A world-class pole vaulter who once ate worm green beans and maggoty mashed potatoes on the reality TV program “Fear Factor” has shared her athletic expertise with a group of about seven Payson High School track and field team members.April Steiner Bennett did so July 17 on PHS track where Longhorn pole-vaulting coach Bo Althoff, the school record-holder, joined her in the session.Steiner Bennett, a friend of Althoff’s, called him last week to ask if she might come to cooler weather in Payson, from her Valley-area home, to work out and practice her pole vaulting craft.“I told her ‘sure, come on up,’” Althoff said.After Steiner Bennett received the OK to come to Payson, Althoff issued an invitation to PHS pole vaulters to join in on the workout to see if they could pick up tips from Steiner Bennett, who was eighth in the 2008 Olympic Games and second at the Olympic Trials. more
Daily Archives: July 20, 2012
USA took vaulting gold in last London Olympics, in 1948
Guinn Smith had no business winning a gold medal in the pole vault at the 1948 London Olympics and he knew it.It wasn’t just that he was 28 years old and seven years removed from winning an NCAA title while at Cal. Or that he was married with a nine-month-old son at home in the Bay Area.It wasn’t the toll he paid while flying cargo planes over “The Hump” of the Himalayas into China during World War II. Or the doctors who later told him the knee injury he exacerbated during a crash landing would never completely heal.It was the London rain.”When I saw the rain, I got discouraged,” Smith said in a 1985 interview with the Oakland Tribune. “I’d never competed in the rain. I really did not expect to do well.”Turns out, he was the only one who conquered the elements that day in London. Bob Richards, who won gold medals in the pole vault in 1952 and ’56 but settled for a bronze at London, said rain fell on Wembley Stadium for nine straight hours before Smith prevailed.”It was the most miserable, God-awfullest conditions ever for pole vaulting,” recalled Richards, whose face would later grace the Wheaties box. “He was heroic jumping 14 feet in that weather. He deserved that gold medal.”The pole vault runway was under an inch of water most of the day, the sand landing pit hardened by the constant downpour.Smith, who died at the age of 83 in 2004, had a few secret weapons.Between attempts, Smith more
Thirty-two UCLA Bruins are headed to London
From two incoming Bruin freshmen who have yet to attend a class on campus to a veteran Bruin alumna who will be competing in her fifth Olympics, UCLA will be well-represented at the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London this summer.Thirty-two Bruins are taking part in the 2012 Olympic Games, which are being held from July 27–Aug. 12. Twenty-four of them are athletes and eight are coaches or delegation members. Twenty-two will represent the United States, while 10 will represent eight other countries: Australia, Canada (2), Great Britain (2), Ireland, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand and Poland including Yoo Kim (pole vault, Korea) more
Dave Barry: Survival guide for Britain’s Olympic Games
By DAVE BARRY — McClatchy Newspapers
“The Olympic Games.” Without question, these are the three most exciting words in all of sports, except for “nude Jell-O wrestling.” And that is why, for the next two weeks, millions of Americans will tune in to NBC to watch the greatest athletes from every part of the globe, except those parts of the globe that are located outside of the United States, because NBC’s longstanding Olympic policy is to avoid, at all costs, exposing its viewers to foreign athletes. This year the Olympics are being held in London, which is in a festive mood, having just held a “jubilee” to celebrate the Queen’s 350th birthday. The city has spent $15 billion on preparations for the Olympics, including $5.8 billion for the world’s largest umbrella, the “Jumbo-rella,” which, in the event of rain, will automatically pop up and unfurl to cover the entire greater London metropolitan area, encompassing 2,158,597 hectares (one hectare = 17 liters). Because of unanticipated construction delays, the Jumbo-rella will not be field-tested until 3 a.m. on the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies; as a precaution, London authorities are recommending that, during the test, all residents temporarily relocate to “a safe area, such as Wales.”
Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/07/20/4121148/dave-barry-survival-guide-for.html#storylink=cpy
Hooker competing in Olympic mind games
Sydney, Australia –MENTAL note. Do not take up pole vaulting, archery, diving, gymnastics, darts or even watercolour painting. There are too many mental notes involved. Watercolour painting? Apparently the yips don’t discriminate on the basis of colour, whether water-based or not. What Australian pole vaulter Steve Hooker is going through now, would you believe, is something like what an artist goes through when they get the yips. Which, says sports psychologist Jeff Bond, they do. There’s no way to hide errors on the paper, Bond says, unlike when you paint with oils. ”If the first brush stroke is not the right colour, you’re doomed,” he says. Sport imitates art in Hooker’s case. Just replace the small brush with a 14-foot (4.26 metre) pole.Hooker’s story might not be one hurtling down the runway towards a happy ending, yet it is likely to be one of the more fascinating battles in the London Games. Not only is he battling a group of competitors who have grown in strength and stature since Hooker won gold in Beijing, but he is also fighting a mind in peak hour. After abandoning the domestic season because of his crisis of confidence, he only qualified for the Games after clearing 5.72m at his indoor training facility in Perth. Continue reading
Jeremy Scott:going to 2012 Olympics
There will be an amazing athelete by the name of Jeremy Scott attending the 2012 Olympics in London, England performing in the pole valut event. Scott is originally from Norfolk, Nebraska currently living in Arkansas. Jeremy Scott graduated from Norfolk High then went onto attend Alleghany College in Arkansas. Due to an accident from football, pole vaulting became the new interest. Now Scott has become a fantastic player in this type of eventful sport.According to Allegheny.edu, “Scott cleared 18 4-1/4 at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday night. He qualified for his first Olympic Games with a second-place finish in the event final of the pole vault.”Event records in USA Track & Field show great numbers of what this athelete can do when doing this competition. Scott’s best USA/World Ranking which show how well Scott does at this sport event. For example, in 2011, performing the sport indoor the recorded numbers at pole vaulting were 5.80m/19.0.25 which gave him the rating of being number one in the United States of America and Number seven in the world. more
Vaulting to new heights
Royalton, Ohio –Anton Krieger has known for a number of years that pole vault was an event he would like to try.He watched his older sister Briana compete for North Royalton High School, qualify for the state meet and place at the state indoor championships. Now, she competes at the University of Akron.While it may be another two years until the younger Krieger has an opportunity to test his skills at the prep level, that didn’t stop the seventh-grader from signing up for the second annual pole vault camp offered by North Royalton varsity assistant coach Mike Nary.”I’ve kind of always wanted to do this when I get to high school,” Krieger said. “I kinda wish they did it for seventh-grade.”He was one of nearly 19 individuals from three school districts who signed up for event-specific instruction at Serpentini Stadium on July 2, 3, 5 and 6.”We’re just trying to have a fun camp where the kids are learning, enjoying themselves and making friends,” said Nary of the camp that lasted four hours each day. Braving weather elements like humidity and heat that pushed 100 degrees, attendees of the clinic ranged from middle schoolers being introduced to vaulting to high schoolers from North Royalton, Walsh Jesuit and Parma. more
Missing in Action: Can Brazilian Pole Vaulter Fabiana Murer Rebound From Beijing?
At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Brazilian pole-vaulter Fabiana Murer would have been a good bet to challenge world record-holder Elena Isinbayeva — that is, if Chinese track-and-field officials hadn’t lost Murer’s pole. Murer entered the competition at 4.45 and was set to attempt 4.55. But the pole she uses for that height was missing. Poles vary in length and flexibility and vaulters select one depending on the height they are jumping, the weather conditions and how many jumps they have already completed. Murer brought 10 poles to the Bird’s Nest arena, but when she went to retrieve the one ideal for 4.55 she found – to her shock – it was missing.After searching frantically and futilely, a visibly upset Continue reading
