A nationwide hero stops and talks about treasure troves and – odd this – a excessive jumper is on a excessive.
Senior citizen
Talk about longevity, the Frenchwoman Melina Robert-Michon was merely Melina Robert and in her late teenagers when she competed within the discus occasion the final time there was a significant athletics championships in Budapest. That was the European championships in 1998. Between 18 and 23 August to be exact. A sure Laulauga Tausaga was a three-month-old bairn in Hawaii on the time. Two and a half many years on, 44-year-old Robert-Michon was again in Budapest contesting her ninth successive closing within the discus at her tenth world championships and that tiny tot was claiming gold for the United States.
Turnaround
Laulaga Tausaga was understandably chirpy after successful the title. She was twelfth final yr in Eugene and tasted the same nadir in Doha in 2019. But on her penultimate throw on the National Athletics Centre, she unleashed a private better of 69.49m to assert the discus crown. “I was able to do something that I didn’t think was going to be possible yet,” stated Tausaga. “I was confident enough that if I was on my A-game I wouldn’t be 12th.” We can confidently say she was on an A-mega-uberplus recreation.
Curiosity
Just a day after claiming the gold within the males’s triple leap, Fabrice Hugues Zango was again on the National Athletics Centre to take a look at the motion and say a couple of farewells earlier than returning dwelling. Next on the agenda? Completing his thesis for his PhD in electrical engineering. “When I started the triple jump it was just to prove to myself to see if I could do both,” he informed the overview because the soaked up the plaudits from a stream of passers-by. With a bronze, a silver and a gold, the proof stacks up in the direction of an enormous sure for the athletics. We’ll know in October in regards to the different ardour of his life.
Wearing it nicely
Actually, Fabrice Hugues Zango was actually slightly good worth throughout our chat. Very personable for a nationwide hero. “Of course I am with bronze, silver and now a gold,” he beamed. When he got here third within the triple leap in Doha in 2019, it was Burkina Faso’s first medal on the world championships. His silver at Eugene in 2022 was the nation’s second and the gold in Budapest is the third. Zango possesses each proper to be brash; he’s the nationwide medal assortment. But he exudes modesty and objective. Earlier medals have been naturally devoted to folks Felicite and Jacques in addition to youthful siblings Cedric and Mireille. The 2023 triumph is for younger Africans, he stated. “I want to send them a message to say it is possible to come top and to dream big but remain humble in the process,” he added. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment for a long time.” Fabulous stuff.
Show time
Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy received the excessive leap with a leap of two.36m. The 24-year-old American Juvaughn Harrison additionally cleared 2.36m however did it on his second try which gave the title to Tamberi who famously shared gold on the Tokyo Olympics with Mutaz Barshim who took bronze in Budapest with 2.33m. “It is fantastic that I beat one of the Olympic winners and I equalled the other,” stated Harrison. “This result gives me great confidence for the Olympic Games in Paris.” Before signing off, Tamberi informed officers to boost the bar to 2.40m and he whipped up the group. There was the same old studied preparation after which the burst of pace. But as a substitute of contorting his physique to leap excessive, he merely ran onto the touchdown mattress over it and on in the direction of the observe to summon an Italian flag and begin his lap of honour which took in a splash round within the steeplechase water entice with the race winner Soufiane El Bakkali and bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwot. And why not? You’ve simply received gold.
Originally printed on RFI