Spanish veteran Ruth Beitia, 37, on Saturday wrote her name in the history books by winning the Olympic high jump event in Rio de Janeiro, the biggest victory of her 20-year career.
Beitia’s victory makes her the oldest ever winner of a jumping event at the Olympics. Mirela Demireva of Bulgaria took the silver medal, while Blanka Vlasic of Croatia took the bronze.
The evergreen Beitia — who made her international debut for Spain in 1996 — won on countback after clearing 1.97m with three other women.
Photo: EPA
“I’m aware that I’m 37 years old!” she said. “I think I’m one of the oldest women to win an Olympic gold medal. “Of course, I’m very proud to still be continuing up to now. Even at my age, I have the same enthusiasm and happiness.”
The victory came four years after Beitia retired from the sport following a bitterly disappointing fourth at the London 2012 Olympics.
Beitia returned to competition several months later to earn a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
She came into the Olympics fresh from a victory in the European Championships in Amsterdam with a season’s best jump of 1.98m.
Beitia said the gold was the product of “26 years of work and pulling hair out.”
“I won it thanks to the work my coach Ramon Torralbo, my other half,” she said.
“The second chance he’s given me has been the opportunity to show all the work we’ve done over so many years,” she said.
“When I made my comeback after retirement I removed the stones from the backpack, I just enjoyed it with a smile,” she added.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS