Croatian High Jumper Clinches 31st Straight Win At Madrid Meet

Madrid, Spain (AHN) - Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic captured the high jump title at the Madrid athletics meet Saturday, for her 31st consecutive win.

The 24-year-old reigning world champion, known for striking a pose after she clears a height, claimed her 31st straight high jump with a leap of 2.06 meters, a centimeter off her personal best, at the 'Meeting de Madrid 2008' Saturday.

Spain's Ruth Beitia Vila came in second with fewer failures over 2.01 edging in the process reigning Olympic champion Yelena Slesarenko of Russia who also registered 2.01 meters.

The three athletes surpassed 2.01 but it was Vlasic who able to clear 2.06 after two failures, matching her season's best set recently at the European Cup First League match in Istanbul, Turkey.

Vlasic, whose participation in recent meet for over a year has been guaranteed an assured two-meter plus clearance, failed to surpass the world record height of 2.10 owned by Bulgaria's Stetfa Kostadinova since 1987.

She is already assured of a gold in the coming Beijing Olympic Games following an impressive performance this year in 16 appearances, 7 indoors and 9 outdoors, all exceeding the 2.00 barrier.

The 'Meeting de Madrid 2008' is a Grand Prix status meeting that forms part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour for 2008.