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Saskatoon pole vaulter jumps through hoops in bid for Beijing spot

Jason Warick, Saskatchewan News Network
Published: Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Saskatoon's Kelsie Hendry has broken the Canadian women's pole vault record twice in the past month, soaring above the mark required for Olympic qualifying.
But Athletics Canada officials say neither jump counts. Confused? Angry? Join the club.
With Athletics Canada officials sticking to their ludicrous position, Hendry is forced to come up big again at this weekend's Canadian track and field championships if she's to make our team for Beijing. Many of us will be thinking of Hendry as she steps onto the runway Friday in Windsor. We're confident she'll do it. The point is, she shouldn't have to.

- - -
Hendry competes in the qualifying round Friday afternoon and should advance to the final Saturday at 3 p.m.
Like every Canadian athlete at the meet, she'll need to place in the top-four for a chance to make the Olympic team. That shouldn't be a problem, as she's the reigning Canadian champion.
But unlike other athletes, whose early season performances were recognized by Athletics Canada, Hendry will also have to hit a designated height of 4.3 metres, according to Canada's Olympic head coach Les Gramantik. Although she's done that several times this year, there are no guarantees in this highly technical event.
Even if a vaulter does everything perfectly, factors such as rain or wind can affect things.
Hendry, a graduate of Bishop James Mahoney High School and the University of Saskatchewan, competed in Provo, Utah, May 24 following a two-month training camp in Phoenix. She cleared 4.55 metres, higher than she's ever gone. It was also higher than Dana Ellis' Canadian record of 4.52m (Ellis finished sixth at the 2004 Athens Olympics with a jump of 4.4m).
Hendry and her support team, which includes Saskatoon coaches Rick and Susanne Petrucha, were ecstatic. Not only was it a national record, but it exceeded the supremely difficult "A-plus" Olympic standard set by Athletics Canada. Her jump came under the exacting eyes of a highly accredited American officiating crew. Her jump was (and still is) posted near the top of the rankings on the website of the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF).
Then came the bad news. Even though the U.S. officials and the world governing body saw no problem with the jump, Athletics Canada officials declared the result invalid. Why? According to Gramantik, the meet wasn't properly advertised and was "hastily compiled."
Most athletes would be emotional basket cases after such a setback. Not Hendry. She attacked the bar again earlier this month, this time at Saskatchewan's tryouts for the national championships. She flew down the runway at Prince Albert's Harry Jerome Track, took flight and cleared 4.55 metres again. And again, top-level officials with international credentials supervised and signed off on the jump.
With an exclamation mark, Hendry had validated her standing among the world's best.
With her Olympic A-plus standard in the bag, she could now focus on her training for Beijing. The result was even recognized as a Canadian record by Athletics Canada. According to her coach, Rick Petrucha, Gramantik assured them Hendry's height requirements had been met.

All was good.
Then the bad news came again. Hendry could keep the national record, but it wouldn't count as her Olympic standard. Gramantik said the P.A. meet wasn't of high enough calibre.
"We're trying to create an environment of high-quality meets," Gramantik said in an interview.

