Another Poorly Researched Article
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2004 12:22 am
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/dis ... 0d581e0b44
Pole vaulters challenged to block out dangers of sport
By GLENN MELVIN / DN Staff Writer
April 05, 2004
Editor's note: This is the first in a five-part series detailing the most dangerous activities in sports.
Flying through the air with nothing for support except a fiberglass pole and your own momentum.
Below you is a mat that is your only way of landing without a broken bone or severe head injury.
But it's not that simple. Before you land you must push off the pole after inverting upside down, and then arch your body over a bar that you're not supposed to move from its flimsy supports.
Welcome to the life of a pole vaulter.
From a hand slipping to the pole snapping, several things can go wrong each attempt.
"If you're thinking about that, you shouldn't be trying to leave the ground that day," senior Eric Eshbach said, "because there's something wrong."
Most accidents occur when the vaulters are young and inexperienced, however when accidents happen at the collegiate level, the severity of injuries increases with the height of the bar.
In a month-and-a-half stretch in 2002, two high schoolers and one collegian died while vaulting. The two high school deaths were caused by the landing mats being high jump mats instead of the proper pole vault mats.
Kevin Dare of Penn State died after his momentum stopped in mid-air, and he landed head first in the metal plant box.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina considers pole vaulting the most dangerous sport it has studied. An average of one person died each year between 1983 and 2000.
The worst injury to happen at a track meet hosted by Nebraska was last year at the Husker Invitational when Paul Gensic of Air Force fell into the plant box and required a week-long stay in the hospital.
"The worst injury I've seen (was) somebody broke their pole in mid-air," freshman Jenny Green said, "and the pole stuck in their arm and took out a chunk of skin."
The injuries have caused some safety precautions to be taken by high schools and colleges. The National Federation of State High School Associations now requires larger mats for pole vaulting.
Some coaches now require vaulters to wear helmets. But since vaulters usually land on mats that are softer than the helmets, some critics feel the helmets will result in cumulative damage to the brain.
To succeed in the pole vault, athletes must block out the dangerous side of the sport and focus on what they have to do.
"You can't think about the accidents or the dangerous part of it," Green said. "You just have to go out there and give it your all, and if you do what you're supposed to do, you're not going to get hurt."
Also, the more experience a vaulter gets, the less likely for a severe injury to occur.
"It's normally some technical aspect," Eshbach said. "The more and more you do it, you learn where your body is at in the air."
Pole vaulters challenged to block out dangers of sport
By GLENN MELVIN / DN Staff Writer
April 05, 2004
Editor's note: This is the first in a five-part series detailing the most dangerous activities in sports.
Flying through the air with nothing for support except a fiberglass pole and your own momentum.
Below you is a mat that is your only way of landing without a broken bone or severe head injury.
But it's not that simple. Before you land you must push off the pole after inverting upside down, and then arch your body over a bar that you're not supposed to move from its flimsy supports.
Welcome to the life of a pole vaulter.
From a hand slipping to the pole snapping, several things can go wrong each attempt.
"If you're thinking about that, you shouldn't be trying to leave the ground that day," senior Eric Eshbach said, "because there's something wrong."
Most accidents occur when the vaulters are young and inexperienced, however when accidents happen at the collegiate level, the severity of injuries increases with the height of the bar.
In a month-and-a-half stretch in 2002, two high schoolers and one collegian died while vaulting. The two high school deaths were caused by the landing mats being high jump mats instead of the proper pole vault mats.
Kevin Dare of Penn State died after his momentum stopped in mid-air, and he landed head first in the metal plant box.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina considers pole vaulting the most dangerous sport it has studied. An average of one person died each year between 1983 and 2000.
The worst injury to happen at a track meet hosted by Nebraska was last year at the Husker Invitational when Paul Gensic of Air Force fell into the plant box and required a week-long stay in the hospital.
"The worst injury I've seen (was) somebody broke their pole in mid-air," freshman Jenny Green said, "and the pole stuck in their arm and took out a chunk of skin."
The injuries have caused some safety precautions to be taken by high schools and colleges. The National Federation of State High School Associations now requires larger mats for pole vaulting.
Some coaches now require vaulters to wear helmets. But since vaulters usually land on mats that are softer than the helmets, some critics feel the helmets will result in cumulative damage to the brain.
To succeed in the pole vault, athletes must block out the dangerous side of the sport and focus on what they have to do.
"You can't think about the accidents or the dangerous part of it," Green said. "You just have to go out there and give it your all, and if you do what you're supposed to do, you're not going to get hurt."
Also, the more experience a vaulter gets, the less likely for a severe injury to occur.
"It's normally some technical aspect," Eshbach said. "The more and more you do it, you learn where your body is at in the air."
