Cypriot Ioannou clinches high jump bronze in World Athletics Championships

KYRIAKOS IOANNOU of Cyprus yesterday took the bronze medal in the high jump at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan.

The 23-year-old from Limassol cleared 2.35m, arguably the greatest ever performance by a Cypriot track and field athlete. His bronze is the first medal of any colour by a Cypriot athlete at a global championship.

Bahamian Donald Thomas completed his remarkable rise to the top of international athletics when he clinched the gold medal, equalling his personal best by clearing 2.35 metres at his first attempt and, despite failing three times at 2.37m, it proved good enough to win gold at his first global championships.

A former basketball player, who favours basketball shoes over the more traditional spikes, Thomas made a phenomenal start to his high jump career 18 months ago when he jumped 2.20m indoors without having had any training in five years.

Russian Yaroslav Rybakov grabbed his third world championship silver after taking two attempts to clear 2.35m.

Ioannou, who is 1.93m tall, matched that feat but his two failures at earlier heights meant Cyprus’ first medal of the championships was a bronze.

All three men produced personal bests in the final, with 2.35m also being the world-leading jump this year.

Speaking to Greek television after the competition, Ioannou thanked God, “who helped me to win this medal for Cyprus”.

He said that he wasn’t expecting to do that well just before the start of the final. “I was suffering from certain physical problems and didn’t think that my body could function at 100 per cent. But once we got under way, everything changed though, and I found that I was able to clear each height that I attempted and nearly cleared 2.37m at the end.”

When asked what the bronze medal meant to him, Ioannou said that, “words cannot describe how I am feeling right now and I believe that there’s a bright future ahead for me.”
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