Paul Burgess 6 meters

[KYLE ELLIS]

I wonder if he was still only gripping 16'1?

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Bur ... click=true

Burgess leaps onto the roll of honour

By Len Johnson
February 28, 2005

Paul Burgess achieved an exalted feat in humble surroundings when he joined pole vaulting's exclusive six-metre club at the weekend.

Burgess became only the 11th man to clear the height outdoors, soaring over at the first attempt in a Perth interclub meeting on Saturday.

Two others have done it indoors, and Sergey Bubka remains peerless, having jumped six metres or higher no fewer than 44 times and holding the world indoor and outdoor records at 6.15 metres and 6.14 respectively.

That Burgess should join Bubka's club at a meeting in the run-down Perry Lakes stadium built to host the 1962 British Empire - that's one measure of its age - and Commonwealth Games seems surprising at first glance.

Yet one thing Perth and Perry Lakes does have is an excellent pole vault facility, headed by Alex Parnov, the former Soviet coach whose decision to live in Australia along with his two star pupils, Dmitri Markov and Viktor Chistiakov, sparked a surge in Australian vaulting. The combination has already brought a world championship - to Markov in 2001 - and several world records to Emma George, who moved there to be coached by Parnov.

Perth usually offers predictable and favourable conditions. Jumpers abhor erratic winds, but Perth's blows with reassuring constancy, and will almost certainly be the same velocity all along the runway.

On Saturday, however, Burgess described the wind as, unusually, all over the place.

So, too, was Burgess' mind, at least until easy clearances at 5.70 and 5.85 prompted him to think that something bigger was on. He and Parnov had decided on the competition as a chance to smooth out a few technical glitches, and after making 5.85, Burgess realised six metres might be there for the taking. "I thought, 'Wow, that felt good,' " he said.

For that reason, Burgess went to six metres without having time to think about the magnitude of the feat he was attempting; reality hit Burgess later.

"It's huge. I couldn't comprehend it when I got over. I still can't quite grasp what it means," Burgess said.

Yet he knows that all those jumps have come in Perth. Away from home, he has looked fallible, and was beaten in Melbourne by Steve Hooker, who cleared 5.75.

Still, 5.80 was his best height outside Perth and Burgess is sure there was plenty more to come. "Now 5.80 doesn't seem like such a big deal," Burgess said.

If he can carry that form everywhere he goes, Paul Burgess will reap some rich rewards

[theplan77]

hey there......i grew up pole vaulting with paul for 7 years and was one of the 12 people there when he jumped 6m.......he cleared it by approx 8cm (i know its hard to tell)....in response to what he was gripping...i know that he pushed 1m 29cm so that would equate to a 4.91 grip (dunno what that is in feet) i'll also say in my opinion he has about another 10cm push in him and you would think he could grip up a bit too...which is a bit scary and exciting when u do the math.im tipping he wont be one of those guys to jump 6m only the once...lets hope so......also makes me feel a bit better bout coming second in all the comps ive been in with him haha and the best thing is he is an absolutely humble and gracious champ

[vaulter870]

thats awsome. that sort of makes him an ever better person to look up to knowing that he is a nice guy. but in the vaulting community who isnt??

[rainbowgirl28]

http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/c ... 18,00.html

Burgess in elite company
By Mike Hurst
03mar05

PAUL "Budgie" Burgess pole-vaulted six metres last weekend, his historic achievement watched by 15 spectators in the anonymity of the Perth interclub athletics competition.

He may be a six-metre man now, but on the basis of support so far he will never be a six million dollar man.

Not that he's letting it bother him as he prepares to compete in the Telstra Australian Championships at Olympic Park, Homebush, this weekend.

"I didn't think about the repercussions of what it meant," Burgess said.

"I realised it was a big deal after the way my coach [Alex Parnov] jumped up.

"But I was driving home and nothing's different. I'm not all of a sudden living in a mansion.

"It's fine. I imagine things might change but I don't think people who aren't athletics people will really get the significance of it."

Here are some comparisons which might help.

On scoring tables produced for the International Association of Athletics Federations, the top performance by an Australian is the 6.05m pole vault by Dmitri Markov in winning the 2001 world championship in Edmonton. The championship record leap is given 1261 points. Next highest score is 1249 given to Cathy Freeman's national 400m record of 48.63sec when she finished second in the 1996 Olympic final in Atlanta.

Then comes Patrick Johnson's national 100m record of 9.93sec (1247 points) - the fastest time in the world when he ran it in Japan in 2003 and Australia's first and only sub-10 performance.

Burgess is three points behind that with his six-metre leap.

To put that further into context, consider that of the two better-known "magical barriers" in athletics, the sub-four-minute mile has been run by more than 1000 men since Roger Bannister's breakthrough in 1954, and the sub-10 sprint over 100m is becoming almost commonplace with 45 men having run 9.99sec or faster.

Against that, the six-metre vaulters club has 13 members.

The two most recent before Burgess were Americans Tim Mack and Toby Stevenson, the gold and silver medallists at the Athens Olympics, ahead of fellow finalist Burgess.

Vaulters are a partly heroic, partly wild breed apart from the rest of the track and field community. They risk life and limb whenever they jump.

For that reason as much as for the quality of their marks, the contest between His Majesty Markov and his former protege Prince Paul promises to be the highlight of the nationals.

That is especially so since Melbourne's Steve Hooker beat them both in an upset victory at the Melbourne A-series two weeks ago with 5.75m.

"A couple of years ago I thought it was all over for me, I thought I was past my prime," said Burgess, 25.

"But then I saw Tim Mack win gold in Athens at 32.

"I was hanging out a lot with him and I learned a lot.

"After reaching the final at the Olympics I was so motivated. I finished my season in Yokohama where I no-heighted, got home to Perth on the Sunday and started training on the Monday.

"The difference in my vaulting now is that I lost a lot of body weight - I'm about 3kg lighter than at the Olympics. It's useless weight and losing it makes such a difference.

"I cut out everything bad, as well as the amount I was eating."

Burgess cleared six metres on only the third jump of his last competition. If his progression goes as smoothly from 5pm on Saturday, watch for him to attempt 6.06m.

If he makes it, Burgess would take the national record and become history's second highest vaulter after Sergei Bubka.

And, at least on the basis of statistical merit, he would be Australia's greatest performer.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common ... 22,00.html

Exciting trio talks up talent
Scott Gullan
04mar05

TWELVE months ago the last thing you would have expected to have heard from Joshua Ross, Paul Burgess and Tim Parravicini was talk of breaking 10 seconds, leaping 6m and jumping 8m.

But at yesterday's media preview for the national championships the new guard in Australian athletics declared themselves ready to mix it with the best in the world.

This time last year Ross was starting off in the amateur sprinting ranks after a successful pro career, Burgess was struggling as the third-ranked pole vaulter in the country and long jumper Parravicini was considering early retirement after a second back operation.

The rise of Burgess in the past three months has been extraordinary with the Western Australian vaulting into the world's elite after clearing 6m at a Perth intra-club meeting last weekend. Only 11 other vaulters in history have achieved that feat.

"It has all happened so quickly, the speed with which I have improved this year is just so hard for me to comprehend . . . it's strange," Burgess said.

Last weekend's vault would have won the gold medal at last year's Athens Olympics.