A national hero stops and talks about treasure troves and - odd this - a high jumper is on a high.
Senior citizen
Talk about longevity, the Frenchwoman Melina Robert-Michon was simply Melina Robert and in her late teens when she competed in the discus event the last time there was a major athletics championships in Budapest. That was the European championships in 1998. Between 18 and 23 August to be precise. A certain Laulauga Tausaga was a three-month-old bairn in Hawaii at the time. Two and a half decades on, 44-year-old Robert-Michon was back in Budapest contesting her ninth successive final in the discus at her 10th world championships and that tiny tot was claiming gold for the United States.
Turnaround
Laulaga Tausaga was understandably chirpy after winning the title. She was 12th last year in Eugene and tasted a similar nadir in Doha in 2019. But on her penultimate throw at the National Athletics Centre, she unleashed a personal best of 69.49m to claim the discus crown. "I was able to do something that I didn't think was going to be possible yet," said 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 game.
Curiosity
Just a day after claiming the gold in the men’s triple jump, Fabrice Hugues Zango was back at the National Athletics Centre to look at the action and say a few farewells before returning home. 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 told the review as the soaked up the plaudits from a stream of passers-by. With a bronze, a silver and a gold, the evidence stacks up towards a big yes for the athletics. We’ll know in October about the other passion of his life.
Wearing it well
Actually, Fabrice Hugues Zango was really rather good value during our chat. Very personable for a national hero. "Of course I am with bronze, silver and now a gold," he beamed. When he came third in the triple jump in Doha in 2019, it was Burkina Faso's first medal at the world championships. His silver at Eugene in 2022 was the country's second and the gold in Budapest is the third. Zango possesses every right to be brash; he is the national medal collection. But he exudes modesty and purpose. Earlier medals have been naturally dedicated to parents Félicité and Jacques as well as younger siblings Cédric and Mireille. The 2023 triumph is for young Africans, he said. "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 won the high jump with a leap of 2.36m. The 24-year-old American Juvaughn Harrison also cleared 2.36m but did it on his second attempt which gave the title to Tamberi who famously shared gold at 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," said Harrison. "This result gives me great confidence for the Olympic Games in Paris." Before signing off, Tamberi told officials to raise the bar to 2.40m and he whipped up the crowd. There was the usual studied preparation and then the burst of speed. But instead of contorting his body to jump high, he simply ran onto the landing mattress over it and on towards the track to summon an Italian flag and start his lap of honour which took in a splash around in the steeplechase water trap with the race winner Soufiane El Bakkali and bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwot. And why not? You've just won gold.
