Alana's Olympic vault (Australia)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/fe ... pic-vault/

Alana's Olympic vault
12:00a.m. 20 February 2008 | By Jon Tuxworth
Alexandra Headland pole vaulter Alana Boyd is hopeful that “thinking about the process, not the outcomeâ€

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/fe ... jumps-joy/

Olympic hopeful jumps for joy
10:16p.m. 23 February 2008 | By Peter Gardiner
The scream as she fell back to earth was almost primal – as raw as the blow-torch heat that Alana Boyd had been feeling until that moment.

A moment that may propel the pole-vaulter into the Olympic Games in Beijing.

In front of an ecstatic home “crowdâ€

[Vault-emort]

I read she also cleared 4.45 the next day in Griffith.

The nationals over the weekend will be interesting as she has a poor competitive record. Hope she can get that monkey off her back this year and clear 4.55 and more in some permit and championship comps.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/sp ... 63633.html

Leaping Alana makes history
John Salvado | March 2, 2008 - 5:40PM
Ray Boyd knows where his daughter Alana got her sporting genes from.

But the indefatigable enthusiasm is more of a mystery.

The Queensland family will make sporting history in Beijing when Alana becomes the first Australian to join both of her parents in the exclusive Olympians club.

The 23-year-old guaranteed her berth on the 2008 Games team last night by winning the pole vault at the national titles with 4.45m.

It was the second time in a week that Boyd had cleared the A qualifying standard after a largely frustrating summer.

"Most of the season I was just deadset on 'I have to get this 4.45, I have to get this A," Alana Boyd said today.

"And often when you're looking for a height or a distance or a time, it doesn't come because you're too focussed on that and you forget about the process."

Ray was also getting nervous, although mother Denise never lost the faith.

Olympic dreams are in the family's blood.

Ray competed in the men's pole vault in the 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Olympics and Alana's mother Denise competed in the 100m and 200m events in Montreal and in Moscow in 1980. She made the 200m final both times.

"It's been tough at times, obviously coaching and having your kids in the sport, but it's been rewarding too," said Denise.

"Lots of lows but the highs are good.

"I don't get as frustrated because I'm not the coach.

"I'm the team psychologist, I think - the mother."

Remarkably, the Boyd story in Beijing could yet have another twist, with younger sister Jacinta an outside chance of qualifying in the long jump.

And youngest son Matt is no slouch either, having bettered the house record last week with a clearance of 5.35m in the pole vault - 5cm better than the personal best of his father, who competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

"Mum and dad have never put any pressure on us," Alana said today.

"We were never pushed into athletics and I was actually the one who said when I was 12 years old 'can I do Little Athletics?'

"And then my brother and my sister followed."

Ray said he and Denise never thought early on that any of their children would grow up to become Olympians.

"Then they start to show a a bit of form and you think 'hey , we might have something here'," he said.

"And then the next one shows a bit of form and the third one's showing a bit of form.

"The genes can play a part in the whole thing, but we don't know where the enthusiasm came from.

"They're a bit like when you say 'walkies' to the dog and he goes and gets the leash.

"When you've got to go training, they're in the back of the car ready to go.

"From a young age, they've just loved going out to the track."

"If it was just somebody going to the Olympics it would be OK because you'd been there," he added.

"But when it's your daughter it's pretty good, it's fulfilling."

Now that she has forced her way into the team, Alana - who has a personal best of 4.55m - is eyeing a place in the Beijing final.

And Ray says it's a realistic aim, particularly as by his reckoning she is one of only a handful of female competitors, including current world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva, with the physical capacity to vault like a man.

"The first thing is you've got to get into the final but I think she can jump into the top half-dozen," he said.

"But if you get into the final anything can happen because pole vault is a funny event."

Two other track and field athletes on the 2008 team - 400m and 800m runner Tamsyn Lewis and pole vaulter Steve Hooker - are the children of two former track and field stars.

But in each of those cases, only one of the parents made it to the Olympics.

And there are other famous Australian Olympic sporting dynasties, such as the Roycrofts in the equestrian events and the diving Donnets.

But the Boyds are unique.