Blanka Vlašić pulls out of World Indoor Championships.
Blanka Vlašić won yesterday’s high jump meeting held in Split. With three successful jumps (185, 191 and 195 cm) she won the first place, but afterwards had some bad news for her fans. “I am happy, but my right leg hurts and therefore I have decided I will not take part at the World Indoor Championships in Portland,” reports Jutarnji List on January 30, 2016.
The traditional high jump meeting in Split took place yesterday after a five-year break. In front of about 1,500 spectators, Vlašić had three attempts and three successful jumps. After the final jump at 195 cm, she immediately signalled to her coach Bojan Marinović that she could not continue. Fortunately, that was enough for her to win, since her main rival Michaela Hruba was not able to outdo her.
“It hurts a lot, It is not good but we will do whatever we need to compete at the Olympic Games in Rio”, said Blanka in tears after winning in Split. She explained that she felt pain from the very first jump and that her team had suggested that she should abandon the competition, but she had decided to continue because she wanted to win in front of her home audience. “I felt I was ready to jump over two metres, but today I simply could not do it due to the pain I was feeling”, she said.
Blanka reiterated that she had not jumped in training for more than a month in order to protect the injured leg for the meeting, but she did manage to do other exercises. Asked whether she would have taken part in a meeting in some place other than Split, Blanka gave a short answer: “Probably not.” She added that the meeting in Split was very enjoyable for hew and that she was sorry she was not able to give a more spectacular performance for the home audience. “Unfortunately, we are not happy now, but I do hope that we can find a way out of this situation.”
