Alysha Newman 2nd in Zrich pole vault to secure Diamond League Final berth [Video]

Alysha Newman is headed to her fourth Diamond League Final, and first in five years, after nearly matching her Canadian record performance from the recent Paris Olympics.

She cleared 4.82 metres for second place behind Olympic champion Nina Kennedy of Australia to open the Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League track and field meet on Wednesday.

In Newman’s only previous appearance in Zürich, the 30-year-old also posted a 4.82 clearance on Aug. 28, 2019.

“This is one of my favourite competitions in the year. I love the intimacy of the crowd and getting all this energy from the crowd. You feel that people want us to succeed,” she said of competing indoors at Zürich’s central train station.

“Of course, I would have like to beat Nina today. She is such jumping so consistently and beautifully.”

Newman cleared 4.73 a week ago at the Golden Gala in Rome in her first competition since a 4.85 effort for …