The international pole vault tournament II “Altay Jumping Party” ended in Ust-Kamenogorsk, which turned out to be incredibly rich in intrigue. The organizers and athletes presented the gathered Ust-Kamenogorsk residents with an incredible show, which had everything: driving music, a waterfall of emotions, the intervention of the weather, the collapse of the favorite and the triumph of the “dark horse”.
Pole vaulting is held in Ust-Kamenogorsk for the second year in a row on the central site of the main city of East Kazakhstan region. This is one of the few opportunities for citizens to see the most technically difficult sport in all its glory, and Ust–Kamenogorsk residents took advantage of this opportunity. The athletes had to share the square with street dancers, so there were a lot of spectators in this geographical location. This turned out to be in everyone’s favor: people simply “wandered” from one site to another, having the opportunity to choose a spectacle to their liking. And it’s very nice that many people chose pole vaulting. It was especially gratifying to see the little ones, who looked with enthusiastic eyes at how powerful uncles suddenly turned out to be stronger than the force of gravity and soared to an incredible height and fell with pleasure on soft mats.
By the way, as last year, the organizers from the Athletics Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the East Kazakhstan regional Federation of this sport made a separate surprise for the audience: after each successful attempt, the distinguished athlete threw a souvenir T-shirt into the stands. However, free water was also distributed to the fans, because it was hot, and various kinds of souvenirs, which it was simply unsafe to throw into the crowd. You’re not going to throw a ceramic mug at people, are you?
However, everything was fine with the sports part itself, too. There was also a very serious intrigue in the form of a confrontation between last year’s winner Vyacheslav Chamarmazovich from Belarus and Sergei Grigoriev from Almaty, who became the second last year. Plus, everyone was waiting for a storm of emotions from the Turkish athlete Aldemir Ilkai, who became the decoration of last year’s “jumping party”.
Almost simultaneously with the start of the tournament, losses among the speakers began. The young Almaty resident Ivan Khristenko failed to cope with the starting height, but the most shocking event was the early “withdrawal from the race” of the current winner of the tournament Vyacheslav Chamarmazovich, who also failed to cope with the starting declared height! Who would have thought that such a thing could happen?
The wind blowing through the square made itself felt, and the following losses in the composition of the participants could not be avoided at early heights. Alas, Aldemir Ilkay did not feel at ease, who had to be content with the result in 5 m, and Igor Bychkov, the finalist of the Olympic Games in London, who plays for Spain, stopped at the same bar. But there is a silver lining – due to the loss of favorites, we find a completely unexpected leader, who became the incredible Ivan Tovchenik! That’s who felt like a master in Ust-Kamenogorsk! From the first attempts, he took the first two heights, and then completely made a good “bid” for victory, overcoming 5.10 m, which, against the background of the problems of other athletes, looked like a good result. Moreover, the wind, which intensified before the rain, could confuse all the cards for potential leaders.
Tovchenik, alas, could not cope with the role of leader to the end, and 5.2 m did not submit to him. But he could well count on third place, because besides him, only Daniil Polyansky and Ivan Eremin remained in the sector at that time. Well, Sergei Grigoriev, who did not appear on the platform, declared such a height that it would be fitting to call him a real impudent man – 5.40 m. With this result, he finished his performance at the victorious Spartakiad of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty a week ago, and then decided to just start from it! So there was no guarantee that Grigoriev would be able to handle such an application.
Tovchenik was eventually bypassed by both Polyansky and Eremin, and the Ukrainian athlete took this milestone on the first attempt, and Daniil – on the third. Both could not cope with 5.3 m, after which the moment came for the most important intrigue: all or nothing! It was under this slogan that Sergei Grigoriev came to the platform. If he takes 5.40 m, he becomes a champion, if he does not take it, he turns out to be completely out of the table of ranks, since he would have remained without a result at all. And then a rain cloud completely covered Ust-Kamenogorsk and the central square, adding gusts of wind. And the first two attempts by Grigoriev, who was supported by absolutely everyone with incredible strength, turned out to be extremely bad. They weren’t even close to what could be called attempts at all. Sad thoughts appeared in my head by themselves.
But how great is Grigoriev, if he did not let these thoughts appear in his own head, and completely knocked them out of the heads of all those gathered with his simply inhuman third attempt! To say that the height was taken is to say nothing! It is simply impossible to convey in words what ecstasy the audience experienced, and respectable coaches just started jumping from an infrequently experienced feeling of some kind of childish joy!
According to the law of literature, if a gun appears at the beginning of a play, then it must fire at the end. The “gun” in the form of Grigoriev appeared at the athletes’ presentation ceremony, and “fired” at the very end! Well, how can you not become a romantic in athletics after that?
II ALTAY JUMPING PARTY
Men (9 participants):
1. Sergey GRIGORIEV (Kazakhstan, Almaty) – 5.40
2. Ivan Eremin (Ukraine) – 5,20
3. Daniil POLYANSKY (Kazakhstan, Karaganda) – 5,20
Source: vksport.kz
