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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/3252090.stm

Injury forces George's retirement


George won gold at the Commonwealth Games
Former world pole vault record holder Emma George has been forced to retire from the sport.
The 29-year-old Australian has been suffering from chronic back problems.

George set 17 world records during her career and won gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Doctors told her that she had to retire or risk permanent injury following a series of operations over the past two years.

"My dream was to compete in Athens, but I must also consider other aspects of my life and the severe risks involved with continuing to vault," George said.

"This has been the most difficult decision of my life, but one which does not put my future health and mobility at jeopardy," she said.

George failed to make the final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics after battling with two stress fractures in her feet.

Australian athletics figures paid tribute to George and her trailblazing work in women's pole vaulting.

"Emma was an exceptional athlete," Athletics Australia chief executive Simon Allatson told national radio.

"We will miss her, her courage, her personality and athleticism," he said.

"She has left a legacy in the development of women's pole vault around the world."

George said she planned to study at university with a view to becoming a sports journalist.

Aww...this is sad... She really leaves quite a legacy though, doesn't she?

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/s1000853.htm

Emma George announces retirement

Former world champion pole vaulter Emma George has announced her retirement from athletics because of acute back-related injuries.

Doctors advised the 29-year-old former world record holder to retire following a series of operations on her back over the last two years.

The news means that the WA-based athlete will not be available to represent Australia at next year's Olympic Games.

"My dream was to compete in Athens, but I must also consider other aspects of my life and the severe risks involved with continuing to vault," George said today.

"This has been the most difficult decision of my life, but one which does not put my future health and mobility at jeopardy.

"I am grateful for the wonderful opportunities given to me through my sport."

Ken Maguire of Perth Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre said George's vertebra had been compressed from past surgery.

"[The surgery] removed pieces of disc that were placing pressure on the spinal cord," he said. "Any further damage to her back would require major surgery to fuse the three lower discs."

George's career saw her hold a total of 17 world records, most famously when she set a mark of 4.60 metres in Sydney in 1999, and a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Today key figures in Australian Athletics were lining up to pay tribute to an athlete credited with doing much to build the profile of women's pole vaulting.

"Emma was an exceptional athlete. She led Australia, and the world, in women's pole vault," said Athletics Australia chief executive Simon Allatson.

"We will miss her, her courage, her personality and athleticism. She has left a legacy in the development of women's pole vault around the world."

Steve Lawrence, WAIS executive director, described her as "an inspirational presence, a champion in every sense of the word and her retirement will be a loss to Australian sport."

George now plans to study at university with a view to becoming a sports journalist.

back problems?

was it pre-existing or was she taking off from under?

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/ ... 48489.html

Pole-vault pioneer George retires at 29
By Len Johnson
December 2, 2003

Almost eight years to the day since she set the first of 12 outdoor world records in the women's pole vault, Emma George has decided she can no longer soar as high as a bird and has announced her retirement.

In 1995, the women's pole vault was a fledgling event and George a novice participant. On November 30, at an A-grade interclub meeting at Melbourne's Olympic Park, she slipped over a bar set at 4.25 metres to break the world record held by a Chinese vaulter.

Athletics Australia media officer Damian Booth almost broke his ankle leaping the fence to interview George. He rang from the car park to ensure news of the record went on to the IAAF website before accepting a lift to his car and checking into casualty on his way home.

George returned home to Beechworth the following day for a belated 21st birthday party held over from November 1. She returned to again improve the record in Perth 17 days later.

George was an engaging success story. A member of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus as a youngster, she seemed destined to fly. She continued to push the world record up, on her own, then in tandem with an American of similarly exotic background, Stacy Dragila, who had competed in rodeo events before taking up athletics and the vault.


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Yesterday, George said she had finally concluded that if she tried to push on to Athens 2004, there were two realities. First, she would not be able to attempt the sort of heights that might be required to win a medal; second, she increased to unacceptable levels the risk that she might injure her back so severely that it might be difficult to run, much less vault. "It's not a decision I wanted to make," George said. "If I had my choice, I would have tried to get to Athens. Realistically, with my back, I knew after two bouts of surgery I had to take care of that."

George famously damaged her back in a training fall before the 1999 world championships in Seville, the first outdoor world championships at which the women's vault had been contested. The fall seemed to affect her confidence, but the physical damage had been accumulating insidiously all the while.

"(The fall) wouldn't have helped," said George, "but basically my back was not that strong. It was taking a lot of pounding and stress every time I ran in and planted the pole."

George won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1998 and set her last world record in February 1999, when she cleared 4.60 metres in Sydney. Her Olympic chances were blighted by stress fractures in both feet. Then came the two bouts of back surgery.

As George sat on a bench in tears, she glanced across to the other qualifying pool on the adjacent runway where Dragila was also fighting back the tears. Dragila made as if to come over, but George motioned to her to focus on her own qualifying.

Dragila went on to win the gold medal, Tatiana Grigorieva taking the silver for Australia.

George regrets she will now not have a further chance at Olympic gold, but says she is satisfied to have been a pioneer in the event. "My dream was for the event to get international recognition, and it did," she said. "I've loved being involved and watching the event emerge. It's been an amazing experience."