Nadine O'Connor (born March 5, 1942) is a retired mathematics teacher and a world record setting, hall of fame Masters Track and Field athlete. While she specializes in the pole vault, due to her athletic training, she also holds the World Masters Athletics world records in the 100 metres, 200 metres, [1] the Indoor 60 metres and 200 metres. [2] She also holds the American record in the long jump, 80 metre hurdles, 300 metre hurdles and pentathlon. [3]
Coached by her partner, Olympian Bud Held, O'Connor continues to improve. Her current world record of 3.19 metres, set at age 67 in the W65 pole vault is so exceptional that it is superior to the record for athletes more than ten years her junior. [4] In the women's rankings, she is 76 cm (about 2+1⁄2 feet) above the next best performer in her age group, [5] a beamonesque margin. It would also rate her in the top 25 performers in the Men's division, [6] a situation unheard of in any other event. Even O'Connor herself did not jump as high when she was setting records in those younger divisions. She has already jumped higher than her world record, unofficially in her private practice facility [7] near San Diego. [8]
Her world record of 10,234 points in the emerging women's decathlon, which uses an age conversion scale for scoring, is the highest recorded score for any athlete, man or woman by almost 1200 points. [9]
She was elected into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2007. [10] She has been named USATF Female Masters Athlete of the year in 2005 and 2006 [11] and USATF Athlete of the Week, out of athletes of all divisions and genders, three times [12] [13] [14]
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 program in Russia, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement after 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.
Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila is a former American pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple world champion.
Silke Spiegelburg is a German pole vaulter. She is the younger sister of Richard Spiegelburg. She represented Germany at the Summer Olympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012, as well as having competed at the World Championships in Athletics. She is a European silver medallist in the event both indoors and outdoors.
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.
Franklin Wesley "Bud" Held is an American athlete primarily notable for his performance throwing the javelin. He was born in Los Angeles, California.
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.
Chelsea Johnson is a former American pole vaulter. She is the daughter of Jan Johnson, who won three NCAA championships and a bronze medal in the pole vault at the 1972 Summer Olympics. She won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, but retired from the sport two years later.
The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in Athletics, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best athletes for those competitions.
Eileen-Philippa "Phil" Raschker is a German-born American masters athlete.
Albert Richmond "Boo" Morcom was an American track and field athlete.
Brenda Taylor is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 meter hurdles. She reached the final of the event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and won a medal at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 4×400-meter relay.
Kathy Bergen is an American Masters athletics track and field athlete. She is the current world record holder in the W70 100 meters and the high jump. She also holds the Indoor World records for the W65 high jump, the W70 60 meters, 200 meters and high jump. And she holds the American record for the W70 200 meters and the W65 high jump. She is the oldest woman to break the 15 second barrier in the 100 meters and to break 32 seconds in the 200 meters. She is also the first 70-year-old woman to jump 1.30 meters in the high jump at USATF Masters Championships in Sacramento in 2010.
Lacy Janson is an American track and field athlete who specialized in the pole vault. She was the 2010 USA indoor champion in the event and represented her country at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. At college level, she won both an outdoor and an indoor NCAA title for Florida State University.
Mary L. Bowermaster was a nurse's aide for schools in Butler County, Ohio, until a breast cancer diagnosis in 1979. After a mastectomy and successfully battling the disease, she began a second career in masters athletics.
Sharon Day-Monroe is an American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion.
Irene Romona Obera is an American track and field athlete, specializing in sprinting events. Over an extended career, she has set numerous world records and has won numerous world championships. She is currently a member of the W70 world record holding 4x100 metres relay team. She also holds the current American record in the W60 and W75 100 metres and the W75 200 metres.
Mary Saxer is an American track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault. She holds a personal record of 4.71 m for the event, set in 2014.
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.