| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing  Mexico | ||
| Pan American Games | ||
 | 2007 Rio de Janeiro | Pole vault |
 | 2011 Guadalajara | Pole vault |
Giovanni Alessandro Lanaro Mercado (born 27 September 1981 in Los Angeles) is a Mexican former pole vaulter who is currently the Women's Head Coach at his alma mater, Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC).
Giovanni Lanaro attended West Covina High School in California; Lanaro pole vaulted as a freshman in high school (3.51m) but suffered a back injury as well as a fractured ankle skateboarding that prevented him from vaulting the next three years. He focused on swimming and made the CIF Southern Section Finals, before deciding to give the vault one more try at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut, CA.
In two years at Mt. SAC, Lanaro raised his personal best from 3.51m to 5.30m breaking the college record of 5.21 meters held by Olympic Gold/Silver Medalist, Bob Seagren and Bob Halverson. During his freshman season, he improved his personal best to 5.05m (a 5'00" (1.49m) improvement) taking the California Community College Championship and placing 4th at the 2000 USA Track and Field (USATF) Junior Nationals. In his sophomore season, he surpassed the former record 8-times and capped it off with the 2001 National Community College Title.
At Mt. SAC, Lanaro was fortunate to train alongside many top pole vaulters including Olympic Gold Medalist Tim Mack, Canadian Record Holder Rob Pike, Japanese Champions Manabu Yokoyama and Fumiaki Kobayashi. After redshirting after his sophomore season to recover from ankle surgery, Lanaro shunned full-ride scholarship offers from USC, South Carolina, Michigan State and Fresno State to attend little known, but local, Cal State Fullerton. At Cal State Fullerton, under current Mt. SAC Head Men's Coach Ron Kamaka, he earned three NCAA All-American honors and raised his career best to 5.60m.
Lanaro finished in joint fourth place at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow, and won the silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. He also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics, 2005 World Championships and 2007 World Championships.
Although he failed to qualify for the final of the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, Lanaro's 2007 campaign was a fabulous one. He jumped 5.70 meters or higher nine times, including three competitions of over 5.80 meters. Along the way he captured a host of competitions titles including the Mt. SAC Relays, Road to Eugene, Reebok Grand Prix, Nike Prefontaine Classic and Padua International Athletics Meet. At the Nike Prefontaine Classic, he jumped 5.80 meters in the rain and into a headwind, easily defeating the stellar field, which included all three 2004 Olympic Medalists, the U.S. record holder, the Japanese record holder and the U.S. Champion, by 20 centimeters.
His personal best jump of 5.82 metres was achieved in April 2007, at the Mt. SAC Relays, in Walnut. During his professional career he was coached by his Mt. SAC Coach/USA Track and Field Women's Pole Vault Development/High Performance Chairperson, Brian Yokoyama and was represented by super agent, Karen Locke. Lanaro trained mostly by himself without a jumping partner however, throughout the years, he often trained with his close friend, Japanese Olympian and Record Holder Daichi Sawano, during his frequent training trips to California.
Mt. San Antonio College Record (5.40M), Mt. SAC Relays Record (5.82m), California State University at Fullerton Record (5.60M), Nishida Cup Record (Indoor 5.65M), Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, CA (5.82M), Mexican National Record (5.82M), Central American Record (5.82M) Feb. 16, 2009 equal Area Indoor Record, Stockholm, Sweden (5.71M)
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Mt. San Antonio College is a public community college in Walnut, California. It offers more than 400 degree and certificate programs, 36 support programs, and more than 50 student clubs and athletic programs, including food pantry, counseling and tutoring. The college offers associate degrees, career education, community recreation courses, ESL, adult education, and youth summer programs.
John Lee Gray Jr. is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz. That time puts Gray as the nineteenth fastest performer of all time. He came seventh in the 1984 Summer Olympics, fifth in 1988, and won the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart as he had won the A-race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he failed to qualify for the final in Stuttgart. He also set the world 600 meter record in 1986 at 1:12.81. In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He held the US indoor record at 1:45.00 till February 2019.
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