Women’s pole vault is a relatively new sport in the track and field world.
It didn’t really come into play until the 1990s, and wasn’t sanctioned by the International Association of Athletic Federations until 1997.
The men were vaulting in the Olympics in 1896, but it didn’t become an Olympic sport for women until 2000.
The winner of the first-ever Olympic Gold medal was Stacy Dragila of the United States. Dragila competed at Idaho State University from 1993-95 after transferring from Yuba Community College.
Dragila accomplishment at the Olympics, and what she did for women’s pole vault ranks first on the Big Sky’s Conference’s list of “25 Greatest Female Moments.”
“Oh really,” said Dragila. “Oh my gosh, wow. If I would have gone anywhere else in my career I would have never been on that podium or that stage. Dave (Nielsen) obviously is a pioneer himself and I give him full credit for having the vision, and the vision that he broke that barrier. He allowed his athletes to try something new.”
Dragila grew up in Auburn, Calif., where she competed for Placer High School in track and field. She reached the state finals in the 300-meter hurdles her junior and senior seasons. After graduating she went to Yuma CC and concentrated on the heptathlon.
She transferred to Idaho State and competed for head coach Dave Nielsen, who just completed his 28th season with the Bengals.
Dragila competed in the hurdles and heptathlon for Nielsen until one day he had his heptathletes try something new.
“I remember as heptathletes we were looking at the workout for that day, and just one random fall day the workout was going to be horrendous,’’ Dragila recalled. “We were just about to walk out to the track and Dave runs over and says ‘hey you want to try to pole vault today?’ And I remember saying ‘did you see the workout you made for us, where were we going to fit that in with all of our other stuff?’”
“He kind of chucked and said ‘hey I would lessen the load if you go pull the poles out of the box and kind of do a couple of drills,” added Dragila. “And at the time women weren’t pole vaulting and we kind of all looked at each other and said, ‘why are we doing this?’ And he said ‘because it is fun.’ That day we just did some grass vaults and then we put the poles away and we went about workout for the day.”
After that Nielsen decided to let the women vault at a home meet.
“When we hosted this we (ISU) was the only group to take this on, but gals from other teams thought it was pretty cool. Some were disappointed that their coaches wouldn't allow them to try,” said Nielsen. “That's when I figured we had something here. The next year, 1994, I hosted women's pole vault in all of our home indoor meets starting it an hour before the rest of the event so that it wouldn't impact their other events.”
“We started getting a few other collegiate gals trying it and also we had people coming to watch,” added Nielsen. “It was a spectator draw. By this time Stacy was starting to get much better and her athleticism was showing up in the vault. Other schools were starting to host women's pole vault. The University of Montana now had a couple of jumpers and hosted the vault at their outdoor meet. It was catching on.”
Dragila graduated from Idaho State after the 1995 season and that year the USATF hosted the first national championship for women’s pole vault as an exhibition contest.
The meet just so happened to be in Sacramento, Calif.
“I went down to the meet and really not knowing the field I was participating in,” said Dragila. “I remember being in the warm-up area in my hodge-podge uniform. I didn’t have a sponsor. I had Nike shoes and Adidas warm-ups. There were 40 women competing that day and I ended up taking second. And that actually advance me to a meet over in Great Britain.”
At the time Dragila didn’t think anything about it and went back to Pocatello. Next thing she knew she got a call from her coach to come to his office. Waiting for her was a letter from the USATF.
“So I opened it up in front of him and started reading it and it said ‘Congratulations for taking second at US Nationals.’ ” said Dragila. “You have been selected to tour with the USA team over to Great Britain in the dual meet. And I kind of stopped, and was kind of bummed because there was no way I could afford an overseas flight or all of the expenses. But Dave said ‘just keep reading the letter.’ And when I kept reading it said all expenses are paid I just had to get my passport and let them know where I was traveling from. My airfare, my room, commendations and per diem would be paid for. I would be representing the United States of America. I was just floored.”
“I was like are you kidding me,” added Dragila. “So Dave said ‘so we better get back to work.’ And so that very afternoon we went down and started training again. And two weeks later I was on my flight to Europe to represent the USA.”
“Later that summer I got a call from Duffy Mahoney at USATF and asked about getting a hold of Stacy because the USA - Great Britten dual was going to include the pole vault,” said Nielsen. “So Stacy, Melissa Price, and Phyllis Raschker (a phenomenal master’s athlete) all went to England to compete. All of a sudden the game seemed to have changed and this was on the verge of becoming a "real event". It was a great experience and now there was motivation to continue on.”
Dragila took second with a jump of 12 feet, 1-1/2 inches at the meet and came back to Pocatello.
“In that meet I ended up taking second again,” said Dragila. “It was amazing to be in a national competition. People knew my stats and who I was. People were asking for my autograph. It was crazy. So to have that kind of attention was crazy to me. I actually had a personal best in that meet as well.”
