It was an effort that took the breath out of competitors and audiences.
- It was such a crazy competition, hope it was fun to watch. It feels a bit strange to be six at (4) 80 but it is still a Swedish record and the way I took it I am very pleased with my efforts, I have to be satisfied, Bengtsson tells SVT Sport.
What happens before the fourth attempt of 4.80?
- I've never broken a stick before and wondered what happens; when people have broken a stick you have still ended up in the carpet but I did not really land in the carpet. I got the feeling that I had missed the carpet then but I did not understand why I had missed the pit because I got the stick in the back and pondered what was happening. Then I thought of the audience and it probably thought that something dangerous had happened and then I stood up as soon as I regained consciousness, she explains.
"I've always wanted to break a stick"She sees the jump in a television montage:
- Oh my god, hahaha. I have always wanted to break a rod and am very happy but then it became chaos when I did not find my rod, I changed the rod before this jump and had a stiffer rod. I didn't get the technique right and changed the rod. Then I had put away my second stick that I had in the jump before and it was suddenly gone. Shit the same I thought because I would still change the stick to this hope. But when the rod was broken I had to have the second stick but it was still gone, says Bengtsson, who asked around among officials and competitors in English and French in search of his rod. All while the race clock ticked.
One of Bengtsson's best friends on the tour, training buddy Ninon Guillon-Romarin, who helped Bengtsson win the Diamond League gala in Rome in June on the then Swedish record 4.76 offered one of their sticks.
"She was really embarrassed"- When she opened the case, my wand was there, she was really embarrassed, but after what happened in Rome she had one up on me and now we are rid of it but it was very comical, laughs Bengtsson, who himself did the same for a couple of weeks then at the European-USA international when she accidentally hid Anzhelika Sidorova's stake, the Russian who won the stake count tonight under a neutral flag.
- When she found her wand she managed immediately and so I did tonight. All the chaos gave me extra energy which enabled me to cope. My competitors said that maybe I needed to break a stick for not thinking anything, so I don't know if that's the best hope, Bengtsson thinks.
The 4.85 jump was made with a stick she had never jumped with before.
"I need to jump more at 4.85 with that stick," she sums up.