Alysha Eveline Newman (born June 29, 1994) is a Canadian track and field athlete who specializes in the pole vault. She is 2024 Summer Olympics bronze medallist and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, and holds both the Canadian national and Commonwealth Games records in the women's pole vault. Newman represented Canada at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This marked her as the first Canadian woman to medal in pole vaulting at the Olympics. Her vault of 4.85 meters also set a new Canadian national record.[2]
Newman's first sport was gymnastics, which she was forced to abandon at the age of 13 after injuring a lower back vertebra. After one year off sports where she considered ice hockey and diving, she chose track and field, and was directed by a coach to vaulting due to her gymnastics background.[3] She attended Mother Teresa Secondary School in London, Ontario.
Afterwards, she transferred to the University of Miami,[5] following her coach Jerel Langley.[6] Newman graduated in 2016 with a major in exercise physiology and a minor in nutrition.[4]
Newman competed in the pole vault event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, winning the bronze medal with a vault of 3.80m.[8] The 4.60m (15ft 1in) vault ranked Newman fourth in the world in women's pole vault in 2016.[9]
In July 2016 she was officially named to Canada's Olympic team.[10] Competing in the Olympics, Newman only vaulted 4.45m (14ft 7in) in qualification and missed the finals.[11]
Newman competed at the first ever "Vault the Park", a street vaulting event in Victoria Park during the annual Rib Fest in her hometown of London, Ontario, where she successfully cleared 4.61m (15ft 1+1⁄4in), topping her own Canadian women's record.
Newman bettered her own national record again at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational at the University of Miami on 8 April 2017, where she vaulted 4.71m (15ft 5+1⁄4in) in Coral Gables, Florida.[12] In August, she was a finalist at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, finishing seventh by vaulting 4.65m (15ft 3in).[13]
In March 2018, Newman placed sixth at the 2018 World Indoor Championships with a height of 4.70 m. In April, she competed at her second Commonwealth Games pole vault in the Gold Coast, winning the gold medal with a height of 4.75m (15ft 7in), equaling her personal best and setting a Commonwealth Games record.[14]
In May 2018, while traveling to compete at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in Doha, Newman's poles were all destroyed while in transit with Air Canada. She competed at the event with poles borrowed from a local athletics club, placing seventh. Air Canada subsequently replaced all of her equipment.[15] Newman then suffered a torn patellar tendon in a warmup at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.[16]
In February 2019, Newman won the 2019 Indoor Meeting iKarlsruhe with a clearance of 4.71m (15ft 5in), setting the Canadian indoor track and field pole vault record.[17][18] In July 2019, Newman won the Stabhochsprung Jockgrim meet with a new personal best of 4.77m (15ft 8in).[19]
Competing at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Newman won the bronze medal in the pole vault event, clearing 4.55m (14ft 11in). She expressed dissatisfaction with her performance, saying she "definitely felt that I underperformed."[20] Later that same month, Newman won the 2019 Meeting de Paris, her first Diamond League win, with a new Canadian record of 4.82m (15ft 9+3⁄4in).[21] That mark ranked her as the #16 vaulter of all time. She duplicated 4.82 m while finishing third in the 2019 Diamond League meet in Zürich, where the women's pole vault was held one day earlier than the other events, indoors at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof.[22] That jump ranked her tied for #12 all time indoors[23] and is the Canadian record. Newman placed fifth at the pole vault event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, clearing 4.80 m.[24]
While attending the 2021 Drake Relays, Newman suffered a concussion after falling in the shower of her hotel room. She was not hospitalized, and subsequently would blame Athletics Canada personnel for mismanaging her health situation and advising her to continue training.[25] She did not participate in the 2021 Diamond League after failing to clear a bar at a tune-up event in Sweden. Newman was named to the Canadian team for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which the COVID-19 pandemic caused to be delayed to 2021.[26][27] Upon arrival in Tokyo for the pole vault event, Newman failed to take off on all three of her attempts in the qualification round, and thus did not move on to the main phase of the competition.[28] She would later say her commercial agreements with sponsors necessitated appearing in competition in Tokyo, regardless of health considerations.[25] After continuing to struggle with concussion symptoms, Newman sought additional medical assistance in October 2021 and began a new recovery regimen.[29]
