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http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/disp ... e527085a8b

Pole vaulters must risk safety to excel


Redshirt freshman pole vaulter Kevin Day's personal record is 14-11. (MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily)


By Ian Robinson, Daily Sports Writer
Men's Gymnastics
January 19, 2005

When at a track meet, it seems as if the pole vault generates the most excitement among the crowd. Although some events move at a faster speed than the pole vault, it is one of the most complex. It is the closest track and field comes to an extreme sport.


In order to perform a successful vault, athletes must sprint while carrying a 16-foot-long fiberglass pole. Then, they plant the pole into a steel box with their arms fully extended and jump off the ground while holding onto the pole as it bends. Next, the vaulter must push off the wall and invert himself in mid-air to clear the vault before landing on the mat.


“The pole vaulters are the most athletic members of the track team,â€Â

My comment which I submitted to the feedback form and emailed to the sports department and letters to the editor:



Pole Vaulting is a very safe sport when coached properly. We do not "risk safety to excel."

Every sensational and false headline that is printed places our sport closer and closer to extinction. How many more parents will never let their kids try the event, now that they feel the event is more dangerous than they previously thought?

It's a shame because this article was a fairly positive one, but most people just glance at the headlines and never even read the article.

Please stop slandering our sport to sell a few more newspapers.

Becca Gillespy
Pole Vault Power
http://www.polevaultpower.com/

Great article, poor choice for a headline. I've sent a letter to the editor as well. The entire article contradicts the headline.

Where do some people come up with these things....

i say the more advanced you are the safer the aport becomes.