Alysha Newman of London, Ontario became the first Canadian female ever to win an Olympic medal in the pole vault. She vaulted a Canadian record vault 4.85 metres on Thursday, and in the process won a bronze medal.
Nina Kennedy of Australia won the gold medal with a vault of 4.9 metres. Katie Moon of the United States won the silver medal with a vault of 4.85 metres as well.
You may wonder why Moon and Newman won the silver and bronze medals respectively when they both cleared the bar at 4.85 metres. Well, the answer is simple. Moon had only one miss before clearing the bar. That was at 4.85 metres. Newman had two misses. The first came at 4.6 metres, and the second at 4.85 metres. In both cases, Neman cleared her second attempt rather easily.
Newman reached the podium by .05 metres. Angelica Moser of Switzerland finished in fourth place with a throw of 4.8 metres.
You could make the argument this season that Newman was peaking at just the right time. In Diamond League action in London prior to the Olympic Games, Newman won the silver medal with a vault of 4.75 metres.
This was Canada’s fist medal in the pole vault since 1912 and third medal overall. At the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Edward Archibald of Toronto, Ontario won bronze in men’s pole vault. Then at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, William Halpenny of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island won bronze in the men’s pole vault again.
Team Canada has now won 19 medals (six gold medals, four silver medals and nine bronze medals). That is the 10th most medals overall.
