Angelica Moser, Switzerland's second medal winner in athletics, also fails to win a medal. Like Simon Ehammer, the pole vaulter finished an ungrateful fourth. But her progress is striking.
08.08.2024, 07:00
SDA
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- Angelica Moser finishes 4th in the pole vault.
- On the one hand, she is proud of her performance, but when so little is missing for a medal, she is still disappointed. And that will be the case for a while yet.
- "The path is right," says Moser and adds: "The goal is definitely to make it onto the podium at the next Olympic Games (2028 in Los Angeles)."
Like long jumper Simon Ehammer the day before, Angelica Moser also appears in the mixed zone with watery eyes. The 26-year-old from Zurich also had a good competition with a jump of 4.80 m and even achieved the best classification of a Swiss athlete at the Olympic Games. However, this was little consolation for Moser. "If someone had told me a year and a half ago that I would finish fourth here, I wouldn't have believed it." But when so little is missing for a medal, you are still disappointed. And that will be the case for a while.
Moser could not blame herself, she had only jumped higher once before, in mid-July at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco, where she set a Swiss record of 4.88 meters. The three misses - two at 4.85 m and one at 4.90 - were also "good jumps. To reach heights where the air gets thin, everything has to fit together to the millimeter. In the end, three were a bit luckier," explained Moser.
Even if that doesn't help her at the moment, she can be proud of her development. In June, she won the European Championship title in Rome, and in May she triumphed for the first time in the Diamond League in Marrakesh. "Nobody can take that away from me, it's been an incredible season so far, the only thing missing is the icing on the cake," said Moser.
Proven courage
Her progress is no coincidence; difficult times made her stronger. In 2020, Moser showed a lot of courage when she talked about her eating disorder. She said she was addicted to sugar and talked about binge eating. The topic of weight was omnipresent in her life. She sought help and overcame her eating disorder.
However, weight was still an issue, as the strength-to-weight ratio has a direct influence on performance in pole vaulting. "We talked openly and honestly about this topic and found a good basis for discussion," said coach Adrian Rothenbühler in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. It was about what effect it would have if so and so many kilos were lost. However, Rothenbühler emphasized: "It was never a dominant factor."
Fitter than ever
It is clear that Moser has implemented the possible steps mentioned. She is as fit as she has ever been, which also has to do with her athletic training. Rothenbühler, who has been the Zurich-based athlete's overall coach since spring 2023, is an absolute expert in this field - including when it comes to strength training for women.
Rothenbühler also knows exactly how someone can be made faster; he used to train Mujinga Kambundji, among others. His approach with Moser was to start from the back, i.e. with the run-up and the transition, where she also made progress this year, as in the strength area. "If you already have a bad run-up, you don't have to correct anything on the jump. We made small adjustments," said Rothenbühler.
Already fighting again
Due to the significant increase in speed, Moser "now has a different energy, which helps," says Rothenbühler. When it comes to the pole vault element, he is in close contact with the highly experienced German expert Herbert Czingon, a former coach of Moser. "It's a good construct that way," said Rothenbühler. Czingon insisted that Moser's grip width should be slightly narrower, "so that the left arm comes overhead when she jabs. She is now able to do this and can therefore roll in better and faster," explained Rothenbühler.
All of this and the fact that Moser has been able to train consistently have contributed to her jumping at a higher level this season. Before this year, her best performance was 4.75 m. Now she wants to stabilize at the higher level. "The path is right," said Moser, adding: "The goal is definitely to make it onto the podium at the next Olympic Games (2028 in Los Angeles)."
