Raining, breezy, chilly… the weather of the 2012 Olympic Trials Qualifying Round in the Men’s Pole Vault Monday night. I had a great warmup despite the weather and opened at the opening height of 5.30m/17’4.5″ thinking it would only take the first or second bar to advance to finals. I cleared 5.30m on my first attempt and was extremely excited. The ability to jump in those conditions without panicking or losing focus is huge. My mentality was spot-on for that competition, actually EXCITED to jump in the rain simply because I knew I could handle it. Everything went according to plan and I advanced to the final round of the Olympic Trials out here in Eugene, Oregon. I jump at 5:05pm Pacific Time on Thursday (June 28) in hopes of placing in the top 3 and earning a spot on the 2012 Olympic Team headed for London. I can’t thank you all enough for your support financially, spiritually, and inspirationally. I couldn’t have made it here without all of you believing in me and I plan on making this team. I’m ready for my shot at competing in the biggest sporting event of all time, The Olympic Games. I have dreamed of having another opportunity to make an Olympic Team since 2008 when a spontaneous hamstring strain prevented me from competing in the final round of the 2008 Trials. This year, this week, in this moment… I am ready for the challenge. Help me turn a boy’s dream into reality by cheering for me this Thursday evening by watching the Trials on NBCSN. The TV schedule is posted below… Let’s go make an Olympic Team. #London2012 #TeamJordan

Television Schedule

All Broadcasts LIVE

UPDATE: I have a new product sponsor that could develop into more depending on my success. The Rudy Project is an Italian Sports Eyewear company that has some of the most revolutionary technology in eyewear and they are putting it to use in the sports world! I just received a couple pairs of sunglasses with optional lenses determed by the weather and brightness. I vaulted with a pair that my buddy let me have a few weeks ago and jumped a new personal best of 5.72m/18’9.25″ so I figured I would try wearing them again! They are fully adjustable, lightweight, and very comfortable. You should check them out here: Rudy Project
I wore their MAGSTERS style when I jumped 5.72m and will be wearing the NOYZ style at the Olympic Trials. Seriously check em out! Also ASICS gave me a pair of spikes and a few other training clothes to see how I liked their gear a few weeks ago and LOVE their stuff, especially the spikes. They are the new Cyber Jump London edition and they are extremely comfortable. If you’re looking for a new pair, TRY THEM ON. You wont regret it. And as always, thanks to PowerBar for their products, my chiropractor TJ Hackler (KC Sports Docs), my massage therapist Beth Morford (Winning Touch Therapy), UCS Spirit for making awesome poles, Vault United for their continued support, Nevho Design for creating this website for me, and my family and fiancé Julia for being the best supporters I could ever imagine! Thank you all for your support this year!! I put some pics at the bottom of this post and here’s the link to the video of my 5.72m vault: 5.72m at Wichita Riverfest

Now on to my Olympic Trials Preview:

Right now I am in the sky, flying to the 2nd greatest track and firld competition on the planet – The U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon to pole vault at Historic Hayward Field for a chance at fulfilling one of my all-time biggest goals. Since I knew about the Olympics, I wanted to compete in them. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to compete in at that time but now thousands of people around this world know what I would compete in… The most dramatic and daring event in track and field – The Pole Vault. I have been preparing for this competition now for exactly 4 years. If you don’t know or don’t remember, I actually made the Trials finals in 2008 but couldn’t compete in the finals because I got a hamstring strain out of nowhere as I was warming up for the finals. I had to throw in the towel and scratch myself from the event. To this day that was still the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my career. My focus is on Monday at 5:30pm PT where I must qualify for the finals by being one of twelve competitors left during the competition. In 2008, 18′ made the final round. From there I will focus all of my energy on the vaulting technique and objectives I need to perform correctly in order to jump at my best possible capacity so I can make the Olympic Team that I fell short of in 2008.

On June 9th I jumped the highest bar of my life of 5.72m/18’9.25″ which is also the Olympic “A” Standard this year. To put it as simple as possible, you have to have jumped the A standard during the last year and place top 3 at the Olympic Trials in order to make the Olympic Team. And to simplify it even more (which is where my athletic mind works at its best) is that it is a 3 step process to make the team.

