Lasitskene surpasses own event record with 6-8.25 (2.04m) effort, leading three athletes clearing at least 2 meters for only time in meet history, first time globally since 2015 IAAF World Championships

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

PALO ALTO – Among all the exceptional history that was achieved in the women’s high jump competition Sunday at the 45th Prefontaine Classic, whether it was the continued dominance of Russia’s Mariya Lasitskene or the rising talent of 17-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the only number that mattered to Vashti Cunningham was two.

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Not because the six-time U.S. national champion placed second behind the authorized neutral athlete Lasitskene, but because Cunningham cleared 2 meters, or 6 feet 6.75 inches, for the first time in her career at Stanford’s Cobb Track and Angell Field.

“I felt very good over the bar and I know now it is going to be a familiar feeling,” said the 21-year-old Cunningham, who became the ninth American female athlete in history to achieve a 2-meter clearance, including the eighth outdoors.

“My confidence comes from the Lord. I asked that he would give me this and he did. I’m just blessed to have him using me. That’s where my confidence is.”

Cunningham soared over the bar on her first attempt, marking the first time in meet history that three women all cleared at least 6-6.75. Lasitskene, 26, went on to win her second career Pre Classic title and achieved her 21st overall Diamond League victory by clearing a meet-record 6-8.25 (2.04m), surpassing her 6-8 (2.03m) effort in 2017.

But the path to a 2-meter clearance was a long time coming for Cunningham since she turned professional in 2016.

Her first look at that height came at the 2016 USATF Indoor Championships in Portland, Ore., and she didn’t have another opportunity until the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships in Sacramento.

By the time the bar was raised to 2 meters Sunday for the final three competitors, Cunningham was attempting at least that height outdoors for the 15th time in her career and, including indoors, the 23rd occasion overall.

“It was more joy to me clearing 2.00 than a sense of relief because it’s something I’ve conquered instead of peaked out at,” said Cunningham, the first American female to reach the height since Chaunte Lowe at the 2016 Olympic Trials.

“I know I can clear that now.”

Cunningham and Lasitskene both cleared 6-6.75 on their first attempts, with Mahuchikh achieving the height on her second try to equal the No. 3 all-time World U-20 performer, just one centimeter away from equaling the record 6-7 (2.01m) that has stood for 30 years.

It was the first time in meet history that three female athletes had all reached the 2-meter mark, in addition to the first occasion in any global competition since the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, when Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic, Russia’s Anna Chicherova and Lasitskene all cleared 6-7.

“I just wanted to do my best on every jump and I had to because the competition was very good,” Lasitskene said through an interpreter.

“In the end, it was a very good result. The wind was at my back all day and it didn’t disturb me. The weather was very nice and fresh and I’m happy with the performance.”

By contrast to Cunningham’s first 2-meter clearance, Lasitskene achieved that height or better for the 45th time in the past three years, winning for the 63rd time in 65 competitions since July 2016.

During an 18-day span in June, Lasitskene cleared at least 6-7 in all four meets, matching her personal best with a 6-9 clearance (2.06m) on June 20 at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic.

But unlike past years where the global depth in the event hasn’t been consistently present to challenge Lasitskene, this season five female athletes have cleared at least 2 meters – including Chicherova and heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium – all achieving the feat in June. Cunningham and Mahuchikh became the 63rd and 64th female athletes in history to produce a 2-meter outdoor clearance Sunday.

It marks the most outdoor 2-meter female performers in the world since there were six in 2012.

That was also the last time an American high jumper was involved in a competition, like Sunday, where there were at least three female athletes clearing 6-6.75, when Brigetta Barrett secured a silver medal at the Olympics battling against Russians Svetlana Shkolina and Chicherova, along with Spain’s Ruth Beitia.

Cunningham will now try to become the first American since Barrett in 2013 to clear that height multiple times in the same year. Cunningham will be pursuing a third straight USATF outdoor title July 27 in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’m joyful with my PR, but I’m young and have a lot more time in the sport,” Cunningham said.