By Jonathan Liew

So if Holly Bleasdale can become one of the favourites for an Olympic medal in just over three years, how far can you get in an hour? Pole vaulting hardly seems like the most intuitive of events, and this is borne out in a coaching session with Julien Raffalli.

Women Pole Vault

1 Carpenter, Cara Arizona State ______________________ _______

2 Williams, Keegan Grand Canyon ______________________ _______

3 Ernst, Jessica Grand Canyon ______________________ _______

4 Groves, Ashley Paradise Valley ______________________ _______

5 Lantz, Lisa Northern Arizona ______________________ _______

6 Warren, Brittney Grand Canyon ______________________ _______

7 Simpson, Shaylah Arizona State ______________________ _______

8 Kuenzi, Linda Arizona State ______________________ _______

9 Cain, Laura Risen Performance ______________________ _______

10 Palmer, Lacey Arizona State ______________________ _______

11 Raub, Theresa Unattached ______________________ _______

12 Kubishta, April Unattached ______________________ _______ Continue reading →

How did Dick Fosbury come up with the ‘Fosbury Flop’ that saw him win Olympic high jump gold in 1968 – and what’s he been up to since?

 

A TRUE SPORTING INNOVATOR

“OK, that’s it. I’m not sure exactly what you’re doing, but it’s working for you. So stick with it, I guess.”

Oregon State high jump coach Berny Wagner had given up. Like Dick Fosbury’s previous coaches he had tried, and failed, to teach the lanky kid from Medford in Oregon the near-enough universally used ‘straddle technique’ – the most popular variant of which was known as the ‘western roll’ – to try and improve his pupil’s solid, but unspectacular, jumps.

The year was 1967 and Fosbury had just broken his university’s high jump record with a leap of 2.10 metres in winning an event in Fresno, California – the jump was a full 80cm better than anything Fosbury had produced the previous season.

When in high school, Fosbury enjoyed a similar leap in productivity, and on both occasions it came only after he had abandoned the high jump style du jour of going over the high jump bar face down before lifting your legs individually over the bar. Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES — International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Wednesday night that there’s no ideal time for the United States to make another bid to host an Olympics.

With international and U.S. Olympic leaders so far unable to resolve a financial dispute that is blocking any U.S. bid for the games, it might not happen until 2024.

Rogge spoke on the University of Southern California campus a day before the IOC Conference on Women and Sport opens in Los Angeles.

Asked when the U.S. will know when the time is right to bid again, Rogge said: “When I open the envelope and read off the name. There is no ideal time; you have to go off your own strength.”

“We have some spots where we still want to go, like Africa,” he said. Continue reading →

In an extensive report released Wednesday, Human Rights Watch, a New-York based advocacy group, called on the International Olympic Committee to take a harder line with Saudi Arabia’s national Olympic committee unless it enacted significant sports reforms.

North Carolina –Ethan Smith made it look easy.

Waltzing into the pole vaulting lineup at 13 feet at the 2A state winter track meet Saturday, Feb. 11, the Cedar Ridge High School junior smoothly cleared heights on up to his personal record of 14 feet, 6 inches, before finally missing at 15 feet—and still snagging first in the 2A division and beating the heights of the 1A and 3A winners as well.

Libby Florence also competed for the Red Wolves, taking fourth in the 2A for high jump. Continue reading →

Louisville, Kentucky–Bellarmine University pole vaulter Bryan Gennett was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Week after an impressive performance over the weekend.

The senior from Indianapolis cleared 16 feet, 2¾ inches (4.95 meters) in the Grand Valley State Big Meet for third place overall and first among collegiate athletes.

Gennett already has earned an NCAA automatic qualifying mark with a vault of 16-11½ (5.17 meters), which is second in all of NCAA Division II.

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University of Montana –On Feb. 3, junior pole-vaulter Keith Webber sprinted down the runway, dug his pole into the box, sprang his body up over the high bar and fell onto the pit.

For Webber, falling into the pit after clearing the bar is “one of the best feelings in the world, almost surreal.”

However, this vault was different. On his third attempt, Webber successfully vaulted a 16-1.75 bar. This was the first time in his career that he cleared 16 feet.

“It was great. I was really, really happy,” he said. “I had been trying to do that since my senior year of high school.”

Breaking 16 feet was a big accomplishment in Webber’s career. But he doesn’t want to stop there. He has bigger goals — and heights — in mind for the rest of his career. Continue reading →

Darien was stripped of its Class L girls indoor track title Wednesday due a scoring error.

Windsor was awarded the title by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, making Darien the runner-up by a 71-70 margin.

The official CIAC explanation for the change is as follows:

“During the seeding for Saturday’s girls indoor track State Open, it was discovered that a data input error had caused incorrect results to be distributed at Monday’s Class L Championship Meet and subsequently be posted on the CIAC website.

“A Darien High School girls pole vaulter was listed in a four-way tie for third, which would have been worth 3.5 points for the team. During the seeding for the open it was determined the vaulter should actually have been listed in 7th place due to the number of misses tiebreaker. Continue reading →

So i was a gymnast for 10 years and when i quit i went in to diving. I did it competitively for 4 years and did pretty well. Then i took a little break and started pole vaulting. I got pretty good at pole vaulting. I like both of the sports ALOT and have the ability to get scholarships to a D1 school in both. BUT my problem is i’m a 10th grader and need to start focusing on one of the two sports. I can still do both, but i need to start thinking of which one i would like to do. What do you think? I really enjoy both and idk. my sister vaults in college but AHHH

Best Answer – Chosen by Asker

Spending an afternoon with a national-caliber Division I track and field program made Tuesday a special day for first-year Coconino High School track and field head coach Tera Larsen and her team of prep athletes.

“This was an amazing experience for our kids, and was something I had always wanted to be a part of as a collegiate athlete,” said Larsen, who competed in the heptathlon and the pole vault for NAU from 2002-2006. “This is a wonderful opportunity both for the NAU student-athletes to coach a little bit, and for the high school athletes to see a little bit of what collegiate athletics is like.” Continue reading →

Name: James Dove.

Nickname: “No Love Dove,” self-proclaimed “Big D,” “Lovey Dovey.

School: Princeton High School.

Place of birth: Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hometown: Princeton. illinois

Family: Stepfather, Chris Reed; mother, Christine Dove; sister, Nicole.

Sports: Wrestling, track.

Favorite sport and why: Ugh? Don’t have one.

Ultimate sports fantasy: Win state in the pole vault. Continue reading →