The route that athletes take on the way to the summit

The high jumper Ulrika Mayifert was only 15 years old when she stood on the podium in second place at the West German Championships. A year later, at the age of 16, she was crowned Olympic champion in Munich in 1972. And how she was crowned. The wonder girl compared the world record to seniors (!), Which then stood at 1.92 meters, and did so when she was ahead of, among others, the Austrian Ilona Grozenbauer, the then reigning world champion, who was ranked third.

Those who expected an amazing levitation later on had to wait 10 years, no less. The Sisyphean life imposed on the schoolgirl did not yield results, quite the opposite. Mayfair, a native of Frankfurt, 1.83m over 70kg, returned to her status only in 1982, at two European Championships, in the hall and in the stadium.

At the championship in the stadium in Athens she again achieved a world record – 2.02 meters. 10 cm more than the competition in Munich a decade earlier. Coincidentally? It turned out to be just the trailer for the film. The real thing happened to her at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she completed the comeback magnificently. Again she won gold with 2.02 meters while setting an Olympic record Two Olympic gold medals 12 years apart, and she was still at an optimal age of 28 years.

The very fact that she started breathing air peaks at the age of 16 allowed her to stay on alert for a long time. While this is a mentally difficult time to know that you are not as successful as you were when you were 16, she really did not give up. And yet, she remained at the right age. Still not too old to keep his career alive, still hoping for a happy ending to come, maybe …

Mayfair has become the youngest gold medalist in history in Munich. But when we try to wonder at the insight of its success at a young age it is difficult to do so. It was an extreme case. By the way, in Rio 2016 and at the age of 37, the Spaniard Ruth Baitya, who also jumps to a height, became one of the oldest gilded in history.

That is, age can do good as well as bad. The Spaniard was awarded the prize for perseverance and determination, with a poor result in relation to the class, 1.98 m, but a gold medal is always a gold medal. The lack of a dominant rivalry as a service at that time also helped her, as did the absence of Maria Lasicskana from Russia due to the drug scandal in her country, which led to the suspension of the Russian athletes.

So what is the ideal age for the peak of success, or alternatively for building a career in an orderly fashion? If you ask ten experts, mostly top coaches, you will hear at least five different opinions. In principle, every athlete is suited to building a career that is thrown away by his qualities and his immediate environment. Take for example the greatest of them all, Usain Bolt. He was a super-talent already as a child. It is the only one in history that still holds the world record for cadets (up to the age of 18) in the 200 meters (20.13 seconds), for youth (up to 20) at the same distance of 19.93 s and up to the world record for adults. Athlete born to lead.

Many try to trace the features that gave him the world record in the 100 meters, 9.58 seconds, a result at the level of a fictional man who landed from another galaxy. On the other hand, his progress up to the age of 21, the ability to maintain stability at the top afterwards, are qualities of a determined human being. And his tremendous success depended not only on talent and determination, but also on luck, as he finished an incredible career with a number of minor injuries.

In contrast, there are quite a few athletes who reached the top at a young age but failed to make the leap later in their careers.

Steve Lewis from the USA for example, who was an Olympic champion in the 400 meter run in Seoul 1988 at the age of 19, set a time of 43.87 seconds, a great result for his age. Later he never dropped more than 44 seconds despite all his attempts. Fortunately, even his less good results remained relevant during his time .

In such an article about the careers of world champions at young ages, there is also an Israeli corner. This is Nicki Pali, who at 19, was only one jump away from the No. 1 podium at the 2006 Beijing World Youth Championships. Pali led without a disqualification up to a height of 2.29 meters, but surrendered to Sinai Ho-Ha, who won with 2.33 meters in the third attempt, a result left for him A personal record until the end of his career. It was one of the great battles in the high jump at the World Youth Championships.

Dima Kreuter was crowned world cadet champion in the high jump. At the same time, the Frenchman Kevin Meyer did so in battle 8, and today he is the current world champion in battle-10. Where has the career of each of the two developed? You can see in the ranking tables.

