by
Matt Norlande @MattNorlande
LAS VEGAS -- Right arm hangs in a checked dangle. Left arm is
bent at a 90-degree angle and partially covering her spare torso. Eyes
on the foe: that delicate, goading bar. She stares at it, and it peers
back. She oscillates a few times, toes to heels, homing in balance and
acquiring an assured state of mind as she's waiting for her left, back
heel to fall just perfectly on itself, allowing her spindly body to
click into launch ...
...
There it is.
She is revved. She has found the feel.
Now the click.
With her right leg in front -- heel up -- and her left leg
behind -- the tops of her toes white with pressure -- she drops her
head, springs from her stance and releases. Her quads clench then
thrust, her arms pump in full, elbows sharply angled upward, stabbing
above her dipped neck. That's the groove; her body's a go.
It'll be nine steps now. Exactly nine, every time. No skips, no
gallops. The first three steps are stutter-like, close together, fast
and bursty. The transition to steps four and five come with longer
strides. Her back straightens as her angle bends in what's known as the
J-curl approach. She's halfway to liftoff, her path veering from
straight to left.
Her power builds but her speed is fixed. She collects
herself as the bar becomes closer, and when it gets closer, that means
it gets higher. That damn bar. Simple from afar, taunting after
launching, daunting on approach and sometimes seemingly three times as
big by liftoff. But that bar hasn't changed, hasn't moved, still isn't
moving and if all goes right -- which is to say, if all goes practically
perfectly -- it's going to stay that way.
The final
four steps are are half-strides, a coiling from the waist down, with the
most important release coming from the ankles. Her body is nearing its
almost-180-degree adjustment from where it started less than three
seconds ago. By step seven, the arms no longer swing. On the penultimate
step, with her right leg, both arms are pulled backed for the foist.
Her body -- still grounded but ready to torque -- is faced perpendicular
to the bar but her head is still canting at the rod, which is perched
many inches above her head. On the jump, the final release -- an
uncorking. Complete trust and, literally, blind faith. The bar is
behind-slash-below her. She's turning horizontal speed into vertical
power.
So here we go: Right arm up. Left leg fires.
Right leg juts, the knee bends, and with that, the body follows. Then, a
curl of the neck. The back mimics with its arching. As the nape of her
neck flings past the bar, her left arm is parallel to the beam.
Centripetal force moves up through her thighs, abdomen, chest,
shoulders, arms then wrists.
She's still rising.
Her body unfurls as the laws of physics keep her heave true. Lift
the hips, get the butt up. Keep rising, keep dodging, keep praying that
bar as low as it will go. Don't flirt with it. Even a tickle could give
it a tumble. Thrust the waist, flip the legs, embrace the fall. Coming
down, her back straightens and as it does, her upper body is falling as
her lower body continues to elevate. Her legs go vertical a split second
after her popliteals clear the beam. She's headed for the mat.
Where's the bar?
First: boof. Land, then pop up with a reverse somersault. All clean, all clear. And there's the bar -- still in place.
This entire process takes less than five seconds. This is
what Vashti Cunningham will show off to the world next week, when she
competes for a gold medal in women's high jump.
"I'm waiting or my body to throw itself forward, to let
itself go," Cunningham says. "I don't remember what happens when I
jump. I don't see. My mind blanks and then I suddenly land."
This is what the future of high jumping looks like.
That is Cunningham in March, less than two months after her
18th birthday, setting a junior world record by jumping 1.99 meters (6
feet, 6.25 inches) in Portland. That jump was the 10th highest by any
American woman at any event in history. Her title not only set a new
junior world record, she also became the youngest gold medal winner
ever in indoor high jump. And she could have cleared an even higher
height if necessary.
Cunningham turned pro and signed with
Nike the next day. On July 3, she qualified for Rio. She's the youngest
track and field Olympian in 36 years. Cunningham has become one of the
sensational Olympic stories this summer; when she jumps next week, she
can become the ninth American woman ever to clear 2 meters.
But this is expected to only be the start. Because Cunningham -- the
daughter of one of the most riveting NFL talents ever -- could have the
genes, legs and work ethic to break barriers and eventually be known as
an undeniable, special high-jump talent.
Maybe, in time, the best ever.
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