And that's the season.

Sunday August 12th I jumped on a plane heading back to Europe for the 2nd time this year. Sydney - Perth - London (London-Birmingham on train). This was my first time on the Qantas Dreamliner and from that one experience it was relatively easy. Laura returned from the last Europe trip on the Dreamliner and from her experience it was a good flight, so I went with it. I back it also. Before I left Aus I had a conversation with Alex about doing a session over in Birmingham before the first comp, so that was the plan going into it. I arrived on the Monday and had 5 nights before the Birmingham Diamond league, which allowed me to adjust to the time zone and do that session mid week to get the legs moving. 

Birmingham was my 3rd Diamond League of the year (Oslo & Lausanne) and it was the 3rd time jumping at Alexander Stadium in my career with 2.21m being my best. 

It was a little weird not having Barshim (injury) or Lysenko (suspension) in a Diamond League, but that didn’t stop it from being an exciting competition. Or high for that matter. I finished off with 2.33m with a bit of a clutch clearance, having 1 miss at 2.30m, a pass, another miss at 2.33m and finally a clearance. I attempted 2.37m after claiming the win with the 2.33 but if I’m honest none of those attempts were spectacular. However it was good to have a look higher heights especially when I’ve never attempted 2.37m before.

What a start to this final tour. A PB and a DL win.

Alex and I stayed and trained in Birmingham till the 24th when it was time to fly to Eberstadt, Germany for the 40th International Ebertsadt Hochsprung Meeting. This was another location where I haven’t had the highest of jumps in my time with my best being 2.21m back in 2011 to win the U23 comp. The weather turned up for the guys on Sunday after having pretty heavy rainfall the day before for the Women’s comp. Alex and I thought we would have enough room here for my full run up to fit, but with the takeoff area being a little worn and torn, they moved the high jump bags up a little bit which resulted in my approach being short by 2 steps. I wasn’t too worried. I knew that it was likely going to be the case the day before comp so it wasn’t a shock come jump day. 

It was a bit of a funny comp. I cleared 2.20m in warm up on a not so great run up, so that was a great sign that things were looking good. However, not practicing this particular run up at all, I didn’t have the consistency there which resulted in a first time miss at my opening height. A couple more jumps allowed me to work at the rhythm, but it was still a bit hit and miss. I cleared 2.27m on my 3rd attempt which kept me in it, followed by a 2nd attempt clearance at 2.30m. This is where the comp got interesting. Mr Halfshave Gianmarco Tamberi was on his quest to clear 2.30m this season and he did so on his 3rd attempt. The next height went to 2.33m and he was up straight away. Impressingly he went clear 2.33m first go which put the pressure on me. I miss my first attempt and decide to pass. 

(For those who don’t understand why someone does this. At this stage it was only Tamberi and myself in the competition, and Jimbo clearing 2.33m first go and me missing, meant I would have to clear higher than 2.33m to win. 2 options. Pass and have 2 attempts at a higher height or try 2.33m again. If i cleared I would get a full 3 attempts at the next height, but also means I’m more fatigued from having 1 or 2 more jumps in the comp.)

The next height was 2.36m which Tamberi decided to pass, so it was all me for this height. 2nd attempt, miss. 3rd attempt? CLEAR!! 

Equal Australian record.

Tamberi had enough at this stage and decided to retire with his 2.33m clearance which gave me the win. I could feel my legs getting a bit heavy as well. Alex suggested if I was going to attempt higher I may as well put it to 2.40m. I stuck to one attempt, which wasn’t great, but nonetheless I attempted the elusive 2.40m.

Done and dusted with Germany for this year, next stop was Brussels for the Diamond League final. I had 4 nights in Brussels before the comp to rest and recover which was plenty of time. There wasn’t a whole lot going on during those days, a couple rounds of treatment, a quick session here and there to keep the legs ticking over and a few rest days. One of those sessions was a standard pre comp sesh the day before comp. This gave me the opportunity to check out the stadium and get a feel for the track. This was also when I realised that my run up was going to be short again. Oh well, it worked well last time right?

Time for my first Diamond League final! The height progression for the final went 2.15m, 2.20m, 2.23m, 2.26m, 2.29m, 2.31m, 2.33m, 2.35m, which I think was a good steady progression for a comp which was more about winning than the performance. 

This was a fairly similar comp to Eberstadt. I started at 2.20m and missed my first attempt probably from just travelling too quick off takeoff, cleared 2nd attempt. 2.23m was clear first but 2.26m was a shakey one, took me 3 goes for a clearance. 2.29m was another clearance straight up, which was important as 4 others went clear first time (I was last in the jumping order). Only 1 went clear first time at 2.31m (Tamberi) which put the pressure on the rest of us. 2nd go I went over, so I was still in the game. At this stage it was getting down to the nitty gritty and every attempt was very important. 

1st round of 2.33m everyone missed, so Tamberi was still in the lead and I was sitting in equal 3rd place. 2nd round everyone had missed before I was about to finish off the round, so I knew a clearance would put me in the lead.

Bingo, CLEAR!!

A wobble but a clear. 

As the 3rd round went by, only Przybylko (European Champion) cleared 2.33m on his final attempt. 2.35m saw both of us have some not so crash hot attempts and we both finished with 2.33m (2nd attempt clearance meant I got the win).

Diamond League champion!

3 wins from 3 comps. 2.33m, 2.36m, 2.33m. Turning out to be a great trip.

On to the final comp of the year. The last stop was in Ostrava, Czech Republic for the Continental Cup. My first Continental Cup and a genuine chance to go 4 wins from 4 comps for this last trip. At this stage of the season, I could definitely feel the effects of 20 competitions, so I was pretty pleased it was the last one for the season.

Comp day! I was 7th (out of 8) in the jumping order and I decided to pass the opening height of 2.10m and open at 2.15m. I had 1st time clearances at 2.15m, 2.20m and 2.24m. I had to settle with a 2nd attempt clearance at 2.27m though and move onto 2.30m with 2 other people. My full approach fit in this stadium, but I still had some inconsistencies with my rhythm which resulted in some failures. One particular failure was the most significant, my 1st attempt at 2.27m. Ultimately this failure cost me the win as Donald Thomas cleared it first go. We both finished on a 3rd attempt clearance at 2.30m (he won on count back).

Three wins and a second place to close out the 2018 season.

Commonwealth Games Champion.

Equal Australian record.

Diamond League Champion.

Personal Best of 2.36m.

What. A. Year!