Great article on Dana Ellis Buller in Europe

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... ue_ellis_1

Canadian Ellis caps European tour with street vault event in Prague
LORI EWING Tue Jun 14, 5:26 PM ET
(CP) - Dana Ellis has seen just about everything on her recent competitive tour through Europe - massive head winds in Seville, torrential rain in Ostrava, a wobbly runway in Lille.

But she's expecting Wednesday's event to be like nothing she's seen before. Ellis, from Kitchener, Ont., will compete in the 14th annual Pole Vault of Prague, an event that draws huge crowds of beer-swilling pole vault fans out to Prague's busy Wenceslas Square, better known for its popular shops and bars.

"I think I may do some shopping between vaults," Ellis joked from Prague.

Rather than a stadium setting, the popular street vault event is held in the heart of the commercial district in the capital city of the Czech Republic, in the shadow of the National Museum, and draws some of the top vaulters from around the world.

"Tons of spectators come out to watch pole vault and drink beer," said Ellis. "I'm very excited."

Prague is the last European stop for Ellis, who will fly back to her U.S. training base with her husband and American vaulter Russ Buller, to begin final preparations for the world championships in Helsinki in August.

The five-foot-four vaulter, who was sixth at the Athens Olympics, headed to Europe on a hopeful note with a Canadian record under her belt. At the Adidas Track Classic last month in Carson, Calif., she cleared 4.50 metres - sixth best in the world this year - to improve her own Canadian record of 4.47.

Poland's Anna Rogowska has the best vault in the world this season, at 4.76.

But Ellis has battled adverse conditions on every stop overseas. If nothing else, she says, this European tour has been a huge learning experience.

"After all of this, I feel I am ready to jump 4.60 or higher in the right conditions," said Ellis. "The world championships could go any which way weather wise, so I will be ready for anything after this."

At the Grand Prix meet in Seville, Spain, Ellis finished a promising second among a strong field of Olympic finalists, but only cleared 4.28 vaulting into a blustery head wind.

At the Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic, she finished second again with a slightly better 4.30 in cold, rainy and windy conditions.

"I was actually happy with this because it is extremely dangerous to pole vault in pouring rain," said Ellis. "Your pole gets wet and your hands can very easily slip off. I've seen a few athletes take major wipeouts in conditions like we had, so I was just happy to get in a decent height, and leave healthy."

In Lille, France, the vaulters competed on a soft and uneven board runway in the middle of the grass, so that "every time you took a step with your right foot, the boards would sink. It was very difficult to run fast and evenly."

Still, Ellis managed to clear 4.40 and finish third - her third consecutive top-three finish in three IAAF Grand Prix appearances.

Not too shabby considering Ellis is relative rookie on the Grand Prix scene - she received her first Grand Prix invitation only last summer.

"I'm extremely happy that I placed in the top three at all of these meets so far."