After her spectacular jumps from a height of 20 meters, diver Anna Bader spoke openly about her fears before the World Championships. “There was a lot of preparation going on, mixed feelings: a lot of fear, a lot of doubts,” said the 40-year-old and mentioned some concerns. “Do I know where I am in the air? Am I in control? Of course, a lot of scenarios come to mind,” said Bader. “For me there was also a fear: What do people think? I am a mother, I am old comparatively. At 40, I’m already the more experienced one here.”
The fact that her jumps went well into a specially constructed pool in the harbor and in front of the Doha skyline and that she ended up sixth made Bader cheer loudly. “Yeah, crazy! “How cool is that?” she shouted on Wednesday when the result was announced. “I’m so happy that I’m so close to the top of the world, I can hardly believe it.” She wanted a top 10 placement in her “wildest dreams”. The result has now confirmed her wishes. “I knew: I could still do it,” said Bader.
After four jumps, the 32-year-old Australian Rhiannan Iffland became world champion in high diving (also known as cliff diving) with 342 points ahead of the two Canadians Molly Carlson (320.70) and Jessica Macaulay (320.35). Anna Bader got 291.80 points. Maike Halbisch (Waiblingen) came 15th (196.35 points), European champion Iris Schmidbauer (Dresden) did not start on the second day of the competition after an injury in training.
Anna Bader on the air: “There was a lot of progress in the preparation, mixed feelings: a lot of fear, a lot of doubts” : Image: dpa
In the men’s category, Manuel Halbisch, brother of Maike Halbisch, is 23rd after two rounds with 98.90 points. Cologne’s Tim Thesing was withdrawn from the competition for safety reasons after suffering a minor back injury in the first jump. The men, who jump from a height of 27 m, will compete in their final two rounds on Thursday (9:02 a.m. CET).
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She left it open whether Bader would be there again at the next World Cup. “I’ve stopped and started again so many times,” she said and laughed. Bader reported that her family was watching the competition at home with excitement and, referring to a difficult jump in their competition program, revealed: “My mother said: no risk. I couldn’t really stick to it.”