ago at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
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It was that breakthrough moment, the occasion every athlete strives for, to make the podium, to experience the thrill of being lauded by the crowd as a medal is put around your neck.
With a jump of 2.27m, Seliverstau secured a bronze, which he hopes will be the first step of a brilliant career. He also hopes to making an impression, too, at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London in August.
Infact, he was left wanting more in Belgrade, having broken his personal best in February. As he said afterwards: “I am actually disappointed because two weeks ago I jumped 2.32m. If I had done that today, then my medal would have had a different colour.”
But two years on from Seliverstau finishing fifth (2.17m) at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Eskilstuna, it was impressive progress and he will now go to Bydgoszcz as one of the big favourites after winning this bronze in Belgrade behind Poland’s Sylwester Bednarek (2.32m), the 2009 world bronze medallist, and Great Britain’s 2012 European champion and Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz (2.30m).
One of his other targets will no doubt be his outdoor personal best of 2.30m, a height set in Andujar last July, but it is the effect of his success in Belgrade which see him so determined for glory in Poland between 13-16 July.