Tuesday, 29 January 2019:
The weather did pole vault sensation Kurtis Marschall no favours at the Canberra Track Classic on Monday.
The rain closed in just as the Commonwealth champion was getting into stride in his first full competition since breaking both heels in a botched landing at the Diamond League final in Brussels five months ago.
It didn't stop him getting the win on countback from training partner Declan Carruthers.
But the winning height of 5.30m was a world away from the PB of 5.86m Marschall set last year - the biggest vault by an Australian in seven years.
Not that it really mattered as the 21-year-old will have the perfect opportunity to jump big in ideal conditions next month.
Marschall will spend a fortnight in Europe competing in three indoor meets in Poland, Switzerland and France - the last a prestigious pole vault-only affair in Clermont-Ferrand hosted by world record holder Renaud Lavillenie.
"That will be awesome," said Marschall, who moved to Perth after the Commonwealth Games last year to train under master vaulting coach Alex Parnov.
"I'm looking forward to going over there and using those conditions and jumping against some of the best in the world - using that to spur me on to higher heights.
"It's hard getting up for competitions where the bar is just at 5.50m and you're the only guy left in the comp.
"It's still awesome fun competing in Australia and I'll never stop doing it but this is also a very good opportunity for me to jump and progress, go over to Europe and jump against the big dogs."
The first target on the agenda next month is ticking off the qualifying standard of 5.71m for the world championships in Doha.
"Then it would be nice to go 5.90 and if I've cleared 5.90 then you're attempting 6 metres pretty much," said Marschall.
"Everything past 5.90 is probably a bonus but I'll go for a PB first and then see what happens."