1. Jump 18’9.25″ during the year
2. Qualify for finals of Trials
3. Place top 3 at Trials

Well so far I have checked off 1 of 1 possible steps. I feel extremely healthy this time around and am jumping better than I ever have. The time is right. My body is ready. My mind is focused. If you’re with me, let’s go become an Olympian.

It’s hard not to fear the unknown, not stress out about possible failures to come, not worry about what others may think of you. These are struggles everyone have dealt with at some point in their lives and it’s not their fault, it’s human nature. Well, maybe not human nature, but definitely something our society has created among us. The life of a professional athlete has already proven to be one heavy dose of reality after another. In referring to the pole vault specifically, if you don’t work hard, you don’t jump well. If you don’t stay healthy, you can’t jump well. If you don’t jump well, you don’t make it to the big meets. If you don’t make it to the big meets, you don’t get exposure and fans. If you don’t get exposure and fans, sponsors do not want to endorse you. If you don’t have sponsors, you will not be able to jump for long. If you’re not able to jump for long, you have to find a real job sitting at a desk doing paperwork all day. If you have to find a real job sitting at a desk doing paperwork all day, life is pretty much over as you know it. Ok not really but that sucks right? Athletes want to be athletes forever! Settle down and have a family eventually, but still be an athlete! This last month has been one of the best months of my vaulting career! So many dreams are coming true and goals are being attained. I made a good amount of money at the Kansas Relays, jumped 5.50m/18’0.5″ at the Drake Relays Mall Vault, placed 3rd again at the Drake Relays, flew out to Japan for the second time this year and placed 3rd in my first ever IAAF World Challenge Meet, flew out to Puerto Rico the next week and placed 3rd again with 5.50m, then just came out to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA (CVOTC) to finally win a meet and jump the Olympic B Standard of 5.60m/18’4.5″!!! The only possible way for this month to get better is if I can pull out a 5.72m (Olympic A Standard) vault this Thursday at another CVOTC competition… which would be amazing. But let me tell you right now that none of this would have been possible if I hadn’t been 100% focused with a positive mindset, something I have been working on more than anything else. Having a strong mental game is the key to a successful career in any type of sport or business setting. If you are a younger vaulter, I beg of you to take away that simple fact and always remember that you are in control of your life, your decisions, your actions, and your attitude.

Alright on to some meet details:

Kawasaki had to have been the worst wind I have ever had to jump in. There were 7 or 8 of us in the competition and only 3 guys cleared a bar at all and the 3 of us that did only cleared 5.32m/17’5.5″. I cleared that height on my 3rd attempt so I claimed 3rd place. Since this was my first World Challenge competition, I was pleased with that result against some strong competitors. I got back from Japan on Monday at 10:30pm and flew out to San Juan, Puerto Rico Thursday morning at 6:00am. It was a pleasant couple of days back at my apartment with Julia but was very short-lived. I get into Puerto Rico and we have an hour and half drive down to the city of Ponce, where my 2nd ever World Challenge meet would take place. We pulled up to this extravagant Hilton Resort/Spa/Casino/Golf Course and I knew right then and there, that I had made it. I was officially a professional athlete, haha. I had a great time down there with some of my buddies, Mark Hollis, Jason Colwick, Jason Wurster, and Aarik Wilson (triple jumper). We cracked open some coconuts, went out in the ocean, caught some crabs on the rocks, and had delicious fruity drinks by the pool bar… it was an awesome trip. But good Lord that place is humid. I don’t think I ever stopped sweating the entire time I was down there and must have lost about 10 lbs. Anyway, the competition was on Saturday evening and I opened up at 5.30m/17’4.5″. I cleared it on my 2nd attempt I believe, and all 4 of us that were still in passed up to 5.50m. Lazaro Borges cleared it on his 1st attempt I think and Mark Hollis may have too. No matter, I miss my first 2 attempts and then miss my 3rd… But I had been having problems communicating my standard setting the whole competition so when I barely scraped off the bar on the way up on this 3rd attempt, I immediately walked off the mats and checked the standards. Sure enough, they were not set where I told them to put them and they were 4 inches different, about the difference I would’ve needed to clear that bar! So according to the rules, I got a 4th attempt, since it was not my error that I missed the bar. I knew I had to take advantage of an opportunity like this, as getting 4 attempts to make a bar is very rare. If I caused a delay in the competition that I did, I knew I needed to clear that bar clean in order to “clear my name” if you will. I was pretty pissed at the situation so I grabbed my next biggest stick, pulled the standards in a little, and cleared it clean. It was by far my best jump of the day and I got to move on to attempt 5.60m with the “big leaguers.” I failed to leave the bar up but both of them did successfully and that was the end of it. Lazaro won with 5.60m, Mark placed 2nd also with 5.60m, and I took home the bronze with 5.50m. I was still pretty pleased that I continued to get 3rd place at this big of a competition and that I jumped over 18′ which is always a good bar to clear.

