A beautiful Belgian record for Fanny Smets (4.53m) at the Belgian indoor championships

CABW athlete Fanny Smets improved her Belgian indoor pole vault record by crossing 4m53 on her 2nd attempt on Saturday during the Belgian Championships held in Louvain-la-Neuve. Smets, 34, who is also a doctor of medicine, had already improved the Belgian record on January 16 in Bordeaux by leaping to 4.51m. She then tried three times a bar of 4.61 which would have qualified for the European Championships in Torun (March 5-7) in Poland.

Smets is also the holder of the national outdoor record with 4m51 since August 24, 2019 in Leuven. Looking ahead to the Tokyo Olympics, the pole vaulter had an excellent operation. If it is necessary to wait for the publication of the Olympic “rankings” on Tuesday, it is likely that Fanny Smets goes from 33rd to 28th place. The 32 best will be invited to go to Tokyo.

“I am satisfied, but not 100%”Smets said after the fact. “I would still have liked to skip the limit for the European indoor championships”. It was a special edition of the national championships in Louvain-la-Neuve: few competitors and no supporters. “I didn’t mind that there was no competition today, but that there was no atmosphere, though.”, she clarified.

As thirteenth in the European ranking of 2021, Fanny Smets can still hope to be drafted for the European indoor championships.