Five jumpers had cleared 5.62 meters at the 19th NetAachen Cathedral Jumping, and everything pointed to an exciting final. Then the rain came and made even greater heights impossible. Because he had not had a single failed attempt up to that point, the Dutchman Menno Vloon won, repeating his success from 2022.
“5.80 meters would definitely have been possible today, but then the rain came and it got very cold,” said the 30-year-old Dutchman. He only entered the competition at 5.37 meters and was the only starter to miss the 5.52 meters. He also mastered his second jump of 5.62 meters with ease, before stopping at 5.72 meters. With the same height but more failed attempts, Vloon relegated Austin Miller (USA), Torben Blech (Leverkusen), Ethan Cormont (France) and the German champion Bo Kanda Litha Baehre to second and third places.
The NetAachen Cathedral Jumping once again turned the Katschhof into a picture-book arena. Photo: Andreas Steindl
Vloon recently proved how good his form is at the end of the season with his national record of 5.92 metres at the Berlin ISTAF. He had only failed at 6.01 metres in the Olympic Stadium and came second. Litha Baehre was annoyed afterwards about his two failed attempts at 5.62 metres. “But that’s sport. A lot could have been achieved today,” said the Olympic participant from Düsseldorf.
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In the women’s event, Briton Holly Bradshaw smashed the meeting record in the afternoon. The 32-year-old, who is ending her career in a few weeks, jumped a strong 4.71 metres, 31 centimetres more than the previous top height in the Domspringen. Last year, Belgian Elien Vekemans and Anjuli Knäsche (Germany) both jumped 4.40 metres. “A super competition, the spectators were unbelievable,” said Bradshaw.
With 4.71 meters, Bradshaw also set a new personal season best in Aachen, just 19 centimeters below her personal best of 4.90 meters. For comparison: the world record is held by the Russian Elena Isinbayeva with 5.06 meters. So the dome jumping is always good for world-class heights – unless the rain spoils the athletes’ plans.
