NEWARK — Josh Moore’s competitive edge will not dull. A wrestler and pole vaulter at Newark High School, Moore wasted no time finding his next endeavor. He graduated in June and has made remarkable strides with his weight lifting since first taking the sport seriously during his freshman year. Competing in the Kurt Angle Ultimate Teen Challenge at the Arnold Classic in March, Moore placed first in three events in his 17-to-19 age group. In the bench press competition, a competitor ahead of Moore set a record. “There were like three or four guys left to do the bench press, and he reset the record right before me,” Moore said. “That is what pushed me to get that one or two extra reps to win it. It was me, saying, ‘Now, I know what I need to do.’” Moore bettered him, lifting 115 pounds — 70 percent of his body weight –49 times in one minute. Moore also won the dips and inverted rows events. He placed second overall in ages 13 to 19.
Daily Archives: June 21, 2012
100 Olympic Tidbits: Russia’s Champion Pole Vaulter
Elena Isinbaeva of Russia is the current Olympic women’s pole vault champion and current world record holder in the event. She has topped the event in the past two Olympiads and will be aiming for a third consecutive gold in London.
Isinbaeva shifted to athletics at the age of 16 after she grew too tall to be a gymnast, which was what she originally trained to be. She quickly showed her aptitude for her new sport by winning a gold medal in just her third tournament, the World Youth Games. By 2003, she had already set her first world record.A year later, Isinbaeva was battling against compatriot Svetlana Feofanova for the gold medal in Athens. She cleared 4.91 meters, a world record at the time, and secured the gold when Feofanova failed to clear 4.90 in her last attempt. A year later, she set another world record, becoming the first female athlete to clear 5.01 meters. In Beijing, she won her second Olympic gold, although she needed two vaults to set another world record of 5.05 meters more
Bath UK Vaulter Has Hopes For Success
A City of Bath College sports student is aiming high after representing Great Britain at the pole vault. Hannah Grubb, 17, was selected to represent the country in the under 20s international athletics championships at Loughborough and, despite getting a late call up, took an impressive second place. “I was really pleased with how I did,” said the Trowbridge teenager. “I only found out at the last moment that I was in the team, which probably helped me as it didn’t give me a lot of time to get nervous. “I was really excited before the event and to take second place was a pretty good result. It was a great event to be part of. To be selected to represent Great Britain is a huge privilege and an achievement I’m really proud of.” Hannah is part of Team Bath and trains five days a week at the University of Bath’s Sports Training Village. “You have to be really disciplined if this is something you want to be successful at – and be willing to give up your social life!” she said. “I enjoy what I’m doing though and just plan to keep working hard and seeing how far I can go.” Hannah said she was enjoying her course at City of Bath College – the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sports Science and Exercise. “It’s a very good course and I’m enjoying it a lot. I’d like to go to the University of Bath after College and study further.” source
Europe’s top junior in form, Croatian pole vaulter Horvat clears 5.60m
Some of Europe’s top junior athletes produced outstanding marks on Sunday, which indicated their medal potential at the forthcoming World Junior Championships in Barcelona next month.
There was a Croatian senior pole vault record for Ivan Horvat in Varazdin when he went over 5.60m, the second best performance by a junior this year. It’s the fifth absolute national record for Horvat, who started setting them when he was a youth two years ago.
In Barcelona, he will be looking to eradicate the memory of failing to clear a height in qualification at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Tallinn last summer, where he was arguably the gold medal favourite.
The IAAF World Junior Championships will be held in Barcelona between July 10-15. more
Dennison aiming for a new high at Olympic trials
POLE-vaulter Kate Dennison insists she has been performing better than scoreboards have suggested this season – and is eager to prove the point at this weekend’s Olympic trials. The 28-year-old from Alsager had long been the poster girl of British women’s pole-vaulting, breaking the national record 10 times in 2009. However, she has had to play second fiddle over the past year to compatriot Holly Bleasdale, who has raised the bar to 4.87m, way ahead of Dennison’s best of 4.61m. With the top two at the trials in Birmingham set for a spot at London 2012, it would take a brave punter to bet against the duo both featuring at the Olympic Stadium. But with Dennison keen to prove that she has been performing better than a season’s best 4.52m suggests, she is adamant she heads to the Alexander Stadium not about to settle for second best. “Training and competitions have been going OK ahead of the trials,” she said. “I am in a fairly good position heading into the trials with a couple of A standards under my belt. Continue reading
