Lockdown Diaries: Stefanidi triumphs in Ultimate Garden Clash

Bengaluru, May 18: Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece came out on top in the second pole vault edition of the Ultimate Garden Clash.

Competing at her local track in Athens, the Greek record-holder amassed 34 successful vaults over a 4M bar, beating the tallies set by her overseas rivals Katie Nageotte of the USA and Alysha Newman of Canada.

Nageotte, who was taking part from her base in Marietta, Georgia, and Newman, who was competing from Bolton, Ontario, achieved 30 and 21 clearances respectively.

Miss yesterday's #UltimateGardenClash?

Watch how Greece's @KatStefanidi cleared 34 bars in 30 minutes to take the title 👇

📹: https://t.co/65a7YbX4nv pic.twitter.com/ZMiCsCaKwL

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) May 17, 2020

Last month, former Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie of France and Sweden's world record holder Armand Duplantis had shared the spoils in the first Ultimate Garden Clash' despite competing in locations 8,000km apart during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

Lockdown Diaries: Pole vault legends Duplantis, Lavillenie tie in ultimate garden clash

Stefanidi set a strong pace from the outset and took an early lead. Nageotte, who was using a timer to help pace her efforts, was close behind while Newman registered a couple of early misses.

After 15 minutes of vaulting in 39C heat, Stefanidi had racked up 19 clearances, more than the leading mark at the half-way point of the men's competition two weeks ago. Nageotte was second with 16 vaults while Newman was in third with 12.

Their combined tally of 47 vaults exactly matched the number achieved by the men at the half-way stage of their clash.

After a brief five-minute pause, the second half resumed with Stefanidi trying to maintain her relentless pace. But within a few minutes, both she and Nageotte registered their first misses of the competition.

Newman, meanwhile, found her groove and started making up ground on the leading duo.

With a few minutes to go, Stefanidi knocked the bar off a second time, and with her arms aching from her efforts, it took a while for her to put the bar back into place. But the two-time European champion returned to the runway with about two minutes left on the clock and managed to get in a few more successful clearances before the clock ran out.

"I had so much fun," said Stefanidi. "I was very excited after the first half because I had 19. I thought I could take two fewer jumps in the second half and still match the guys' winning score, but then I missed two jumps. It was also so hot that my hands were sweating which made it difficult to get a good grip.

"This format that Renaud (Lavillenie) thought of is such a great idea in so many ways," added Stefanidi.

(With inputs from World Athletics Media)