Vaulter sprains ankle but OK

Olympic pole vault medal hope Kurtis Marschall has been cleared of serious injury after crashing out of the national championships.

Marschall, who won the bronze medal at last year’s world championships, had to be helped off the mat after injuring his leg late in the competition.

Scans on Sunday night ruled out any bone damage and relieved Athletics Australia officials confirmed one of their best medal hopes for Paris had dodged a bullet.

Marschall’s family rushed to his aid after the incident, which happened in one of the final events of the championships.

It put a sour note on what had been a homecoming for the Commonwealth champion, who grew up in Adelaide before moving to Perth in 2018.

He was on his second attempt at 5.72m when trouble struck. Despite being forced to retire, Marschall’s clearance of 5.62m was enough to win the national title.

AA high-performance manager Andrew Faichney said the injury “could have been a lot worse”.

“It’s better than we first thought,” Faichney said. “He sprained his ankle when he landed on the pole and he should be back in a few weeks’ time.

“(The scans) were clear of any bone issues and the follow-up this morning (Monday) confirmed it is just a sprain.

“Kurtis was supposed to compete in China this week and next week, at two Diamond League meets, but they are off now.

“He will hopefully be ready to go to Europe as planned in a few weeks.”

It has been a testing time recently for Marschall after his coach Paul Burgess suddenly resigned from the West Australian Institute of Sport.