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Blanka Vlašić Nears World-Record Form in Greece

Posted July 31st, 2007 at 10:44 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Blanka Vlašić high jump croatia With her high jump mark of 2.06m in Thessaloniki, Greece yesterday, Blanka Vlašić of Croatia is nearing world-record form. (WR: 2.09m.) Her jump is a world best for 2007 and makes her the favorite in Osaka. No woman has jumped higher in 20 years.

The 23-year-old Vlasic (pronounced VLAH-SHEECH) also had three good attempts at a world-record 2.10m but was unsuccessful. Interestingly, Vlašić (who is 6′ 4″, taller than most male high jumpers) comes from a track & field family:

Blanka was named after Casablanca, Morocco, a city where her father competed at the Mediterranean Games around the time of her birth. Joško Vlašić’s decathlon personal best, set in 1984, still stands as the Croatian national record; the two are a rare (perhaps unique?) example of father and daughter simultaneously holding athletics national records.

For more information about Vlasic’s performance in Greece: [IAAF]

For some interesting family history about Vlašić: [Wikipedia]

To read a profile and statistics of Vlašić: [IAAF]