I returned home from Puerto Rico that following Sunday and left for Chula Vista on Tuesday. Again, that was a terrific 2 nights of sleep in my own bed, but then was on my way to a dorm room with a twin bed… I tell you, the life of an athlete is crazy, but so worth it. My parents can tell you, my whole life I have always wanted to travel. I loved going to hotels and driving everywhere that we did as a family growing up. My dreams of traveling the world are certainly coming true! I can’t hardly wait to see Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world I have not yet seen. So I’m here at the CVOTC right now, and have been since last Tuesday, almost a week now. While I was in Puerto Rico, talking to Julia on the phone, I convinced her that we could afford to fly her out to Chula Vista to spend a few days together and so she could watch my meet on Thursday. She gladly agreed to come out, so I flew her out on Wednesday and she stayed till Saturday, then flew back to Kansas. It worked out perfect because she was there when I jumped 5.60m and we got to spend some much-needed time together. It’s more of a vacation out here for us with the gorgeous views, and nothing that we had to do besides workout! But like I said, I jumped 5.60m on Thursday! That was a bar I needed for many reasons. For one, it almost guarantees my spot at the Olympic Trials that my family and Julia have already bought flights and tickets for. It also helps my odds of making the Olympic Team now if I were to win the Trials at the end of June. It’s complicated how they decide to take the A and B standard finishers from trials, but to put it simply, I really need the A standard of 5.72m now. That will mean many things for me as well. Many “financially beneficial” things to be exact, ha. So going back to the competition on Thursday, there were 13 guys in the competition and it was a GORGEOUS day to vault. 75 degrees, 10mph tail wind, I mean it was perfect. The hardest part for me was not to get too excited and put too much pressure on myself to jump high since it was such good weather. I opened at the 2nd height of 5.23m/17’1.75″ just to get in the meet early and blow through for more of a warmup jump. It was a horrible jump but I managed to clear it pretty much sideways and spinning all sorts of weird ways. Not sure what happened but I’m glad I came in at that low of a height to start things off. I got my act together and focused a little more for this next height. I knew it had to be a good jump to make 5.38m. I managed to have a good solid jump and had no problem clearing it on my first attempt. The bar now goes up to 5.53m/18’1.75″ which would sadly be a season-best this year. I tried not to think about that fact and just jump and concentrate on the things my coach and I have been working on. I cleared it first attempt. BOOM, season best in 1st class fashion! I was feeling really solid at this point since I had made 3 bars in a row al on first attempts. To be honest, I’m not sure when the last time I cleared 3 bars in a meet was, and that’s not a good thought. Anyway, I tried to stay focused and not think about the next height being a height I have only cleared about 5 times in my life. I grabbed the same pole, my 5m-13.7 and cleared 5.60m on my first attempt again! I couldn’t believe I had taken only 4 jumps and cleared two season best bars and 4 bars in a row. I felt unstoppable, besides the fact that I needed to go up to my 5.10m long poles now and that I am not fully comfortable on them. I’ve actually only ever cleared one bar on the 13.6 I was going to next. I was the only jumper to clear 5.60m so I passed up to 5.72m to attempt the Olympic A Standard for the 2nd time this season. I knew I could get it if I timed everything up on this 5.10m pole. Miss #1… It was a rushed jump, just like I usually do on these longer poles. My second attempt was a much better jump but the standards were too far back and I came down on the bar after being quite high over it. And then I had another rushed jump on my 3rd attempt to end the day. I was extremely happy with the results of the day but always being greedy, I was upset I couldn’t get 5.72m. That would actually be a 1 cm PR as well. Oh well, I watched the videos, sent them to my coach and he watched them, and I know what to work on to get that bar. Now it’s all about doing it and turning some heads. I compete again this Thursday afternoon and will hopefully once again take shots at 5.72m.

