Buss upsets former champions for first title

German Martin Buss pulled off a huge upset when he defeated an array of former champions in the men's high jump to win his first global title at the world championships on Wednesday.

Buss, a bronze medallist at the 1999 championships, was the only man to clear 2.36 metres with Russians Yaroslav Rybakov and Vyacheslav Voronin, the 1999 world champion, sharing the silver medal with 2.33 metres.

The result was a surprise. The 25-year-old Buss missed last year's Sydney Olympics because of an Achilles tendon operation and had struggled earlier in the season with his form.

But the German said: "This is wonderful because I have had such a lousy season.

"There was bad weather in Germany earlier in the season and I struggled a bit. I thought it was because I had some injury problems.

"But it was all in my head. I went for a few tests at the doctor and he said I was perfectly fit."

Buss said he began to think about a place on the podium at his training camp in Calgary just before the championships.

"I felt I had it in me when I was jumping well in training. The last training I had went so well I started to think I could get a medal here. I felt I had the power that was needed for it."

Buss was in the company of a high-class field but showed tremendous nerve.

Having failed once at 2.33, he took the gamble of skipping two other attempts at the height, which Cuba's world record holder Javier Sotomayor and the two Russian medallists had both cleared.

Buss said: "I passed my two jumps from 2.33 because at that point I did not have a chance to medal as there were already three guys over that height. I had to risk it to get what I wanted, which was a medal."

The Leverkusen athlete failed with his first attempt at 2.36 but cleared with his second and last attempt to secure gold as his three rivals failed in their three attempts at the height.

"My jump over 2.36 metres was nearly perfect, something like 99 per cent," said Buss.

Sotomayor was chasing the third world title of his career but could only finish fourth. He also cleared 2.33 but lost out on a medal on the countback because he needed more attempts in the competition than Voronin and Rybakov.

Sotomayor was competing in the country where the toughest ordeal of his career began two years ago when he failed a drug test for cocaine at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg.

The Cuban missed the last world championships because of a ban after the test.

Olympic champion Sergey Klyugin of Russia went out of the competition in the fourth round when he failed at 2.33, having needed two attempts to jump 2.30.

Algeria's Olympic bronze medallist Abderahmane Hammad also crashed out early on when he failed at 2.25 metres. American Charles Austin, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic champion, failed to make an impact, clearing 2.20 but failing at 2.30.