Europe - Part 1

The first half of my European campaign is just about done with 2 comps down and 2 comps to go.

Started off this trip with a long 30 hour transit from Sydney-Singapore-London-Oslo and it was fair to say it felt good to shower when I arrived in Oslo. I actually arrived feeling pretty good and by the time the competition came around I was well rested and ready to go. Weather was prime in Norway, sunny mid 20s, v nice!

Now with the first competition the Oslo Diamond League, my first diamond league in 5 years. It was probably the strangest comp I've ever been in. To start off we arrive out on the track when the women's pole vault was still running, with 4 people left in the competition. That usually wouldn't be a problem, however their runway ran across the high jump about a metre from our bags. That was a challenge in itself but we dealt with it, getting some sort of warm up in between their heights. Thankfully they were finished before we started so we could compete without dodging poles.

The other big challenge for myself was the lack of space. As most of you may know, I have quite a long run up which has been fine in terms of fitting it in at competitions, although I've had a few close calls. This however was the shortest I had to deal with as my run up was about 8 feet too short. It was an 'oh well' moment as I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do to change it, so onwards I went.

Although the cherry on the top was when we were told the starting height was incorrectly measured. I was first on the list to jump and over I go first attempt. At the end of the round we were told that the bar was incorrectly measured. It was not the correct starting height of 2.15m, it was actually 2.20m, so 2.20m was now the starting height. Strange.

With that being said it was a great meet and the atmosphere was quite nice, I did only end up with 2.20m but nonetheless, we move on.

Below is a video of the full competition. Feel free to watch it all but my 2.20m jump is at the 7:40 minute mark.

Had a couple of days in Oslo after the comp to recover, train and have a bit of a look around. 

Next stop was Ostrava, Czech Republic for the Golden Spike World Challenge. I remember competing here in 2013 when I was 19, fresh on the senior International stage. 5 years later I arrived in the evening after a lengthy travel day again. I checked in, had some treatment, grabbed some food and jumped in the recovery boots to wind down. Comp day came and so did the cold weather, although I was prepared for it layering up with my Asics gear.

I was looking good early with first time clearances at 2.10m, 2.15m and 2.20m, but that quickly changed as I clipped 2 attempts at 2.25m and rubbished the 3rd attempt to finish in 5th with a frustrating 2.20m again. 

With that being said, I've just arrived in Ancona, Italy to stay and train for a bit and this is where my lovely girlfriend Laura will be joining me on Sunday (very excited!!).

On to the 2nd half of the trip!