Yaroslav Rybakov may still defend World Championships title in Daegu – IAAF World Championships
Yaroslav Rybakov, the 30-year-old high jumper from Russia, who had been ruled out the IAAF World Championships in Athletics to commence on August 27, amid a foot injury, may recover to defend his world championships title.
Breaking the news, Valentin Maslakov, the Russian head coach, said that Rybakov had informed him earlier that he would not be capable of running in South Korea, however, to him, he had now changed his mind. Talking to a sports reporter, the Russian athlete
said, “Just a few days ago my foot was swollen and it felt like I would have no chance to jump at my top level in Daegu. But since then, the swelling has come down and I may give myself another try.”
The Russian, who was the 2002 European Champion, shared a second finish with Cuban rival, Victor Moya at the 2005 World Championships. Raising the bar of his performance with the passage of time, he marked his dominance over the 2006 European Athletics Championships
organised in Gothenburg.
Extending his winning streak to the next year, another second finish at the World Championships in Osaka waited for him where he observed a finish of 2.35m. The efforts of the strenuous athlete finally paid the dividends in 2009, when he clinched the World
championships title in Berlin.
Rybakov’s indoor personal best stands at 2.38m, which he marked at Stockholm in 2005. The athlete, who believes in sustaining and marking the best of his potential that he possesses, has repeated his best performance three times since then, one of which
earned not only the Hochsprung mit Musik title for him, but also marked his meet record in the event.
The injured athlete, who is hopeful of reclaiming his fitness back ahead of the Daegu event, while talking about his test that will decide the fate of his title at the World Championships said, “I should have another test in the next 10 days and then I’ll
make a final decision. My name is already on the list (of Participants) so I would just need to show up if I decide to go ahead and jump.”
Addressing the concerns of his spectators that his recovery at this stage of time will allow his entering into the World Championships or not, the Russian star said that he had got a personal invitation to appear in the mega athletic event.
Amid Rybakov being injured, to be on a safe side, Russian Athletics authorities had named the European champion, Alexander Shustov, to represent the country in Daegu. Joining him on the field will be Ivan Ukhov, Alexei Dmitrik and Andrey Silnov.
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