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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/4571651.stm

Whitlock sets UK pole vault mark

Whitlock finished in ninth place in the European Indoor final
Janine Whitlock broke her own UK pole vault record on her return to outdoor action at Loughborough International.
Whitlock jumped 4.45m on her final attempt in blustery conditions to add 5cm to her old outdoor mark.

"I'm really pleased - I didn't expect it so soon," said Whitlock, who reached the European Indoor Championships this year afer serving a two-year drugs ban.

"I have every right to come back. I've trained hard and know I can achieve more. I'm aiming for 4.60m this year."

Whitlock tested positive for the anabolic steroid methandienone just before the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The 31-year-old is now appealing against her life ban from the Games in the hope she can compete in Melbourne next March.

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/050522/4/b1tf.html

Whitlock Hits New High
Sun 22 May, 7:09 PM


Janine Whitlock set a new UK pole vault record as the new track and field season burst into life in traditional style at the Loughborough International event on Sunday.


Whitlock defied the blustery winds to clear 4.45 metres with her third and final attempt.

It added 5cm to her old outdoor mark, which she set in 2001 - 12 months before she was handed a two-year ban for a doping offence.

She emerged from the ban to reach the European Indoor Championships in March - but this was her first outdoor pole vault competition.

Whitlock, currently mounting an appeal against a life ban from the Commonwealth Games in the hope that she can compete in Melbourne next spring, said: "I'm really pleased - I didn't expect it so soon.

"I have every right to come back. I've trained hard for the last two years.

I'm not ashamed to show my face. I know I can achieve more. I'm aiming for 4.60m this year."

Looks like she just broke her record again...

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/s ... 37,00.html

The most notable moment of the meeting came in the pole-vault where Janine Whitlock jumped 4.46 metres for the 38th British record of her career.

http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/0200 ... _page.html

JANINE Whitlock, another familiar face at TVAC, continued her comeback from her two-year ban for a doping offence by setting her second UK pole vault record of the season.

Having cleared 4.45m at Loughborough, she soared a Bubka-esque 1cm higher to make a mockery of the worries many athletes harbour about 'windy Bedford'.

"I honestly feel that if I carry on working at my technique as I am doing," said Whitlock afterwards, "that I have the speed and strength to take the Commonwealth record this year - and that means clearing 4.61m."

http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news ... tlead.html

WHITLOCK LOOKS TO SET RECORD STRAIGHT
Millionaire Paula Radcliffe and Janine Whitlock, who is still on the dole, will lead the British women's challenge for promotion in Saturday's European Cup First League match in Leiria.

Radcliffe contests the 3000metres on the opening day, then races over 5000m 24 hours later, while hard-up Whitlock competes in the pole vault early in the opening session.

Despite their rich girl-poor girl backgrounds, both athletes are determined to help the Norwich Union GB side get back in the top flight.


While the world marathon record holder deservedly enjoys the best preparation lifestyle of any British athlete, Whitlock is living on daily handouts.

Whitlock was found guilty of a doping offence in 2002 - which she has always denied - and since returning to top-flight athletics has found life much tougher away from the pole vault pit.

She has no personal or kit sponsor and no aid from the Sports Lottery Fund administered by UK Sport, even though she has twice broken her British record already this summer.

"I'm on the dole", said Whitlock from her lodgings in Woking, where she lives to be close to her coach, Egryn Jones who guided her to a new UK mark of 4.46m on Sunday.

Whitlock said: "If I am to fulfil my potential, and I'm sure I can beat the Commonwealth record of 4.60m this year, I can't afford to both work and train.

"I have come back to the sport far stronger and more determined to succeed because I am innocent and was always innocent. I want to prove to myself and the folk who doubted me what I can do.

"When I was convicted, my kit sponsor dropped me. Obviously I lost my lottery funding and I am told there are no 'exceptional circumstances' to allow me back into the World Class Performance Plan."

She added: "I am dreading the next time I break a pole because I'll struggle to afford to replace it." It would cost between £350-£400.

"My training and travelling expenses eat up everything I don't spend on food but I'm determined to put all that behind me in Portugal.

"I'll be proud to represent my country again and to earn as many points as I can and hopefully help Paula and the rest of the girls earn us promotion.

"And who knows? When I get back, somebody might be supportive enough to offer me a bit of help."