Canadian pole vaulter continues quest for qualification

When defending Canadian pole vault champion Kelsie Hendry cleared 4.55 metres at the U.S.A. Track and Field High Performance Sprint and Power meet in Provo, Utah, on May 24, she was absolutely thrilled.

The jump was not only a personal best performance but also a new Canadian record. Most importantly, Hendry had beaten the Olympic A+ standard, a prerequisite for gaining selection to the Canadian Olympic team.

But an e-mail from Athletics Canada staff has informed Hendry, 25,that the mark will not count because she was the sole competitor in the event, and that contravenes International Association of Athletics Federation competition rules.

The mark did satisfy the requirements to be placed on the IAAF list of 2008 best performances.

"I was very disappointed because I thought it was a Canadian record and I thought it was A+ standard for the Olympics," Hendry said from her home in Saskatoon on Thursday.

"When I did it, there was a lot of emotion. It felt like my hard work had paid off. Now it kind of feels like that has been taken away. I know I have the opportunity to try it again, but it's just hard when you feel like you have already done it."

Hendry spent two months this spring in Phoenix, Ariz., training with U.S. pole vault coach Gary Hall. Her personal coach, Rick Petrucha, visited twice and the trio worked together to ensure she was competition ready.

Twice she achieved the Olympic A standard of 4.45 metres, required by the IAAF to compete at the Olympic Games, which would be good enough to ensure Olympic selection for most countries. But under the qualifying process set out by Athletics Canada, those marks didn't count because they were achieved before the May 15 qualifying period began.

She went to Provo expecting a good field of competitors, including 2000 Olympic champion Stacy Dragila. However, it began to rain heavily and the meet director asked the athletes if they would like to continue the competition the following day when conditions would be better. They all agreed.

The next day, Hendry turned up to compete but learned that Dragila and the others had decided to leave. Hall decided to take measures to ensure that Hendry's jumps would qualify.

"I went and found four officials to watch her jump," he said. "They measured the height at 4.55 metres with both a steel and fibreglass measuring tape. They filled out all the necessary certification so it would count. I don't know how much more control we could have had over the situation."

Hall pointed out that the competition was put on by USATF, the American track and field governing body.

"If Kelsie had been only jumping 4.20 metres before this meet," Hall continued, "then I would have understood how it might have looked. But she jumped 4.45 and 4.46 and 4.55 metres, all within four weeks. Historically, that's enough to get into the Olympic final, which AC has said is one of their goals."

In its e-mail, Athletics Canada also commented on the fact that the jump was altitude assisted, Hall said. Provo is at an elevation of 5,000 feet. But he pointed out that the IAAF does not discriminate against pole vault marks achieved at altitude.

"Sergei Bubka's world record [6.14 metres] was set in Sestriere, Italy, at an altitude of 6,600 feet," Hall said.

Hendry will compete next weekend at the Saskatchewan Track and Field Championships to try to achieve the standard again. One of her training partners, a junior athlete with a best of 4.10 metres, will be her nearest competition. If necessary, she will fly to B.C. to compete in a series of meets there to try to qualify for the Olympics.

"I have been practising well so I think I have it in me to do 4.55 metres again," she said. "It's just that it would have been nice to use this time to train rather than trying to compete every weekend to get the standard."