POLE VAULT
NIGHT falls early in Rio de Janeiro in August and the stadium was plunged into darkness well before the women’s pole vault began. Even the brightest floodlights on the planet could not combat the shadow cast by Yelena Isinbayeva, though.
Banned from the Games due to her country’s systematic doping programme, the world record-holder did her best to sour the achievements of the competitors in Brazil by releasing a video on social media of her own “final vault” in Volgograd and she described the 2016 Olympic results as tarnished. “Whoever wins will do so without Isinbayeva, it won’t be a fully-fledged one,” she said. “The champion will feel it’s not entirely gold if she didn’t beat Isinbayeva.”
Holly Bradshaw: back to form in fifth place
That champion turned out to be Ekateríni Stefanídi, after the Greek cleared 4.85m to win on countback from Sandi Morris of the United States with New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney third and Britain’s Holly Bradshaw a fine fifth with 4.70m.