Dawn Hartigan (born 13 November 1956) is an Australian pole vaulter. She is the current world record holder in the W45, W50 and W55 divisions of masters athletics. [1] She also held the world record in the W40 division.
She lives in Melbourne and works as a personal trainer, also doing motivational speaking engagements. [2] She is the author of the 2003 book "Power with age : in reach of everyone." [3] She also penned a section of the Sandy Forster edited "Living an Abundant Life: Inspirational Stories from Entrepreneurs Around the World" entitled "Finding my True Spirit." [4]
She was the 2013 female nominee for the IAAF Masters Athlete of the Year. [5]
Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoan Greeks and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.
Sergey Nazarovych Bubka is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News, and in 2012 was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame.
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-time World Champion, the 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.
Dmitri Markov is a retired Belarusian-Australian pole vaulter. He is a former world champion and current Oceanian record holder. His gold medal winning jump at the 2001 World Championships made him the third person ever to clear 6.05 metres or 19 feet 10 inches.
Emma George is a former Australian pole vaulter. She set twelve world records in a row in the late nineties, but she lost the record on 26 May 2000 to Stacy Dragila and was unable to recapture it. She was previously a trapeze artist in The Flying Fruit Fly Circus. She was coached by world-renowned coach Mark Stewart, who also led Steve Hooker to Olympic gold.
Steven Leslie Hooker OAM is an Australian former pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best, achieved in 2008, is 6.06 m making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history, behind Sergey Bubka, Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis.
Sally Pearson, OAM is a retired Australian athlete who competed on the 100 metre hurdles. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2013 World Championships.
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.
Vicky Parnov is an Australian athlete who competes in pole vault. She is the current Australian national champion, winning in April 2012. She has strong athletic pedigree, being the niece of Tatiana Grigorieva, who won the silver medal for Australia in the women's pole vault at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the granddaughter of Natalya Pechonkina, who won the bronze medal for the USSR in the women's 400m at the 1968 Summer Olympics. She is coached by her father Alex Parnov, himself a former world class pole vaulter. Her younger sister Liz also competes in Pole Vault and was the Australian national champion in 2010 before she turned 16.
The Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne is an annual outdoor track and field meeting which takes place in February at the Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne, Australia since 2023. Last held under the old name, Melbourne Track Classic, in early March of 2016, prior to 2012 the meeting was held at the Olympic Park Stadium.
The Sydney Track Classic is an annual outdoor track and field meeting held in February or March at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia. It is part of the national Australian Athletics Tour, alongside the Melbourne Track Classic.
Yekaterina Aleksandrovna Kostetskaya is a Russian track athlete. She came fifth in the 800 m final at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but was later disqualified for doping.
Roberta Bruni is an Italian pole vaulter. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Pole vault.
Piotr Lisek is a Polish athlete specialising in the pole vault. He won bronze medals at the 2015 and 2019 World Championships and the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships. He is the first Polish vaulter to jump over 6 meters.
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.
Katie Byres is a British former track and field athlete who competed in the pole vault. She holds a personal best of 4.52 m for the event, set in Nevers, France on 18 February 2012. Her highest national ranking during her career was third in 2012. She also ranked 16th in the world in the 2012 indoor season. She broke the British under-20 records for pole vault, indoors and outdoors.