ONE of Cyprus’ most talented athletes, high jumper Kyriakos Ioannou, has won the event at the prestigious Diamond League meeting in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.

The competition, as well as nearly all of the Track and Field events, was severely disrupted by rain.

World indoor high jump champion Ivan Ukhov failed to clear his opening height of 2.15m and the event duly turned into a three-way battle between Olympic champion Andrey Silnov of Russia, world championship bronze medalist Raul Spank of Germany and world silver medalist Ioannou.

All three cleared 2.28m, but were unable to jump 2.30m.

Ioannou and Silnov then went into a jump-off, with the 26-year-old Cypriot taking the eventual victory on the countback rule.

After the first three Diamond League High Jump events, Ioannou leads the overall standings with six points after finishing second in Doha in early May and seventh at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon last week.

Spank shares second place with American Jesse Williams, both with five points, while Silnov is fourth with four.

Ioannou and Williams share the top spot when considering the highest height cleared, as they both managed to jump 2.33m in Doha.

Source :Cyprus Mail