© Stade de France ®
Macary, Zublena et Regembal
Costantini - Architects
ADAGP - Paris - 2002
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COMPETITION  PORTRAITS |
 GIBILISCO RAIDS THE POLE VAULT
Par Stéphanie Langlais
Giuseppe Gibilisco may not have been a household name outside of his native Sicily prior to these World Championships, but after a gold-medal winning display of gutsy vaulting in Paris, he has propelled himself to global stardom.
Golden Personal Best
What makes Gibilisco’s performance all the more noteworthy is the fact that he has increased his personal best by a huge 20 centimetres in the past two months! Previously unable to clear 5.70 metres, he at last broke that psychological barrier on 11 July in Rome with a clearance at 5.82 metres. That would not have won him a medal at the Stade de France® though. He needed to go even higher, and did so with a first-time clearance at 5.90 metres. Just as old-hand Okker Brits seemed to have gold in his grasp, along came Gibilisco to whip it from him.
The 24-year-old Italian had never finished anywhere near a medal in previous major championships. A 10th place in the Olympics was followed by the same result at the European Indoor Championships 2000 and the outdoor European Championships in 2002.
Yet the man from Syracuse always had the potential for making it big; he won bronze in the World Junior Championship back in 1998 and was then hampered by injury right up until this breakthrough season. The ebullient Gibilisco was understandably cock-a-hoop after his win: “The President of my Federation always said the future of vaulting was called Gibilisco, and he was right.”
Coach with a Midas touch
The Italian was a study in calm calculation on Thursday evening. After twice failing at 5.75 metres, he opted to tempt the devil by saving his third for a crack at 5.80 metres. That audacious move was no doubt the turning point in the competition: “When I cleared that I thought to myself, ‘this just might be my night.’” First-time clearances at 5.85 and 5.90m ensued, and the no-hoper had won!
Gibilisco’s win can also be put down to the role played by his coach Vitaliy Petrov, the former mentor of a certain Sergei Bubka. After all, when you have coached the greatest vaulter of all time, a man who cleared 6.15 metres and bagged six world titles, you must have a few choice of words of advice for an eager youngster!
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