Spain's Beitia wins Olympic high jump gold at 37

Spain's Ruth Beitia surprised the field to win her maiden major title of high jump at an age of 37 at the ongoing Rio Olympics here.

The Spaniard took the gold medal on a count-back after being one of four competitors with a best leap of 1.97m on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

As Mirela Demireva of Bulgaria, Blanka Vlasic of Croatia and Chaunte Lowe of the US all posted a best effort of 1.97m, Beitia came out the sole jumper succeeding in all her efforts of 1.88, 1.93 and 1.97 metres on her first attempts.

Demireva took the silver after failing her first attempt on 1.88, while Vlasic settled for a bronze with failure on all her first attempts of three heights.

Lowe, who leaped over 1.88 and 1.93 once for all, narrowly missed a podium finish as the 32-year-old didn't clear the 1.97m bar until her third attempt.

--IANS

gau/sm/vt