The next day she was in Nielson’s office and they he put a training program together that would end at the 1996 US Olympic Trials.
“It said at the Olympic Trials to jump 14 feet and I just thought I just jumped 12-2, how am I going to jump 14 feet?,” said Dragila.
She took it one day at a time. She ended up winning the trials with a jump of 13-9 ¼, her best vault.
In 1997 Dragila was on the top of her game. The IAAF hosted the first World Championship for women’s pole vault. She went to Paris as the underdog but came out on the top of the podium.
But the next season Dragila sustained an injury. Nike had just signed her to a contract, and she was testing a new product. At the Goodwill Games, she no-heighted and couldn’t even run down the runway. An MRI showed a fractured navicular bone in her foot.
“I was jumping really well and by then I had a sponsor,” said Dragila. “I was with Nike. They just gave me a lot of product to try. And I think the plate on the shoe created stress in my foot and we didn’t catch it until it was too late.”
“And fortunate enough the doctor I worked with down in Pocatello recommend that I came to Boise, Idaho, to work with the nation’s best surgeon,” added Dragila. “I remember telling the doctor that I want to make the Olympic team, and I have a really good shot at it. He was kind of taken back by my statement because he had no idea who I was and what my goals and ambitions were. He believed in me and said he was going to do his very best to make sure I was healthy and the procedure will make me better.”
That next season in 1999 she came back better than ever and ranked first in the world. That was the year she found at that pole vault was going to be in the Olympics.
“I think in early 1999 they announced that the women’s pole was not only going to be an exhibition event, but it was going to be a full sanctioned event,” said Dragila. “And I was leading the country at the time. There was a lot of pressure on me to not only do well myself but I also felt from the U.S. to represent.”
A few weeks before heading to Sydney for the Olympics, Dragila was invited to be on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. She was set to do an interview and then run out to the runway they had set up and jump a “double Shaq O’Neal.” They had a double cut out of Shaq, stacked one on top of another making it look like Shaq was holding up the bar for her.
“I was supposed to jump over a double Shaq and the funning thing was I went and warmed up an hour before the show,” said Dragila. “Then I had to go do my makeup and hair because you have to look good for TV, and then I was just kind of in my green room waiting for my call to come out to talk with Jay. So there was a lot of time from between my last jump and me interviewed and running out putting on my jump shoes and running down the runway.”
“I did my best and it probably wasn’t the prettiest jump but I made it,” added Dragila. “It was a pretty fun experience to be able to do that. And Jay was awesome. He came in and talked to me in the green room. He kind of told me what the questions were going to be so I was prepped for when we were on the stage. I was definitely nervous.”
After her appearance she went to Sydney.
“Well, fortunately I was also able to be on some World Championships teams prior to that,” said Dragila. “So it helped me really prepare for the big finish. Because I think if that is your first International experience you are going to pee your pants. It is a dream come true for any athlete to make it to that stage. But luckily for me I had a lot of opportunities to compete at bigger events.”
“So I tried to not make the situation bigger than it really is,” added Dragila. “When I was in high school I got to state and every time I went, I failed because I made it bigger than what I needed to make it. For me I tried to keep it very simple and do a lot of visualizations. I worked with a sports psychologist on composing myself and I think that really helped me. It was really exciting to be there because you worked so hard to get there and I tried to take in as much as I could but also try to keep things in check.”
“Once I won the meet and walked up onto the podium I felt like I could relax and enjoy the moment,” continued Dragila. “Because even though I was ranked first going into the games a lot of things could have happened and that turned out in my favor. I remember being on the stage with the medal around my neck and had a flash back to different situations of people doubting the pole vault would ever take off and make it to that level. To people cheering me on and said you can do this. There were a lot of emotions going through me at that time, the pure joy that I accomplished that task. My coach and I had been through a lot together and it was a good day.”
“The evening was filled with excitement and the crowd huge,” said Nielsen. “It was Aussie Cathy Freeman's night to win the 400 which she did going away. Then it came down to Stacy and Aussie Tatiana Grigorieva.”
"At 14-11 Stacy was behind Tatiana on misses,” added Nielsen. “Then at 15-1 Stacy put the pressure back on making it on her first jump. Tatiana couldn't respond and the first Olympic gold in the women's pole vault was Stacy's.”
After that season Dragila won the Jesse Owens Award for outstanding U.S. Track and Field Athlete.
She continued to compete and retired after the 2009 season. She won nine U.S. Outdoor championships (’96, ’97, ’99-’05), two World Championships (1999 & 2001); the 1997 World Indoor Championships, eight U.S. Indoor Championships (’96-’01, ’03, ’04), the 2001 Goodwill Games, the IAAF Grand Prix, and was a two-time Jesse Owens Award winner (’00 and ’01).
Dragila runs a club in Boise, Idaho, where she is a coach. She also coaches three camps during the summer - one is Boise, one in Sacramento and one at the Olympic training center in Tula Vista, California.