Next week, I will vault at the Vault in the Ville in downtown Louisville, KY on June 1st, then in Wichita, KS on June 9th during the Wichita Riverfest celebration. Then I have the qualifying round of the Olympic Trials on June 25th and finals on the 28th! Thank you for all of your support this year guys and gals! Yall have been terrific on Facebook and Twitter and reading this blog has really encouraged me more than you could imagine. Thank you so much for your support. Good Luck to all who are competing in NCAA Prelims this week!

If you go to my site’s video page, you can find the video from this past Thursday at the CVOTC where I jumped 5.60m!

http://www.jscottpolevault.com/2012/02/11/jordans-videos/

So it’s been a little while… Let me begin by recapping the meets I haven’t updated you on yet.

After the meet at Emporia State, I headed down with the KU team to UTEP (University of Texas El Paso). I had no idea this town was so close to the border! I could’ve spit over the fence to Mexico from the highway right near the University. But what started out to be a wonderful day for a competition that Saturday turned into a freakin sand storm! There were 50+mph winds blowing all the sand from Mexico high up in the sky and down on us at the track. The guys’ comp was after the girls when it started getting really bad and dangerous so they cancelled it. But not before I asked them if they could hold the bar on at 12′ just so I could clear a bar! After 5 minutes of trying to put the bar up in huge gusts of wind, I went back to my little 10 step approach on a little 4.90m/16′ pole and fought the strong tail-cross wind to put the pole in the box and barely land on the edge of the mats. I cleared it! Luckily it wasn’t recorded anywhere cuz I don’t want any strangers seeing 12′ beside my name, but it was fun to just clear a bar in those insane conditions!

Next was the Kansas Relays, my home meet on my own turf. It was a GORGEOUS day that Saturday and we had about 9 guys in the elite competition. It was in the 70′s and we had a great tail wind during warmups. I made the opening bar at 5.27m/17’3.75″ on my first attempt and then the wind turned… It was about 50% headwind and 50% tailwind from that point on. It made it difficult to be consistent on my approach and I missed all three attempts at 5.42m/17’9″. No excuse though, I should be able to make that height now matter what. But I ended up getting 3rd and got some good appearance money so it was a financially successful weekend.

My buddy Scott Roth, who won the KU Relays with 5.42m stayed with me and Julia that Sunday and we drove out for the Drake Relays competitions that Monday. It’s an understatement to say we had a fun trip, ha. We did so much fun stuff on that trip, from kite flying to frisbee throwing, to Scott dropping his phone down an elevator shaft from the 7th floor and it STILL WORKED! We had the Drake Relays Mall Vault competition that Wednesday, May 25th at the Jordan Creek Town Center Mall which was probably the most fun meet I’ve ever been in. I mean seriously, it was in a freakin mall! I ended up jumping 5.50m/18’0.5″ for 3rd place (once again…) but this time I only fell short of beating Derek Miles and Brad Walker, so I’d say that was a pretty good day, even though I definitely should’ve cleared 5.62m/18’5″. It was a ton of fun though cuz they partnered the guys up with the girls and my partner was Lacy Janson! She’s awesome and did great at this meet jumping really well. We placed 2nd in the team competition and got $3,000 in Mall/Scheels gift cards to split!! I used my $1500 to get a new road bike that I’ve wanted for 3 years and also got Julia an iPad! I felt like a really rich athlete and I gotta say… it felt pretty sweet haha. But hey, what are you gonna do when you get $1500 that you HAVE to spend?! It was an awesome experience to get a shopping spree like that and I cant wait to come back for next year’s competition!

After that Mall Vault we jumped in the Drake Relays Invitational competition the Saturday. It was about 50-55 degrees with a great tailwind. I just cant function properly in that cold of weather… my hands get cold really easily and I was tense every take-off. I jumped the first 2 bars and finished with 5.37m/17’7″ for 3rd place… AGAIN, ha. It’s coming around though. My timing and consistency is getting better, slowly but surely.

