Louise Ekman was in good company on the opening day of the Indoor World Championships when she cleared a personal best height of 1.96m. Only four jumpers managed to clear it, including former world champion Eleanor Patterson of Australia.
Ekman had a really good first attempt at the height, which she barely missed.
“What a fucking season”
But she stopped at 1.93, a height she cleared on her second attempt and had only cleared once before. That gave her sixth place.
"What a hell of a season I've had. I should be incredibly proud of myself. Sixth in the world is pretty cool considering where I was before this season," says Ekman.
She admits that she was nervous before the competition.
"But the nervousness went away when I entered the arena. Then I just tried to act like it was any other competition."
Gävle girl Louise Ekman made a splash last winter when she raised her personal best by nine centimeters, first by four and then by five centimeters (to a personal best of 1.96) and was selected for the Indoor World Championships as sixth in the world this year.
Three silver medalists
She made her international championship debut just weeks before her 29th birthday. On her second attempt at 1.96, she aborted the attempt.
"I felt tired in my legs, I don't know where it came from because I'm in top form. But I didn't sleep well last night, maybe that had something to do with it," says Ekman, who is now looking forward to starting training for the outdoor season.
"This is an incredible motivation for me. I'm really excited about what summer has to offer."
Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine won ahead of reigning world champion Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, Serbia's Angelina Topić and Ukraine's Yuliya Levchenko. Olyslagers, Topić and Levchenko cleared 1.99 and shared the silver. Mahuchikh cleared 2.01 for gold.