When I asked Albert Fongin, the man who discovered Pali in ninth grade school for the reasons for his rise and fall, he responded: “We did everything right according to the circumstances. Nicky trained twice a day even at school age and achieved great results.”

Was it not too early?

“I do not think. He was built for it. Do not forget that in Israel there are no long-term plans for athletes.”

What does that mean?

“That both the coach and the boy need immediate results to get a salary that will allow for quiet in training. Besides, do you think Pali and Croiter would get the citizenship if they were not champions at a young age?”.

Pali responded: “It is not easy to deal with an improvement to a record of 2.30 meters. Because of the circumstances of the wage for living we did strong competitions with a lot of energy. When it did not go I lost motivation. This is something we had to work on gradually and not from now until now. Built to grow athletes for the long term. “Pongin:” The character of the athlete also has an effect. “

Danny Wolfberg, one of the most talented coaches in the country, the personal trainer of the Israeli champion in the 10-fight Ariel Atias, thinks that thorough work is needed. “I think if there is an optimal age for actual success it is around 26. Of course it depends on the conditions,” Wolfberg says. “Nicki Pali should have been at this age at the top of the world with approximately 2.40m. A jump of 2.30m at 19 is expected at least 2.35m later, which will give him a medal nomination in the big factories, but that’s not what happened.”

“I do not know what was really there,” Wolfberg continues. “Maybe injuries, maybe Nicki’s own conduct. There is no doubt that the high jump as a profession is sometimes cruel to those who practice it. It needs to be coordinated so that no significant damage is done. “

The amazing Croatian Blanka Velasic (1.93m over 70kg) who achieved everything in the various establishments except for an Olympic gold medal, jumped a record 2.08 meters – the second result in history after the world record holder in 33 years Bulgaria Stepka Kostadinova (2.09 meters), but never came To the estate she deserves.

It is clear that talent is the cornerstone of any success. Former sprinter Colin Jackson was a star in her teens, Maida hammered Yuri Sidich, the world champion for 35 years, excelled at a young age. The rare British Daley Thompson in the 10-point ballet was already in its infancy. The world champion in the Eliud Kipchoga Marathon from Kenya received the right advice. After winning the 5,000m world championship at the age of 18, in Paris 2003, he underwent a planned conversion only in adulthood to a marathon. Currently, at 35, he is the only one challenging the two-hour limit at the prestigious distance. Also the great Mo Farah, burst at the age of 26 to new heights.

There are plenty of examples also of great improvements towards the end of the career. The cases of stopping as a result and then again tremendous progress. The story of Florence Griffith-Joiner in the 100 and 200 meters, which broke out at the age of 28, conquered the track and at the age of 39 died under mysterious circumstances, has been repeated over and over again. Less famous is the story of world champion in the triple jump Jonathan Edwards. By 1993 he was a good and solid jumper with 17.44 yards. Then, within two years, he advanced in a big boom to 18.29 meters at the advanced age of 29, at the 1995 Gothenburg World Championships.

Wolfberg: “There is a situation in some athletes that they work hard for a few years without results. Then suddenly one ‘click’ is allowed that is released and promotes the athletes by a huge difference. That is probably the case with Edwards.”

An Israeli who works to improve computing in African countries chose not to identify himself by name, and told from personal knowledge about the age registration practices on IDs and passports on the continent: ” Skeptical compared to Europe and the U.S. ”This does not affect the performance of hundreds of talents in the long runs, but does sometimes affect their superiority and superior experience in championships at young ages.

The president of the International Athletics Federation, Lord Sebastian Kou, who has the third result in history in the 800m, 1: 41.73 minutes, also initiated a significant regulation related to the development of an athlete. By installation, the 2017 Cadet World Championships was the last in this frame. From now on, only continental competitions for this framework will be held until the age of 18. That is, one should not run frantically for results right from the start, one should build step by step.

Many agree with him, but still want to see amazing children like Ukrainian Jaroslava Mahochich, the world champion in youth high jump (2.04 meters) at the age of 18, and she currently seems to have the potential to be the woman to improve Kostadinova’s record after 33 years. What is clear is that only those with the right patience and mentality will successfully go through the hard way to maintain a long and perfect career.