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Today over 5.80, missed 5.86 to win in Chemnitz, Germany

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Lobinger flies high in Leipzig

Tim Lobinger of Germany in action during the Men's Pole Vault Final (Getty Images)
Leipzig, Germany - A 5.80 m clearance by Tim Lobinger in the Pole Vault, a 20.88m Shot Put by Peter Sack and an 800m victory for Abubaker Kaki (Sudan) with 1:46.06 minutes were the highlights of the 5th Sparkassen Athletics Meeting in Leipzig on Sunday (17).

But there was some confusion at the end of the Pole Vault, when Lobinger had already celebrated having cleared 5.86m, as the jump was later declared invalid, anfd that somewhat marred this event.

Repositioning the bar

Six days before what is expected to be a nail biting Pole Vault final at the German Championships Lobinger moved into the pole position. He took the Pole Vault at the Leipzig meeting with a 5.80m clearance on his third attempt. Fabian Schulze was second with 5.60m while Malte Mohr placed third with the same height.

But confusion arose when Lobinger went for a world lead of 5.86, which he did clear, and the 35-year-old duly celebrated as the new world indoor season leader, as quite some time after the vault it is assumed that the head judge turned the clearance into a fault. As Meeting Director Achim Krebs later explained Lobinger was said to have used his hand to avoid a possible fall of the bar. That had been a smaller issue already when he had cleared 5.80m, but judges decided that there was nothing wrong.