Australian pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall checked out of isolation on Saturday, reacquainted himself with the vagaries of international competition and duly booked himself a spot in the Olympic final.
Then it was straight back into isolation for another few days.
All part of life in the new normal that is the Tokyo Olympics.
Marschall, fellow Australian vaulter Nina Kennedy and coach Paul Burgess were inadvertently caught up in a coronavirus alert two days ago, having made casual contact with American Sam Kendricks, who later tested positive to COVID-19.
Although the Australian trio all tested negative, they were required to isolate away from the other members of the Australian team.
“Mentally you just have to expect the unexpected in these kind of situations,” the 24-year-old Marschall told AAP.
“These Games were always going to be different.
“I always knew there were going to be cases in the village or things that might happen.
“I just didn’t think it was going to happen to me.”
“Marschall, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, only got over 5.65m at his third and final attempt in Saturday’s qualifying round before a solid first-time clearance at 5.75m booked him a spot in Tuesday’s final.
Also through to the decider are world record holder Armand Duplantis from Sweden, French superstar Renaud Lavillenie and defending Olympic champ Thiago Braz from Brazil.
“It was my first major competition in a couple of years and I’ve been preparing for this, but nothing can really prepare you for the actual thing,” Marschall said.
“I’m glad I managed to get through the qualifying round, all the nerves are now gone, all the pressure is off.
“I can just go into the final and do my thing.”
Marschall will still have to isolate from his teammates as a precautionary measure until it’s time to leave Japan, although he and Kennedy can continue to train under the tutelage of Burgess.
Due to the positive COVID-19 test, two-time world champion Kendricks was forced to withdraw from the pole vault competition in Tokyo.
In other action in the field on Saturday morning, 2009 discus world champion Dani Stevens was eliminated in the qualifying round.
Stevens’ best throw of 58.77m was more than 10 metres shy of her personal best.
The NSW thrower has fought back after suffering a potentially career-ending neck injury in 2020.
AAP
