Athletes

Blanka Vlasic’s parents gave her the best gift possible for a future athlete: sporting genes. Her mother was a basketball player and national-level cross-country skier; her father, Josko, was an international decathlete who was competing for Croatia at the Mediterranean Games in Casablanca at the time of Blanka’s birth — hence her name.

Uninterested in team sports, it was not long before Blanka was accompanying her father to the training track. She wanted to be a sprinter but soon found that her tall, skinny frame lent itself to high jumping. By the time she was 16, Blanka had progressed to a world-class 1.93m and qualified for the 2000 Olympics.

Although she did not medal there she went to the World Junior Championships three weeks later and won a surprise gold medal. The following year she became the first woman to win two world junior high jump titles. It would not be long before she made a similar impact on the senior scene.

In 2003 Blanka broke 2m — the benchmark for elite high jumpers – in front of a home crowd in Zagreb. She also finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships. But although she jumped a national record (and equalled her father’s PB) — 2.03m — in 2004, she could do no better than 11th at that year’s Olympics.

Blanka had a problem. Regularly feeling lethargic and unable to maintain a consistent weight, she was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid condition and underwent surgery in 2005. This limited her to two appearances that season. But she has gone from strength to strength since.

She jumped 2.05m at the start of 2006. And in 2007 she won 18 of her 19 competitions, clearing 2m in all but two of those. Her 2.07m national record in Stockholm was followed by three gallant attempts to break the 2.09m world record. Although that was not to be, her previous clearance was good enough to win the IAAF’s Performance of the Year award. Her 2.05m victory at the World Championships was not too bad either.

Blanka remained imperious throughout much of 2008 - but come the biggest competition of her life she surrendered her 34-competition unbeaten streak and had to settle for silver at the Olympic Games in Beijing behind an inspired Tia Hellebaut of Belgiium.

Her season ended with double disappointment as she missed out on a potential share of the Golden League $1m jackpot at the sixth and final event of the series in Brussels, edged out by German Ariane Friedrich.

The Croat also endured a below-par 2009 indoor season, settling for fifth with a modest best of 1.92m at the European Indoor Championships in Turin.

Nonethless, she remains one of the most compelling and glamorous athletes on the athletics circuit and many expect her to bounce back during the summer season.

Interview

There is no interview for Blanka at the moment. We are hoping to catch up with her soon.