As her concussion recovery progressed, Newman spent time training at Athletics Canada's facility at York University. Proximity to Canadian heptathleteGeorgia Ellenwood prompted her to experiment with multi-event training as well, and she competed for the first time since the Olympics in the heptathlon at the NACAC Combined Events Championship in Ottawa in May 2022, at which Newman finished fourth. Shortly afterward she won the Johnny Loaring Classic in Windsor with a vault of 4.61 m, 0.9 shy of the world standard.[29] At the Canadian championships, Newman won the pole vault event and did well enough in the 100 metres hurdles to qualify for that team as well, though she did not qualify as an heptathlete.[30] She failed to make the final in the pole vault event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, clearing only 4.35 m. Initially depressed by the result, saying she was "not sure where to go from here because this sport continues to break my heart." After a few days, she opted to continue her season, saying it was necessary to vocalize her disappointment although she ultimately felt optimistic about her return to competing.[31] Newman was named to the Canadian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in both the pole vault and 100 m hurdles, but an undiagnosed heel fracture hindered her performance. She withdrew from the vault midway through, placing sixth with a height of only 4.25 m, and did not compete in the hurdles, later announcing the end of her competition season.[32]
Following consecutive years of disappointing results, Athletics Canada sought to reduce Newman's sports funding in October 2022, but she successfully appealed this decision by the end of the year. After beginning to work with a new mental performance coach, she found success on the 2023 World Athletics Indoor Tour, winning the pole vault series and managing a 4.78 m clearance at the concluding Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix.[33] The 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest proved a disappointment, as she cleared only 4.5 m in the pole vault and did not advance to the final. Newman remarked afterward that "my neurologist would say that we weren't focusing on this year, but I got a little greedy and said I can do it this year and next year. He won't be disappointed, but I will be."[34]
Newman enjoyed success in the 2024 indoor season, culminating with a victory at the All-Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand on February 22, where she raised her own Canadian national record to 4.83 m.[35] She was named co-captain of the Canadian team for the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, alongside Sarah Mitton.[36] However, she sustained an ankle sprain in practice two days before the event, and ultimately withdrew on the day of the final, having been advised not to practice for three to five weeks.[35] After twelve weeks of recovery, Newman successfully resumed competing, and managed an outdoor season's best of 4.76 m on the Diamond League circuit at the 2024 London Athletics Meet, where she came second. Named to her third Canadian Olympic team, she finished seventh in the qualification round of the women's pole vault, reaching the Olympic final for the first time in her career.[37] This was the first time she had reached a championship final since 2019. Newman went on to set a new national record height of 4.85 m, and won the bronze medal. This was the first-ever Olympic medal for a Canadian in women's pole vault, and the first Canadian pole vault medal at the Olympics since William Halpenny won bronze in 1912.[2] Speaking afterward, she said that "I never gave up on myself this year. And when things went bad, I still smiled. And that’s huge."[38]
Personal life
Newman was named one of Maxim's hot 100 women in 2021.[39] Newman was one of several athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics who created content via OnlyFans to supplement their income. She told the Associated Press "I never loved how amateur athletes can never make a lot of money. This is where my entrepreneurial skills came in."[40]
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist, three-times a World Champion, the current world record holder in the event, and is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time. Isinbayeva was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics after revelations of an extensive state-sponsored doping programme in Russia, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement winning the Olympic gold medal. She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC's Athletes' Commission.
Svetlana Yevgenyevna Feofanova is a Russian pole vaulter.
Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila is a former American pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple-time world champion.
Jennifer Lynn Suhr is an American former pole vaulter. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of 17 US National Championships. She holds the world indoor pole vault record at 5.03 m. She holds the American women's pole vault record indoors. In 2008, she won the U.S. Olympic trials, setting an American record of 4.92 m and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics. She won the gold medal at the London Olympics on August 6, 2012. Track & Field News named her American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008.
Yarisley Silva Rodríguez is a Cuban pole vaulter. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics – the first Latin American athlete to win an Olympic medal in that event.
