Pole vaulter Angelica Moser often delivers when it counts. She seems to be ready for the World Championships in Tokyo, but first she wants to shine at Weltklasse Zürich on Wednesday.
27.08.2025, 10:00
SDA
Angelica Moser's coach Adrian Rothenbühler told Keystone-SDA on Sunday at the Swiss Championships before his protégé's first jump that they were on the right track when it came to 4.80 meters. Moser jumped this height on her second attempt, having previously cleared 4.40, 4.50, 4.60 and 4.70 meters. The European champion improved her outdoor season's best by four centimeters.
With her performance in Frauenfeld, Moser also fulfilled another of Rothenbühler's wishes, namely that she could safely clear lower heights. "That was lost in the first half of the season," says the Swiss coach of the year 2019.
Foot injury set her back
That this was the case was no coincidence. Moser won bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing on 22 March after becoming European Indoor Champion for the second time in Apeldoorn two weeks earlier. However, two days before the competition in China, the 27-year-old from Zurich suffered a partial rupture of two of the three external ligaments in her left foot, which is why she had to train alternatively for "four weeks or so" after a week's vacation.
Moser took part in her first outdoor competition of the year at the end of May. Eight more followed until mid-July. Rothenbühler would have preferred her to have competed in fewer competitions in the first phase of the season, as the injury prevented her from building up properly. But he could understand Angelica Moser. In general, the two maintain open communication.
This made the three-week training block after the Diamond League meeting in London on July 19 all the more important. Rothenbühler is very satisfied with this. He had Moser complete a very high volume of running. In terms of speed, she is now back at a similar level to last year, when she finished 4th at the Olympic Games in Paris. This helps her to take harder bars again, which enable higher jumps.
Gaining confidence
Moser not only trained well, Rothenbühler also believes that she has changed her attitude. For him, it was a typical post-Olympic year. Moser told Keystone-SDA: "I'm a mega competitive type. It motivates me all the more when the big events are approaching. That's why the first half of the season wasn't so important for me because the World Championships (starting on September 13 and taking place in Tokyo) were so far away. I really like having a bit of pressure."
The first two competitions after the training block were characterized by rain, and only one jump was possible at the Athletissima in Lausanne. As the forecast for Thursday at Weltklasse Zürich, the main rehearsal for the World Championships, is also poor, the women's pole vault will now take place on Wednesday at Sechseläutenplatz, just like the men's event.
The strong performance in Frauenfeld gives Moser an additional boost. For the three attempts at the national record height of 4.89 m - her Swiss record is 4.88 m - she chose a pole height that she had not jumped for a long time. "That was certainly good," said Moser. "The competition gives me confidence. It was just a bit of a shame that we had quite a lot of headwind. But the conditions in Tokyo probably won't be perfect either."
On the starting position at the World Championships, Moser says: "There's a lot of variety at the moment, so it depends on who performs best on day X." It would be the European champion's first medal at the World Championships outdoors. But first she wants to gain further self-confidence in Zurich. Winning the Diamond Trophy in front of a home crowd would be another milestone in her already impressive career.