As you can see from the map above, I’m currently in Kawasaki, Japan for the Kawasaki Grand Prix World Challenge Meet, my first World Challenge competition and I’m so jacked up and ready to jump tomorrow! The time change is weird so I’ll just say that I jump Sunday at 2:05am Eastern Time, but here it will be 3:05pm on Sunday. I feel so close to having my jump dialed in that I hope it all comes together for this meet, that’d be amazing timing if it does, ha! I’m not sure who all of my competitors are but I’m here in the hotel with Jeff Coover and Dustin DeLeo and we’ve had a good time so far today. The food has been even better than 2 months ago when I was in a different part of Japan. I just did a shake out at the stadium, which is a pretty large soccer/track stadium. The winds were really swirly today on the runway and there’s a chance of rain tomorrow but we’ll hope for the best and see how it goes! Ok so I got some more exciting news yesterday… I’m goin to Puerto Rico next week for another World Challenge competition called the Ponce Grand Prix! It’s not 100% yet but I think I’m in! So I have an extremely busy month but hopefully can continue to make some decent money to save up for the wedding next year. Right when I get back from Puerto Rico I’ll head out to the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista, CA for 10 days from the 15th-25th to get some good training and two competitions in! They are holding sanctioned competitions every Thursday till the Trials and it’s supposed to be a great place to jump. I’m excited to get back out there and compete this time! When I get back from the OTC, I’ll have a meet in Louisville, KY the next weekend on June 1st. That looks like it will be a really fun meet so I’m looking forward to it! It’s gonna be a crazy month! I just wish I could drag Julia around with me everywhere I go… I won’t get to see her much this month and I don’t like that part of it one bit =/  But this is the life I always dreamed of and I’m going to take full advantage of these awesome opportunities to see the world while I have the chance! I’ll try to update you on the competition afterwards tomorrow but I probably won’t have time. But I’ll definitely be on twitter consistently like usual… you should follow me at @jscottpolevault Also, I added a page with my 2012 Competition Schedule in the sidebar on the right. I know it’s a little late for that now but whatever. Here are a few pictures from the Kawasaki trip so far:

Flying Over Alaska

View From Hotel Window

View From Hotel Window

View From Hotel Window

Todoroki Stadium

You can find the answer on my PowerBar Team Elite Athlete Profile Page:

http://www.powerbar.com/user/jscottpolevault.aspx

I jumped in the Texas Relays last week on March 31st for my first meet of the outdoor season. It was my first time jumping outdoors in 6 months so I think it went really well! I started at 5.50m/18’0.5″ and made it on my second attempt. It was pretty funny though cuz I went over the bar almost completely sideways ha. I tend to do that sometimes when I’m blowing through a pole, I let my feet fall out to the side and hope the pole can toss me enough to get over the bar. I barely cleared it but that’s good enough for me! Four of us made 5.50m and went up to 5.60m/18’4.5″. This is where things got frustrating QUICK. The officials were actually TOO good and were so fast at putting the bar back up when someone missed that none of us vaulters had time to catch our breath between jumps in that 90 degree Texas heat! They didn’t even realize they were going too fast, they were simply doing their job, really efficiently! Instead of complaining more about that, which I could go on all day, I’ll move on… That 5.50m bar was the first bar I’ve ever cleared on my 5.10m-13.6 pole! It was awesome that I was able to jump on that pole (the biggest pole I’ve ever jumped on) during warmups! By far, the biggest pole I’ve ever jumped on in warmups and I started the meet on it. I blew through my first jump at 5.60m so I went up to the biggest pole of my life, the 5.10m-13.2. It felt really good but I just couldn’t time it up on my second attempt, then my third jump was just crap since I was outta breath and took off at 14′ 4″ I think. I ended up getting 2nd place to Jack Whitt since he cleared 5.50m on his 1st attempt. Overall, it was a good start to the outdoor season and I believe some big bars are comin soon!

