Olympic gold medallist has Marschall taking 'penultimate step' toward future success

It seems as though South Australian pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall is reaching new heights with each and every competition. Weeks after eclipsing his previous outdoor record (5.73m) with a 5.80-metre vault at the Western Australian Athletics Championships in Perth, the soon-to-be 21-year-old (April 25) equalled the mark at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England on March 4.

The jump earned Marschall a fourth-place behind three-time winner and world record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France, who nailed 5.90m on his second attempt.

“It’s evidence that I’m supposed to be here, and I’m very happy to be a part of this unique crowd,” said Marschall immediately following his top 5 result. “Coming fourth at the world indoors is ridiculous, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

“I thought it would take a little bit more than 5.80m but very stoked to jump equal my PB and to come fourth is the icing on the cake. I don’t even mind that I just missed the medals.”

For the reigning three-time Australian champion and 2016 Under-20 world championships silver medallist days standing just off the podium may be happily numbered thanks in large part to the help of compatriot and 2008 Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker, who achieved the third-highest outdoor vault in history (6.06m) behind Ukrainian Sergey Bubka (6.14m) and Lavillenie (6.16m).

“We are often in contact mainly about technical stuff to do with my jumping and how to best approach things like that,” Marschall told Eurosport. “He once told me that he regrets not spending more time on his run up throughout his career and continually drums into me about getting my penultimate step down as fast as I can to prepare me for a higher more explosive takeoff.

“I’ve tried to apply some of his wisdom but these things take time,” admitted Marschall, himself a fellow Olympian (2016). “Things are gradually starting to come together technically but it all comes with practice and I’m only still young to the sport. So hopefully in the coming years I can become more of a solid consistent jumper like Steve was in his career.”

The next opportunity for the Adelaide native comes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games next month in Queensland, despite the absence of many of his fiercest rivals.

“A good show for me on the Gold Coast will be a really solid stepping stone in my career,” he told Eurosport. “I know that it’s not the highest standard of competition in the world, but because it will be in front of a home crowd and on home soil there will be a lot of media attention surrounding it.

“This way, hopefully, if I jump well and compete well, people will start to notice the things that I’m doing a bit more.”

Following Comm Games, Marschall will continue honing his skills and making adjustments in the lead-up to his late season goals, including this year’s IAAF Continental Cup.

“The goal for the remainder of the year is to then build up my preparation and hopefully qualify for the Continental Cup in Ostrava in September,” he said. “I will use the Diamond League circuit as a bit of an experimenting, in terms of adjusting my routine and maybe a few things around each meet to try and find the perfect preparation that works best for me.

“Now that I have my foot in the door with these bigger meets, they will become more of a priority for me this year and I’m very much looking forward to seeing all the boys out there on the circuit with me.

“We all have such a good camaraderie out there it feels like we are best friends,” Marschall concluded. “And having friends out on the track like that allows the competitions to be a lot less stressful.

“This way I can get my routine as perfect as possible, so that leading into Tokyo I will only have a few minor adjustments to make to ensure that I will be in shape for the [Olympic] Games.”