WC Women's Prelims Articles

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/co ... 18,00.html

Grigorivea in pole vault finals
From correspondents in Helsinki, Finland
08aug05
TATIANA Grigorivea is through to the final of the women's pole vault at the world athletics championships.

In her first international competition for Australia since the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Grigorieva reached Wednesday's final with a clearance of 4.40m in today's qualifying rounds.

The Sydney Olympic silver medallist did not qualify for last year's Athens Games or the 2003 world championships and only scraped into the team for Helsinki three days before the deadline with a qualifying jump of 4.47m.

She made a bad start today when she failed with her first attempt at 4.00m but came back to clear the starting height and then progress through to make 4.40m.

She failed on all three attempts at 4.45m, but managed to qualify 11th of the 13 finalists.

World record holder Yelena Isinbayeva cleared 4.45m by about a metre and will be near impossible to beat in Wednesday's final.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8860334/

Dragila out of pole vault at worlds

Battling injuries, former world record holder continues recent rough stretch

Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Aug. 7, 2005
HELSINKI, Finland - She used to rule pole vault, pioneering the event when few women dared to even try it.

Now, Stacy Dragila can only watch as Yelena Isinbayeva takes the crown that used to belong to her. Dragila failed to qualify for the pole vault final Sunday at the world track and field championships, yet another disappointment in what has been a subpar season.

“Just had a rough day out there,â€Â

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national ... 50807.html

Former pole vault queen falters; heptathlon rivals battle

American Stacy Dragila, who captured the first world and Olympic medals in the pole vault, failed to get past Sunday's qualifying round.

Defending champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva, the overwhelming favourite to win gold, easily vaulted into Wednesday's final by clearing 4.40 and 4.45 metres.

Polish vaulters Monika Pyrek and Anna Rogowska, considered Isinbayeva's main competition, both easily cleared the 4.45 height.

Dana Ellis of Kitchener, Ont., advanced to the final after clearing 4.40. She missed on all three attempts at 4.45. The 25-year-old recorded a season-best jump of 4.51 m at the Canadian championships earlier this year.

Canada's other entry in the event, Kelsey Hendry of Saskatoon, failed to advance to the final.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUI ... 7_07_12_51

Tracy O'Hara, Women's pole vault

I made it. I'm the last one. It doesn't mean I'm the last one in the final. I have never been so nervous at a meet, not even NCAA's. I'm just really happy. I was blowing through poles, jumping really well and I didn't know what to do with that. I haven't been jumping so well since I've been in Europe . I had some good practices about a week and a half ago. I think it took me by surprise. I'm ready to roll. I'm really excited for the finals. Stacy Dragila, Women's pole vault

I had a rough day out there. It's not a full run for me. It's kind of a mediocre run. My confidence this year has been in the dumps. I know I could be on bigger poles, but today obviously wasn't a good day. I'll sit down and evaluate (the future). If I'm going to do this, I want to be healthy. Whether I take the rest of the season off or not, I'm not sure. It's up in the air. I have days that I jump well. I haven't been consistent like I have in the past. That's my bread and butter. Right now I've been very patchy. I just don't like jumping like that, I think I'm capable of much more. Jillian Schwartz, Women's pole vault

I'm not going to lie and say I think one of us is going to win, unless something weird happens. But I think we're definitely in there for medals. I'm definitely ready to PR. I just moved back to my full run a few weeks ago. So, I'm finally getting that figured that out and it went pretty well today. It was consistent, I was pretty happy with that. The wind was kind of crazy, it was all over the place, I didn't know what it was going to do. It was doing one thing at the back of the runway and another up front. It seems like a theme for this year. I came out kind of expecting rain and cold and wind, so it's not too bad. It's a great place to jump, maybe at night they'll calm down for the final.