Amy Chow Article

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 5S3IU1.DTL

There was an Olympic gold medalist competing in the women's pole vault Friday at the Stanford Invitational and her name was not Stacy Dragila. Who was it?

It's a trick question.

The vaulter was Amy Chow, who in 1996 won a gymnastics gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in the team event with such gritty U.S. teammates as Kerri Strug, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes and Shannon Miller.

Now 25 and in her second year at Stanford Medical School, Chow is giving the pole vault a try, mostly as a physical release from all the studying required of a med student.

"I was done with gymnastics and was looking for something else to do,'' Chow said. "It's fun. I don't do it that much because I'm in medical school. It's something different. Otherwise, I'd just be studying, studying, studying.''

Don't expect to see Chow in a USA uniform competing in the vault at this summer's Olympic Games in Athens. While she was an elite gymnast, as a vaulter she's more of a dilettante, with a best of 12 feet, 5 inches in an event in which eight American women cleared 14-5 or higher in 2003.

On a windy and overcast afternoon at Cobb Track & Angell Field, Chow cleared 11-9 3/4 in an event won by Megan Ries of Nevada at 12-9 1/2.

"I'm just doing it for fun,'' Chow said. "I'm pretty much concentrating on med school. That takes up most of my time. I'd like to train more but I don't have the time.''

In what is still a relatively new event for women, many competitors come to the vault with backgrounds in gymnastics and tumbling. For Chow, being upside down in the vault is not much different than being in the same position in gymnastics.

"It's definitely (similar) when you're off the ground,'' she said. "You do a swinging motion. It's sort of like gymnastics.''

Chow, whose family lives in San Jose, attended Castilleja High School in Palo Alto before matriculating to Stanford, where she attained her undergraduate degree in 2002. She's halfway through med school, with a goal of working in pediatrics.

As for the gold medal she earned in 1996, "It's in the bank, actually. I haven't taken it out for a really long time.''

Chow said she keeps in touch with her '96 Olympic teammates through e-mail and occasional get-togethers such as last year in Anaheim at the gymnastics world championships.

"It's still amazing to me,'' she said of that galvanizing moment in Atlanta nearly eight years ago. "It was such a moment you won't forget.''

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/new ... etail.html

Track & field beat: Jumping from one vault to another
By John Schumacher -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, May 13, 2005
Amy Chow sat on the infield grass at Modesto Junior College, offered a smile and explained how one goes from gymnast to pole vaulter.
Yes, very carefully.


Chow, part of the U.S. women's gymnastics team that won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, isn't looking for another ticket to the Games.
For her, pole vaulting isn't about achieving greatness, although she'd take that if it came. Instead, her latest endeavor provides a much-needed stress release from Stanford University Medical School.

"I'm just doing it for fun," Chow said with a laugh. "It's a good break from medical school.

"If it takes me somewhere, great. If not ... "

Chow, 26, said she started vaulting 2 1/2 years ago. She competed Saturday in the Modesto Relays, clearing a personal-best 12 feet, 11 1/2 inches. And while that won't threaten Stacy Dragila's American record of 15-10, or even flirt with the chase pack hovering between 14 and 15 feet, it gives her something besides medical books to ponder.

"I was just kind of looking for something to do," said Chow, who also earned a silver medal on the uneven bars in the 1996 Olympics and competed on the U.S. team that finished fourth in the 2000 Games in Sydney.

"It's a lot of fun ... I didn't go in with any real expectations."

Chow, who plans to specialize in pediatrics, is in her third year of medical school, with two to go.

She said she's cleared 13-2 in practice. There are some similarities between gymnastics and pole vaulting, Chow noted, with at least one big difference.

"Running while holding something is a lot different," she said. "Once you get off the ground, it's semi-gymnastics like."

Chow, who watched the 2004 Olympics in Athens on television, said she still has a little gymnastics in her blood.

"Sometimes I miss it," she said.

[bvpv07]

I was a gymnast for 12 years before turning to pole vaulting, and you can believe the amazement that I felt while, competing for the first time in the Stanford Invite, I saw Amy Chow putting up the cross bar. And no one recognized her. I was just like "That's Amy Chow, isn't it? Why would she be out here?" I guess that that is what comes from looking at the "Magnificent Seven" poster that was on the wall of my gym for 7 years

[StanVaultCoach]

Amy just loves to help out.

She sees it as a payment to me for my time, plus she loves to watch the vault up close. Things are starting to pay off though. She is consistent over 4.00m in practice, has made 4.20 a couple of times (B standard), and has taken some awesome attempts at 4.30m (A standard)

We vault one to two times a week and she still does some gymnastics one time per week. She is one of those vaulters where I can make a comment on her technique and she can adjust her body on the next vault. Currently her approach and take-off is slightly inconsistent (and as we all know, this is where the vault starts) When she is having a great day she vaults holding at 12'9 on a 13' 145 and has hip height over 14'1 bars.

Hopefully we will get the A or B standard in the next couple meets so she can vault at USA Nationals in Carson, CA

[rainbowgirl28]

Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/thane/sets/316355/show/

[Cpvault]

Congratulations Kris!