Despite being beaten in Paris and Lausanne, Lavillenie adopted his tried-and-tested tactics of opening up late in the competition. Seven men were still in the competition with the bar at 5.82m, but Lavillenie cleared that height on the first try, asking to go straight into the lead, tied with world indoor champion Konstantinos Filippidis.
USA’s Sam Kendicks and 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski also cleared that height on their first tries. Kendricks failed at 5.87m, while the other two men skipped straight to 5.92m. Lavillenie once again succeeded on his first attempt, but Filippidis and Wojciechowski bowed out.
Lavillenie then moved the bar to 6.02m, a would-be meeting record, but did not succeed. Nevertheless, the Olympic champion was happy to be back on top.
“I never doubted myself, but to start winning again is great,” he said. “I felt in shape to clear six metres, but I’m in great shape and ready for Beijing.”
