HOLLY BLEASDALE The 21 year-old Lancashre lass only took up pole-vaulting four years ago but has been a revelation this year, winning world indoor bronze on her senior debut in March.
KATE DENNISON: Pole vault. Age: 28.
STEVE LEWIS: Pole vault.Age: 26
Australia –2012, FOX Sports screens a new doco, 18 months in the making, that showcases the highs and lows of champion pole vaulter Steve Hooker. In a one-hour special premiering on Friday 6 Friday 6 July at 9.30 July at 9.30pm AEST pm AEST, FOX Sports goes behind the scenes to find out what drives Hooker, and how the support of his family, coaches, friends and his own personal determination are helping him overcome obstacles to reach new career heights.
The documentary tracks Hooker’s progress through his much-publicised struggles with a crushing lack of confidence on the runway which threatened to derail his London campaign before it began.
Australia’s first ever Olympic pole vault champion, the 29-year-old Victorian’s personal best vault of 6.06 metres ranks him as the second highest pole-vaulter in history behind only the legendary Sergey Bubka. He is considered one of Australia’s key medal prospects in London. more
HELSINKI (AP) – Renault Lavillenie of France scaled a world-leading 5.97 meters to retain his pole vault title at the European Championships on Sunday, beating a top-class field he will face again at the London Olympics.Lavillenie was one jump away from losing his hold on the European title after two misses at 5.82, but he responded brilliantly.Bjoern Otto of Germany vaulted a personal best of 5.92 to stay with the Frenchman, but failed three times at 6.02 while attempting to win the title.In the best competition of the five-day championships, Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany took bronze with 5.77.The event had the top five performers of 2012 in the lineup, and the top two went higher than the year’s previous best of 5.91.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/track_field/wires/07/01/2080.ap.ath.europeans.0155/index.html#ixzz1zghWT644
| name | team | mark | status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timothy Duckworth | 48-PhoenixBobca | 4.25 | D |
| Connor Jennison | 48-Unattached Connor Jennison | 3.35 | D |
| Erik Schlinke | 53-TeamEliteAC | 3.35 | D |
| Paulo Benavides | 53-TeamEliteAC | 4.45 | D |
| Wiley Saavedra | 53-Unattached Wiley Saavedra | 3.65 | D |
| name | team | mark | status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Walker | 42-MileHighVaul | 3.80 | D |
| Jerret Burnett | 42-MileHighVaul | 3.50 | D |
| Scott Marshall | 48-UltimateHigh | 4.40 | D |
| Justin Tobin | 48-Unattached | 4.10 | D |
| Sam Sanchez | 53-TeamEliteAC | 4.30 | D |
| Shanahan Vigil | 53-TeamEliteAC | 3.50 | D |
| name | team | mark | status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexis DeVries | 42-MeadowCityTC | 2.29 | D |
| Lauren Martinez | 42-MileHighVaul | 3.35 | D |
| Meaghan Martinez | 42-MileHighVaul | 2.29 | D |
| Vanessa Davis | 48-UltimateHigh | 3.48 | D |
| Kaija Bramwell | 48-Unattached Kaija Bramwell | 3.33 | D |
| Elise Machen | 53-TeamEliteAC | 3.20 | D |
| name | team | mark | status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meredith Harrington | 42-MileHighVaul | 2.90 | D |
| Danielle Houle | 53-TeamEliteAC | 3.20 | D |
2012 Prep Boys – Pole Vault
2012
2012 Prep Girls – Pole Vault
2012
Fisher, Brittney – SO Alabama 5-00.00
Harry Marra guides pupil Ashton Eaton to decathlon record–When Ashton Eaton broke the world record in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic trials last month, he looked around for his personal coach, Harry Marra of Cohoes. Eaton, 24, and Marra, 64, found one another among the throng at the University of Oregon’s storied Hayward Field. They put their hands on each other’s shoulders and touched heads. “You’re the world’s greatest athlete,” Marra told his pupil.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Coach-sitting-on-top-of-world-3682873.php#ixzz1zfIF331B
Olympic legend Michael Johnson says a ‘superior athletic gene’ in the descendants of West African slaves means black American and Caribbean sprinters will command the sport at the London Games. The Olympic gold medallist and BBC commentator said: ‘Over the last few years, athletes of Afro- Caribbean and Afro-American descent have dominated athletics finals. ‘It’s a fact that hasn’t been discussed openly before. It’s a taboo subject in the States but it is what it is. Why shouldn’t we discuss it?’ Reigning Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt was born in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, where British Olympic boss Lord Coe’s plantation-owning ancestor George Hyde Park had 297 slaves. Of the eight 100m finalists four years ago, three were Jamaicans, two came from Trinidad and Tobago, two were Afro-American and one, representing the Netherlands, was born on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. All eight are believed to be descended from slaves.
