LONDON, England – Stanford alum Katerina Stefanidi '12 followed her 2016 Olympic pole vault victory with the best performance of her life to win the IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday.
Stefanidi jumped a personal and Greek record of 4.91 meters (16 feet, 1 ¼ inches), the highest jump in the world this year, to capture her second consecutive world crown in dominant fashion. The victory signals the official confirmation of the Stefanidi Era, as the world's preeminent female pole vaulter.
A winner of two NCAA and three Pac-12 titles while at Stanford, Stefanidi moves into a tie for No. 4 among the highest vaulters in history. She also remains undefeated through eight competitions this outdoor season and now holds every major outdoor title she can win – world, Olympic, and European.
As in Rio de Janeiro last year, the competition came down to Stefanidi and American Sandi Morris. However, unlike Rio when the gold was determined on a countback, Stefanidi won this handily, though the competition was closer than it seemed.
Stefanidi was the last to open, at 4.65 (15-3) and was perfect through 4.82 (15-9 ¾). Morris, the only other competitor to clear 4.75 (15-7), missed on her first try at 4.82, hitting it with her hand after having the height to clear it. When Stefanidi made that height, despite brushing the bar with her chest, Morris decided to take her remaining tries at 4.89. A clearance would allow Morris to regain control of the competition, and that was exacerbated when Stefanidi missed on her first attempt that height.
However, both of Morris' attempts failed, ensuring Stefanidi would earn the victory. Stefandi chose to take her remaining two tries at a lifetime best 4.91 – she had twice reached 4.90 (16-0 ¾) during the 2016 indoor season – and cleared it on her first try. With nothing to Stefanidi, she took three attempts at Yelena Isinbayeva's championship record of 5.02 (16-5 ½), but without success.
Still, it did not stop Stefanidi from having fun, as she paraded with the national flag draped around her back as the strains of Zorba the Greek rang around Olympic Stadium.
"We wanted the championship record," Stefanidi told reporters afterward. "But it was a big thing to improve my record, and to break two records was just too much for me tonight. Once I win, I usually do not jump higher. I normally get a little nervous but I felt really good this time. There were actually a few Greeks and people from Cyprus, the stadium was packed so it was a great atmosphere here."
