McCartney eyes 5m threshold
Eliza McCartney used to think of pole vault’s five-metre threshold as this big scary beast she might never conquer.
Now she’s within touching distance of the frightful monster, it turns out it’s not nearly so intimidating.
The 21-year-old Aucklander, now based in Cardiff as she prepares for her next major outing at the Lausanne Diamond League meet on July 5, is in the form of her life.
McCartney has just ticked off back-to-back PBs (and national and Oceania records) after a 4.92 metre clearance in Germany last weekend that was exhilarating on all sorts of levels – primarily because it took her within 8cm of that 5m ‘Everest’.
Only three people ever, and two who are currently competing, have soared over five metres in a women’s pole vault competition (the world record is Yelena Isinbayeva’s 5.06m). McCartney has now stood face to face with the mad height, and refused to blink.
At the Junioren Gala in Mannheim, Germany, the New Zealander cleared 4.92m at her second attempt to eclipse her record of 4.85m set last month at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon when she immediately declared she was on the verge of ‘‘some great things’’.
How right she was. That Mannheim clearance, where she had to wait a 11⁄ hours after her warmup for her solo crack at the big heights, put her fourth on the all-time clearance list and was the
14th highest vault ever recorded. She also had three cracks at
5.0m at the meet, and gave it enough of a shake to suggest that it’s only a matter of when, not if, that threshold is conquered.
‘‘The first attempt I went very, very high but came straight down on the bar,’’ she told Stuff from Cardiff where she’s training with the Kiwi team heading to the world junior championships in Finland.
‘‘I was considering stopping after the first attempt because I was so tired. But with that first jump so promising I carried on. The last attempt wasn’t too bad either, but I was exhausted.
‘‘It was the best attack on five metres I’ve had in my life.’’
Asked if she felt it was within touching distance now, she paused a little before a smile crossed her face.
‘‘It’s the closest I’ve ever felt,’’ she declared. ‘‘Ninety-five [4.95m] is the next obvious progression, but I’ve jumped at five metres a couple of times now and it’s not a big deal if the bar goes up there. It’s just another jump and I just have to attack it. It’s cool because it’s become a little bit more normal in competition.’’
A lot is going right for McCartney right now. She’s healthy, for starters, and is enjoying a golden period where she is able to prepare unobstructed by the vagaries of her body.
She’s also relishing having juniors Olivia McTaggart and Imogen Ayris alongside in training, helping replicate as best they can conditions back home.
She has also upped her runup to the full 14 strides for the first time since an early-season misstep, and has progressed on to the biggest poles she has ever jumped off. Not surprisingly, things like confidence, rhythm and technique feel about as good as they have since, well, ever.
‘‘I’ve clearly made improvements but that’s only going to happen if I can get to these competitions healthy and actually be able to compete. My No 1 priority is competing at every event and staying healthy, and I feel like if I do that it will be a success.’’
She also possessed a sense of calm in Mannheim that helped significantly.
‘‘There was no expectation or stress or nerves, and that meant I could just work on the runup and my jump. The funny thing is it clearly still needs a lot more work which is exciting because I’ve got all season to do that.
‘‘It wasn’t perfect. I felt a bit rusty . . . I was jumping really well but watching the video I thought there were some obvious things I can do better. That’s super exciting, and I’m just hoping the next few competitions I get really good conditions and can keep improving.’’
It looks promising. The lineup for Lausanne is a who’s who of the event, and most will back up at a special meet in Jockgrim, Germany, soon after and then on to the Monaco Diamond League.