Stacy dragila biography

Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila (born 25 March 1971) is a former American pole vaulter.
STACY DRAGILA is an athletic pioneer who literally crashed the glass ceiling of Olympic Athletics when she soared over 15' in the air on a fiberglass pole and.
Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila is a former American pole vaulter.

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Stacy Dragila

The Olympic gold medalist we know as Stacy Dragila was born Stacy Mikaelson on March 25, 1971. Her parents, Bill and Irma, already had a 20-month-old named Eric. The Mikaelsens were a hard-working, middle-class family. They lived in Auburn, California, a rural town northwest of Sacramento. Bill worked as a meat cutter, while Irma stayed at home to look after their children. Stacyâs parents raised their kids to appreciate the simpler things in life. Spare time was never spent indoors watching TV or playing video games. The kids were adventurous and focused just like their mom and dad.

The Mikaelsens took family vacations on a small Idaho ranch owned by Stacyâs grandfather. The kids pulled their weight by feeding, exercising and washing the horses, pigs, goats and chickens. The freedom of ranching life helped make Stacy a fearless child. She thought she was invincible, and challenged her brother to everything from mud fights to races on horseback. When Eric began entering rodeos, Stacy naturally followed. She would do anything to prove she was his equal.

Stacy

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Stacy Dragila

Career Highlights

Nine-time U.S. Outdoor champion ('96, '97, '99-'05); 2000 Olympic gold medalist; Two-time World champion (1999 & 2001); 1997 World Indoor champion; Eight-time U.S. Indoor champion ('96-'01, '03, '04); 2001 Goodwill Games and IAAF Grand Prix Final champion; Two-time Jesse OwensAward winner ('00, '01)

Dragila in 2009 enters what will be her final season of competition. After two seasons plagued by injury, Dragila returned to the international scene in 2008 with a season best 4.70m/15-5...Dragila made her second Olympic team after she won her 8th pole vault crown outdoors at the 2004 Olympic Trials…her clearance of 4.83m/15-10 earlier in the summer at Ostrava was the best women’s outdoor vault in history at the time, and it is the current American record…a foot injury hampered her Olympic performance and kept her from making the final in Athens…she rebounded in 2003 after an injury-plagued 2002 season, briefly holding the world indoor record once again in 2003, clearing 4.78/15-8.25 at the USA Indoor Champs to win her 7th national indoor title…

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Stacy Dragila was the first great American female pole vaulter and won the gold medal in the first women’s Olympic pole vault, at Sydney in 2000. She was also World Champion in 1999 and 2001, and World Indoor Champion in 1997, and was the first World and World Indoor Champion in the event. Dragila won the US Outdoor Championships eight times, in 1997 and 1999-2005. In all, she competed at two Olympic Games, four World Championships (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005), and five World Indoor Championships (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003-04), although with less success after 2001. She was world ranked in the top 10 from 1997-2005, ranking #1 in 1999-2001.

Dragila was the first American woman to clear 15 feet (4.57 m) in the vault. Between 1997-2001 she set five outdoor world records and 13 world indoor records / bests. From 1996-2005 she set 22 American records in the pole vault, and 14 American bests indoors. She also set an early American best mark in the rarely contested women’s decathlon.

Dragila was originally a heptathlete at Idaho State University until she was encouraged to try the pole vault