So to summarize, Hendry's two Olympic qualifying jumps have been validated by Saskatchewan officials, American officials and the IAAF. Yet in the eyes of Athletics Canada decision-makers, she still hasn't proven herself.
On the one hand, Gramantik chastises coaches and athletes, saying they've had months to read the detailed criteria. On the other, he admits these Byzantine rules are "a little complicated and confusing."
Gramantik said they want athletes to perform well at big meets to show they can take the pressure at the Olympics. I guess Gramantik isn't aware Hendry, 26, has proudly represented her country at the IAAF world championships in Finland at the World University Games in both Thailand and South Korea and in her gold-medal performance at the World Francophone Games in Niger. This is in addition to her domination of Canada's university ranks and of the international fields at Saskatoon's Knights of Columbus Indoor Games, one of North America's best indoor meets. Oh, and she would likely have received a medal at last year's Pan American Games in Brazil, if not for the fact she was left off the team by Athletics Canada selectors.
Hendry's situation is unfortunately not unique. For example, Athletics Canada is not sending any marathon runners to the Olympics. Even though several men and women have bettered the international standards, Athletics Canada has set its own marathon standards several minutes faster.
Other national federations set reasonable standards, show flexibility on deadlines and organize multiple track meets to help their stars qualify. Athletics Canada seems to be looking for ways to keep athletes off our team.
Gramantik said the "culture has changed" and Canadian athletes can't be content with just showing up. Sport Canada, the federal funding body, has placed strict targets on medals and top finishes. Track and field is unfairly lumped together with far less competitive, less global, summer and winter sports. Gramantik, who lives in Calgary, noted he sees how comparatively easy it is to win medals in the winter sports.
That's a fair point and Sport Canada must shoulder much of the blame for the narrow-minded culture it's created. Its misguided, singular obsession with medal counts will push the best athletes and funding toward the least competitive, easiest-to-win sports. Is this what Canadians want?
But in Hendry's situation, Athletics Canada has no excuse. Because of its nit-picking, there's a risk one of the world's top female pole vaulters -- and our national record holder -- will be forced to watch the Beijing Olympic Games on television from her Saskatoon living room.
Gramantik said he's been impressed by Hendry's performances this year and is hopeful she'll clear 4.3 metres this weekend in Windsor. Besides, he said, she can always appeal.
"I have full confidence in Kelsie's ability," he said. "It should be no problem."

An earlier article

http://www.paherald.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=144500&sc=5

Olympic dream takes shape in P.A.
ADAM HAWBOLDT
The Prince Albert Daily Herald

The past few weeks have been tough on Kelsie Hendry.

In late May, the Saskatoon track and field star broke the Canadian pole vault record with a jump of 4.55 metres at a meet in Provo, Utah. After her jump Hendry was ecstatic. The 4.55 metre jump - which eclipsed Dana Ellis' previous mark of 4.51 - meant she met the Olympic A+ standard and was well on her way to the Beijing Olympics in August.

But then something happened - something Hendry didn't see coming.

"(Athletics Canada) said the jump probably wouldn't count," said the 25-year-old. "There weren't enough people at the meet and it wasn't on the original schedule."

For the next few weeks Hendry was ill at ease.

"It was a pretty rough," she admitted. "Not knowing if they were going to accept it, just waiting around to see."

When the official word came, it wasn't good. Hendry's new record would not stand and, understandably, she felt cheated.

"I knew I had done it," she said. "It was hard that it didn't count. It felt like my success was taken away from me."

But that didn't deter Hendry and her Olympic quest. She knew there was nothing she could do about Athletics Canada's decision. There would be other meets to prove herself..

Record falls in Prince Albert

On Saturday at the Harry Jerome track, in Prince Albert, Hendry vaulted 4.55 metres, again. She broke Ellis' three-year-old record, again: and this time it would stand. Hendry took a giant leap towards qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

"A huge wave of relief swept over me," she said about her record-setting jump. "I was so focused on getting to the Olympics, so this jump takes away a lot of that pressure."

In order to qualify for Beijing, all Hendry has to do is stick a vault of 4.30 metres (which is usually her opening jump at competitions), then finish in the top four at the Canadian national meet in July.

Considering her latest jump and her sheer talent and dedication, Hendry's coach Rick Petrucha says an Olympic berth should be just around the corner.

"I'm extremely confident she'll make it," he said. "She jumps 4.30 (metres) with ease and she's the defending national pole vault champion. So things are looking good."

Even older article:

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/story/2008/0 ... endry.html

Canadian pole vaulter continues quest for qualification

By Paul Gains CBC Sports
Kelsie Hendry's jump was not only a personal best performance but also a new Canadian record. (Athletics Canada)
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."

I can understanding not accepting the mark from Provo, where Hendry was the only competitor, but not accepting Harry Jerome?! HJ is one of the most high caliber meets held on Canadian soil every year.

However, I am a little confused why the results for Harry Jerome only have her listed at 4.20.

What a load of absolute horse s***!!! I thought the whole point of the A+ standard is that it's so high, achieving it mitigates any other factors that may otherwise taint a performance's significance--such as caliber of the meet, number of competitors, elevation etc etc and all the other garbage reasons they gave for invalidating her TWO A+ jumps.

But hey, this is coming from a national sport body that cut the size of its Olympic team by 30% then said it did 30% better. LOL.