Elizaveta Ryzih is a German pole vault athlete. Two times an Olympian, she was 6th in London and 10th in Rio Olympic games. She was described by one athletics commentator as a "tall, fast and athletic" pole vaulter, and she has seen good success in European Championships as well as being a constant presence in the world yearly rankings of pole vaulters, placing among the top 10 vaulters in recent years.
Renaud Lavillenie is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three World Indoor Championships gold medals (record), three European Championships gold medals and four European Indoor Championships gold medals. He has also won one silver medal and four bronze medals at the World Championships. As of 25 August 2016, he holds the French national records for the highest pole vault clearance both outdoors and indoors. The 6.16 was the absolute world record for the pole vault for over six years, 2014–2020. He was the pole vault overall winner of the IAAF Diamond League in seven consecutive years, from 2010 to 2016.
Holly Bethan Bradshaw is an English track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She used to be the British record holder in the event indoors and outdoors, with clearances of 4.87 metres and 4.90 metres. Bradshaw won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, gold at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, bronze at the 2018 European Championships, and silver at the 2019 European Indoor Championships. She also won at the 2018 Athletics World Cup. Coached by Scott Simpson, she has been consistently ranked among the world's best and has been ranked in the world top ten on the Track and Field News merit rankings four times.
Katerina Stefanidi is a Greek pole vaulter. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and has also competed at the 2012 London and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Stefanidi was the 2017 World champion and earned bronze at the 2019 World Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, she has won two gold medals and three silvers. Indoors, she is a two-time World Indoor bronze medallist from 2016 and 2018, was the 2017 European Indoor champion and earned silver at the 2015 European Indoor Championships.
Armand "Mondo" Duplantis is a Swedish-American pole vaulter. Regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time, Duplantis is the current world outdoor and indoor record holder [6.26 m and 6.22 m respectively]. He is a two-time Olympic champion, two-time World outdoor and indoor champion, and the current European champion.
Sandi Morris is an American pole vault record holder. She won the silver medal in the pole vault event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She also won silver at the pole vault event at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and another silver at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics. In 2018 she won gold at the World Indoor Championships. Morris has a personal best vault of 4.95 m indoor, set on March 12, 2016, in Portland, Oregon. She matched this height at the 2018 World Indoor Champships when setting a new championship record. July 23, 2016, Morris cleared 4.93 m at American Track League in Houston at Rice University breaking Jennifer Suhr's American outdoor record in the pole vault. Morris cleared 5.00 m at 2016 IAAF Diamond League Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on September 9, 2016, to set the U.S. women's outdoor pole vault record.
Eliza McCartney is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault and won the bronze medal in this event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the current New Zealand and Oceania record holder at 4.94 m, and is the outdoor world junior record holder at 4.64 m. She also won the silver medal at the Summer Universiade in 2015. In 2018, she placed second at the Commonwealth Games.
Anicka Newell is a Canadian pole vaulter.
Amálie Švábíková is a Czech pole vaulter. She won the bronze medal at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. Švábíková claimed silver and gold at the 2019 and 2021 European Under-23 Championships respectively.
Kathryn Elizabeth Moon is an American pole vaulter. She won gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, and silver medals at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and the 2024 Summer Olympics. Moon was also the 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist.
Christopher Nilsen is an American athlete specialising in pole vault and high jump. He won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the pole vault event with a jump of 5.97 m.
Sarah Dawn Mitton is a Canadian athlete specializing in the shot put. She is the 2023 World silver medallist and 2024 World Indoor champion, the first Canadian woman to medal in the shot put at either World Athletics global championship. As well, she is the 2023 Pan American, 2022 Commonwealth, and 2019 Summer Universiade champion.
Camryn Rogers is a Canadian athlete specializing in the hammer throw. She is the reigning Olympic and World champion in that discipline, in both cases the first Canadian woman to win that title, and only the second Canadian woman to win gold at the World Athletics Championships in any discipline. Her Olympic gold medal was the first for a Canadian woman in track and field in 96 years.
Audrey Leduc is a Canadian sprinter who holds the Canadian records in the 100 m (10.95) and 200 m (22.36), both set in 2024.
The women's pole vault at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 5 and 7 August 2024. This was the seventh time that the event was contested at the Summer Olympics.
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