"True Height" - Not a true story!!

[Aviendha]

the guys on my team were talking the other day about pv camp experiences and i swear there was a blind vaulter mentioned....who says a blind guy couldn't vault? runs the same way everytime...blind people are extraordinarily aware of their senses.
i'm gonna ask them about that tomorrow...but i really think they mentioned a blind guy vaulting with them...

[rainbowgirl28]

Plus, you could be legally blind, but able to see enough to have a rough idea of where the pit is.

[CrossBarHOpper]

Wasnt there a legal blinds woman that ran in the olympics this year and she could see just outlines of people??

[rainbowgirl28]

Wasnt there a legal blinds woman that ran in the olympics this year and she could see just outlines of people??

Yes, Marla Runyan. She's not running this year because she is having a baby!

[rainbowgirl28]

I emailed David Naster and he gave me a very honest reply!


Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:05:42 -0500
From: David Naster <dnaster@everestkc.net>
Subject: Re: "True Height" story
To: Becca Gillespy <becca@polevaultpower.com>

Hi Becca,

My name is David Naster. I wrote the story "True Height." It is a fictional story I made up. I submitted it to Chicken soup for the soul. I never said it was a true story nor did they ever ask me if it was. I never pretended it to be a true story. I intended for it to just be a great heart-warming fictional story - which it is. I am not sure if Chicken Soup portrays the story as true. If they do, I was never asked. So there is the truth. Please enjoy the story as simply a story,

[altius]

You may be interested in the story of Keiron Modra, a young South Australian who is legally blind - ie he has some vision but it is very limited to the point where he has been able to compete in the Para Olympics in Swimming and in Tandem cycling - won a gold medal in one games.

Keiron was a determined young man who decided he liked the idea of pole vaulting. He started vaulting around 1982 -when he was attending a school for the blind in Adelaide. In 1985 he jumped 4.45 -14'6" in the Australian Schools Under 17 Championship in Canberra. Unfortunately in the Under 19 comp the following day he missed the box and narrowly avoided injury so we had to pull him from the comp - because at those heights it was becoming too dangerous. It was at that point he switched to other track events - Javelin and 1500 and then to swimming and cycling. This is definitely a true story.

[SlickVT]

Did anyone else catch another sign that the story is completely made up:

He landed on the "inflatable" landing mat... At what time would a 17' junior be using a cloud style mat?

[SlickVT]

...and just now did i bother reading becca's last post.

So i will take it for the story that it is...

[master]

-just surprised that no one has remarked positively on a remarkable performance by a remarkable young man whilea piece of fiction attracts great interest. Still I suppose that is the world today .. The sizzle is more important than the bacon..

I will comment on the achievements of Keiron. It is amazing to me that someone would even consider trying this sport if they were blind. To progress to a level of jumping 14'6" and that PR might have been higher had he been allowed to continue jumping, well, it is just very impressive to me. I agree with the decision to have him seek other athletic events because of the safety issue, but that does not take away from what Keiron accomplished in vaulting.

[rainbowgirl28]

^bump