Jeff Hartwig reflects on the Olympics

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Jeff Hartwig
Francis Howell • Pole vault • Qualifying round

No one had waited longer to return to the Olympics than St. Charles native Jeff Hartwig. A member of the U.S. team in 1996, Hartwig missed qualifying in 2000 and 2004, so he was ready to enjoy every moment of his second — and last — Olympic experience, at age 40.

"I had the best of both worlds, aside from winning a medal," Hartwig said. "To be able to compete on home soil in Atlanta was amazing. Just about everybody in the stands was rooting for you. But the big U.S. athletes were spread all over Atlanta. In Beijing, almost the entire team stayed in the village. That made it more of a collective experience."

The pole-vaulting competition was rife with glitches. It was scheduled late to avoid a conflict with the women's javelin, then was delayed after the men's 200 meters, when the crowd erupted into "Happy Birthday" for Usain Bolt after his world-record victory. By the time the preliminaries ended, after midnight, the stands were empty, and Hartwig had just missed the qualifying mark.

"I never got rattled, but I ran out of gas," he said. "That was the age catching up to me. To drag out a competition like that was too much for me."

After the Olympics, Hartwig flew home to St. Louis, then turned around 24 hours later and was off to Europe for the final month of his pole vaulting career.

"It's an anticlimactic way to end the season," said Hartwig, a graduate of Francis Howell. "The European meets want to attract the medalists right afterwards, but after the Olympics, a lot of athletes don't compete because they've put so much into it that they cut their seasons short."

By then, Hartwig had laid the groundwork for his transition. He became a brand ambassador for Gill Athletics, which makes track and field equipment, and an agent who represents 18 track and field athletes. He returned to St. Charles in October but travels to more meets now than he did as an athlete, watching his guys.

"It's retirement in the sense that my life has changed dramatically. It doesn't mean you sit at home and do nothing," Hartwig said, adding that he suffers withdrawal pains, "every single day. I hate being done because I loved doing it. But do I consider coming out of retirement? No. My time has passed."