More recently, I competed in a small meet at Emporia State in Emporia, KS, about an hour away this past Saturday. The weather was awful when we got there in the morning and I was pretty set on not jumping that day. That was when the day was shot before I even started. Negative thoughts like that kill your mentality and it’s extremely difficult to bounce back from. The rain went away and it started to warm up by the time the guys comp started warmups so I tried to get excited again but I couldn’t get goin quite as good as I had wanted to due to my poor mental game earlier that day. I didn’t have very good warmups but in my experience, that doesn’t play much of a role in determining my outcome anyway. I opened up at 5.30m/17’4.5″ to give myself a “free jump” to warm up a little more. The temperature had dropped back down a little and I couldn’t keep my hands warm- pretty typical for me. It took me all 3 attempts to finally clear just 5.30m! Luckily I figured out my step and got on the right pole by the 3rd attempt and smoked it. I passed up to 5.50m and still had trouble with my step. I kept reaching at take-off and was running really low, the exact opposite of what we’ve been working on the last couple weeks ha. I think my legs are just so worn out that I couldn’t stay tall. I got a decent attempt on my 3rd but I stared at the bar, kicked out at the bar and came up short. STOP DOING THAT JORDAN. I’ll get there, but it’s a ridiculously difficult task apparently. I ended up winning the meet, barely though! Our sophomore at KU, Alex Bishop cleared 5.30m also on his 3rd attempt to equal his personal best that he got for the first time last week amin Texas! He’s been on fire lately and I’m excited for big things from him by the end of the year. He had one miss at 4.90/16’0.75″ his opening bar which gave me the win. And when I thought about it, that was the first meet I’ve won since February 18th when I jumped 5.50m to qualify for USA’s! So it’s good to get another win under my belt, purely for psychological benefit.

I’m heading down to UTEP this Friday with the KU team to jump on Saturday and I’m super stoked! I’ve never been there before and I hear it’s an amazing place to jump! Oh! And big news! I was accepted into the Drake Relays Mall Vault on April 25th!! I’m the 6th best guy out of 6 haha. I’m actually excited to be the underdog and jump with the nation’s best! On the guys’ side, there’s gonna be Brad Walker, Derek Miles, Jeremy Scott, Mark Hollis, Scott Roth, and myself! Those guys are top 5 ranked in the US and I’m right under that so it’s awesome to get the opportunity to jump! Especially in a freakin MALL!! Any of you living in the Des Moines, Iowa area, come out to the Jordan Creek Town Center on the 25th around 6pm! I got a great schedule comin up the next few weeks so look for big things coming soon!

I posted a couple new videos of my 5.50m jump at Texas Relays and my 5.30m jump at Emporia State on my videos page! Click here to check em out!

2 weeks ago I went out to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA for a Sport Performance workshop. I’d never been to the San Diego area before and it was everything I thought it would be except for the rain! Everyone there said it rains 3 days a year and I was there for them all ha. About 20 track and field athletes were sent out to the workshop for optional blood tests, hydration tests, Functional Movement Screenings, sprint mechanic analysis with the great sprint coach Ralph Mann, and event-specific biomechanics analysis. It was a ton of fun out there hanging out with Mark Hollis and Jeff Coover, the other guy vaulters who took advantage of the opportunity. I got to see a few of my other friends as well as meet some new athletes as well, not only track and field athletes but Olympic BMX, kayak, and field hockey athletes. It was a really cool experience to hang out at the Olympic Training Center and I definitely can’t wait to go back. Pictures of the Training Center are at the bottom of this post.

Since Japan I haven’t done much of anything worth writing about except for training my butt off in the weight room and on our strength practice days. I did 3 weeks of hard lifting at 4×8 sets of most lifts, then the last week started a new cycle of 3×5 and 5×5 reps of fewer lifts. My body got broken down near the end of those 3 weeks but I’m bouncing back into feelin good now! I had my first practice from my long run in quite some time on Tuesday and it went well! It took me about 8 jumps to get the rust off the wheels again and get used to the speed comin into the box and that last 5 jumps or so were great! This weekend will still be like any other first meet of a season, but hopefully I can pull out something good over 18′ or so. It was 2 years ago at the Texas Relays where I jumped my PR of 5.71m/18’8.75″ and last year I jumped 5.50m/18’0.5″ here. I’m ready to get back up there and get a big jump. Man I havent written one of these updates in so long, i’m out of practice. I feel like I’m forcing out a bunch of crap writing! Comment if you have any hair ideas for this weekend! I need help! I cant wait to jump outside on Saturday. oh, and does anyone want to help me design a shirt to start selling? I don’t have any good ideas right now so let me know if you’re willing to help a vaulter out!

