Eliza mania hitting the heights Putter keeps Ko in hunt
Teen’s Rio heroics lead to vault in sport’s popularity with wider public, reports Marc Hinton.
Let’s call it the Eliza Effect. Suddenly, within days of the curtain coming down on the Rio Olympics, pole vault has become a hot ticket around New Zealand.
People are now queuing up for a piece of an athletics discipline once thought of as the realm for track and field nerds.
It’s all thanks to one young woman, charismatic North Shore 19-year-old Eliza McCartney, who put pole vaulting on the map in New Zealand with arguably the most unexpected and joyous of the record 18 medals the Kiwi team brought back from Rio. It was just a bronze. Yet so much more than a minor medal.
That it came from a relatively unheralded teen who a year ago didn’t even have Rio on her radar captivated the country. We all love a great underdog tale, and McCartney’s transformation lived up to that of her namesake from Pygmalion. That the young woman exuded an restrained glee and easygoing approach to the big moments made it even better, and when she executed that succession of first-attempt clearances with such technical excellence, a nation came along for the ride.
It was as though, for the first time, New Zealand was discovering the sheer beauty of pole vault, which is a stunning mix of athletic explosion and aerial ballet. Now we had some skin in the game, we could all appreciate the intricacies and intangibles of it all.
Actually, there’s a second name that needs to be added to McCartney’s. It’s her coach, Jeremy McColl. In many ways he’s even more important because he’s not only the man responsible for McCartney’s leap into popularity and acclaim, but, as he calmly reassures us, he’s got two or three more where she came from.
Maybe even more. For McColl, the quietly spoken North Shorebased national coach, may be on the verge of unleashing a volley of vaulters on to the New Zealand scene. McCartney’s Rio coming of age party might just be the sporting equivalent of the genie being let out of the bottle.
Already, just days after McCartney’s leap into public consciousness in Rio where she soared over 4.50 metres, 4.60, 4.70 and then 4.80, all at the first attempt, McColl has noticed a ripple effect. A not insignificant one, at that.
‘‘It’s made the sport more attractive,’’ he told the Star-Times. ‘‘I’ve been inundated with emails, Facebook posts and messages from kids wanting to start pole vault. It seems to have sparked some real interest.’’
In some ways, the explosion of interest threatens to overwhelm. McColl is the only specialist coach in this country. He has 13 athletes in his various squads. Now he’s looking at having to double or triple that.
Then consider the nature of pole vault. You need the dedicated facility, the bars, the runup, the landing mats. And those poles. At about $600 a pop for a basic one, a growth spurt does not come without a cost.
Until now McColl has been like a pole vault Father Christmas. He’s brought most of the poles his squad uses himself. He’s had to take out personal loans to do so.
‘‘It’s easily the most interest I’ve ever had and maybe we’re going to have to see if we can potentially have a facility built that can cater for the numbers. It could be an opportunity for a sponsor to get on board and help out funding equipment because we just don’t have enough.’’
But McColl is quietly he has the beginnings special going on.
‘‘I’ve got a few girls jumping higher than what Eliza was at their age. I’m pretty confident one or two are going to be amazing. It’s a confident of something bright future, especially now we’ve got some keen to come in from other events in athletics. That’s getting to the point where we can identify and evaluate.’’
In so many ways McCartney epitomises the future of her sport. The taller, athletic build is where the discipline is heading and McColl hopes she’ll inspire others to take the leap.
‘‘Every Kiwi kid has that extreme side to them and that’s why I’ve always been so big on the event, because it was something New Zealand kids would be amazing at.’’
Funnily enough, the more things change for McCartney, in the most important aspect nothing changes at all.
‘‘I knew Eliza should be jumping 4.80 in those championships, and it just happened that 4.80 was good enough for a medal at the Olympics,’’ McColl said. ‘‘But it hasn’t changed anything in terms of our two-year and four-year plan, and onwards.’’
What does change for McCartney is the interest now swirling around her. Manager Scott Newman has been inundated with approaches from potential sponsors and the like.
‘‘It’s been a busy week,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ll try to minimise her distractions so she can continue on with what’s most important, and that’s her pole vaulting. But she’s certainly a hot commodity, and there is a list of 25 to 30 things we’ll need to work through when she’s back from her holiday.’’
Right now McCartney has two principal sponsorship partners, in Nike and Anchor. Newman’s job is to sift through the long list keen to add themselves to that inner circle to find the right fit for the athlete, and her available time.
Adds McColl: ‘‘It’s important it doesn’t overwhelm her. But she’s got good people around her, and the main thing is to keep her on track next year when we’ll be targeting the world championships in London. Then there’s the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and probably her biggest competition will be the 2020 Olympics, and she’ll be at whole new level by then.’’
What might have slipped some people’s notice was that in Rio, McCartney was a cigarette paper’s width from a gold medal clearance of 4.85m at her first tilt. ‘‘There was a slight technical fault but I thought she had it,’’ adds McColl. ‘‘She did enough to get up and over, but it was just a release thing off the top of the pole and she hit the bar off with her chest or underarm.’’
But McColl predicts McCartney and her peers will soon be clearing 5m and beyond with ease as they take the discipline into uncharted territory (the world record is 5.06m).
‘‘I’ve always said Eliza and the other girls at the same stage are going to be pushing 5.20-plus, especially now we’re getting taller and more athletic girls coming through. It’s going to be a really exciting event.’’ Lydia Ko remains right in the hunt for a fourth Canadian Women’s Open title after a solid second round took her into a five-way tie for fourth.
Tournament winner in 2012, 2013 and 2015, the Kiwi world No 1 shot a three-under 69 to slide one place down the leaderboard in Calgary yesterday.
Ko made five birdies and two bogeys at the Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club, taking her to eight-under alongside South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur, Chella Choi, Sei Young Kim and Hyo Joo Kim.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who won three LPGA events on the bounce in May and was crowned British Open champion last month before withdrawing during the third round of the Rio Olympics tournament with a knee injury, held the outright lead at 12-under after a birdie-laden eight-under second round display.
Northern Irelands’s Stephanie Meadow and In Gee Chun were tied second at nine-under par.
While Ko was not able to match her five-under opening round, the 19-year-old from Auckland’s North Shore still did enough to stay in touch with the overall leaders.
The Olympic Games silver medallist made just one birdie in the first seven holes and although that was cancelled out by a bogey at the par-three eighth, she eventually found her range to make a quick jump up the leaderboard.
Ko made four straight birdies at the par-four ninth, par-four 10th, par-three 11th and par-five 12th.