Venezuela's Peido reaches top of pole vault world ranking

Caracas, May 12: Venezuelan pole vaulter Robeilys Peido has climbed to the first spot in the Under 20 world ranking, the Venezuelan Athletics Federation has announced.

Peido, 18, secured first place after winning the silver medal in the Street Pole Vault tourment held in Athens, Greece recently, reports Xinhua.

“I am happy and thankful to God for all the opportunities, experience and learning that he has given me every day,” said the Venezuelan athlete through social networks on Wednesday after receiving her medal in Athens’ Syntagma Square, along with the tourment’s best athletes.

In May 2015, Peido won her ticket to Rio 2016 after jumping 4.6 metres, four centimetres short of the youth world record which is currently held by New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney.

With the 4.6 metres jump, the Venezuelan athlete qualified for the Olympics as she jumped higher than the height fixed by the Intertiol Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) which was 4.5 metres.

In 2016, Peido registered an pole vault of 4.5 metres which was enough to come away with first place in the in the IAAF’s ranking.

With this jump, she knocked Mackenzie Shell, from the United States, off the top spot who had registered a jump of 4.41 metres. IANS