Ivan Ukhov, last night won the Olympic gold medal for Russia, in the men's high jump. His winning jump of 2.38m was 5cm's higher than his nearest rival but, this doesn't tell the whole story.
When preparing for his first jump at 2.33m he couldn't find his competition shirt. After a frantic search he was ordered by an official to put on any shirt and add his spare number. He then showed how good he is by clearing this height at the first attempt. It was incredibly funny to see him on hands and knees in his desperate search.
Some years earlier however he achieved notoriety for competing drunk. In 2008 he was a competitor at Athletissima and displayed a complete lack of respect for the high jump discipline. After staggering around at the end of his run up he then attempted to take of his tracksuit bottoms. He then prepared himself to start his run up.
After a couple of minutes, where he then pretended to redo his boot laces, a marshall asked him to hurry up and get on with the jump. Here is the result of the jump
So, it is reassuring to see someone go from a laughing stock to an Olympic champion.
Fair Play Ivan Ukhov.