Words can’t express how frustrated I am about not jumping higher this indoor season. I am STUCK at 18′ or less so far and I hate it! I opened up at 5.33m/17’5.75″ and cleared it first attempt. I kicked out at it, per usual but I didn’t touch it and it stayed up. Then the bar goes to 5.43m/17’9.75″ and I went up sticks to my 5m – 14.5. I bailed out on my first attempt because I didn’t run out of the back very well and was out at take-off. The next attempt i had a great jump but hit it off on the way up, even with the standards all the way back. I decided to go to my next pole, the 5m – 14.1 and pull the standards closer 15cm to 65. I must have really been chuggin by this point cuz i hit THIS bar on the way up too! Just BARELY. I would’ve been a foot over it if i hadn’t have brushed it off. The crowd roared and sighed with one loud breath. I was done. My professional international debut was limited to only one clearance. I was upset primarily because it’s been the same story every meet this indoor season so far. But good things come to those who wait. I don’t know how much longer I can wait, but I know I’m jumping better than I ever have right now on bigger poles and something great is going to come of it soon, I can feel it!

Ok, so the funniest thing happened after my 5.33m clearance. Brian Yokoyama, who chose and took me over there to this meet told me that the meet promoters and officials would like for me to throw out t-shirts after every bar I made. Supposedly the Japanese kids just love athletes from the U.S. and of course I was excited about throwing shirts out. A couple junior high school classes came out to watch the competition in hopes for some of them to gain an interest in pole vaulting. I was instructed to throw the shirts in their area of the gym. I cleared the bar, an official tossed me a shirt and I went jogged back down the runway and started waving the shirt in the air to get the attention of the kids in the back corner. A few of them stood up and yelled and wanted it so I threw the shirt. Let me first say that they were pretty far away and I was holding a pole in my other hand… The shirt “stuck” to my hand and went directly sideways toward a wall where a few of the vaulters from the earlier division were sitting. The shirt slid right up to them and they looked at it as if it were a bomb! The whole gym was quiet until a kid ran from the corner, grabbed it, and waved it around. Then the whole place erupted with laughter. It was hilarious how it happened, but after I finished jumping, i took the remaining 10 shirts and tossed them to the kids as they screamed and jumped and panicked for a shirt. It was awesome to still be liked so much after not jumping very high. It was still high to the kids and they adored me. I signed more autographs that day than i ever have, even more than the Reno Pole Vault Summit where I thought I had received the most attention I ever would experience. I was happily mistaken, as i signed hundreds of shirts and bags, cell phones, paper, shoes, even arms and legs. It was an amazing feeling I experienced in Japan that I will never forget. Here are some more pictures below. Enjoy! And when I think of more stories from the trip, I’ll add em to this post. I’m not sure when my next meet is, but until then, I’m getting back into a lifting phase and building my strength back up to last me through the outdoor season and most importantly, the 2012 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon!

I can’t talk for long because I am constantly trying to live it up here in Japan! I don’t wanna miss a thing since I am only here until tomorrow. I arrived 2 days ago and haven’t even had time to update this blog! The food has been the highest quality food I have ever had, but definitely strange. I had sushi for the first time, which I’m sure I got spoiled with the best sushi in the world ha. I’ve had lots of rice, vegetables, tofu/soy bean foods, beef, pork, and lots of fish. It’s been everything I’d hoped it’d be and more so far. The people are extremely nice over here and are very helpful. It’s like they are constantly looking for ways to help you do anything and everything. I just wish I could speak more than just a few words of Japanese! I’m dying to be able to communicate better with them, but that’s the consequence of traveling to different countries I guess. You can’t know every language, that’s for sure. I compete today in about 3 hours – 1:30PM Japan Time/10:30PM Central Time the day before in America (it’s 15 hours ahead here). I gotta eat some “breakfast” and dye my hair before going over to the track to try my luck against my Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean friends! I took some practice jumps yesterday to get the feel for the place. Below are a bunch of pictures that I’ve taken so far! Wish me luck!

My friend Lois Keller, who ran the 3K at the meet got my last attempt at 5.60m/18’4.5″ on video so I thought I’d share it. Thanks Lois! It’s the only attempt I had on my 5.10m – 13.6 pole that I can ALMOST make a bar on, ha. Soon my friends…