Ultimate Crash Stories?

[smokinvaulter1]

If you got them share them.

[Robert schmitt]

missed the pit after clearing 15'9" broke my back. Took 10 years to feel confident enough to vault correctly again. Well, come to think of it if I missed the pit in the first place I wasn't vaulting correctly

[Decamouse]

Missed the pit in HJ in College (had only two of the three sections - we were sliding it back and forth- forgot when lefty (me) jumped to move it) knocked my self out - mild concussion - got up and cleared it - then got sick -

[Fo_Sheezy]

Ultimate would not be the right word to describe my crashes because jumping only 9'6" you can't have an "ultimate" crash...but here are my crashes...last year I planted, took off the ground, and stalled out before I got over the mat. Then I was trying to find the ground with my feet, but I ended up landing square on my back and hanged my head pretty bad. I had a knot in the back of my head for a while and a sore back. This year at the state meet (remember, lots of people!) I was having a lot of trouble vaulting well, especially going straight, because of a shoulder injury. So the bar was at 8'6", I took off, kicked the bar off, headed sideways right towards the standards, kicked the standards, landed on the standard mats (completely missed the pit!) and then just rolled off onto the ground. I got banged up. I had a HUGE bruise on my leg from kicking the standards and then scratches from landing on the ground. Oh and practice this year, I was goofing around holding low on a 10' pole, like at 5' and I ran, planted, fell back and landed in the box. But that was my own fault. Haha.

[keelowman]

Although I have been jumping for only three years I have some all right crashes. ( It happens when you don't have a coach). First one I was just having a bad day and missed my first two attempts, and I thought I blew throught the pole, I was pretty heated by that time to. For my last attempt I grabbed a bigger stick and ran as hard as I could, a combination of late plant to the side, my step being off and pulling down I landed on the side of the pit. During my second year of vaulting at a meet, some of the vaulters noticed that I didn't start out slow and controlled in the back, so after two misses at a height one of the vaulters told me to start slower in the back and to progress to faster before take off. Well that is what I did not thinking about the difference in steps, I ran down took off on the wrong foot and landed on the side of the pit in lane 5. Two bad days.

[rainbowgirl28]

Piotr had a good one tonight at the Seattle International. We were vaulting on a raised runway, and his take off foot took off... off the runway!

Pictures coming soon

[theflyingkorean]

I was high jumping in 7th grade. The voulenteer parents taught me how to high jump incorectally. Also, at the meet, teh mads were crooked. I got over the bar but tehre was no pad to land on! I ended up breaking both of my wrists

[uconnvaulta]

i have a couple, i was jumping at my highschool junior year and the mats were def not regualation. but i blew through a pole and landed in the very back of the pit so only my neck and head were off i whipped my head back and neck, really fast and strained all the muscles, it didnt hurt right when it happened so i continued vaulting, later that night i was eating dinner and my neck started tightening up real bad, so out of now wher i couldnt move my head or neck ,and if i did i would fall to the ground in a paralyzing pain, turns out i got whiplash, another one is i took off at a meet senior year and turns out that on that jump i pulled my hamstrings in my take off leg, pulled all the ligaments and got tendonitis in my hips, all in one jump, it was such a pain in the but, i was out for a while but then came back for outdoor real strong

[dguier]

in one day i landed off of the mat 3 or 4 times. i hadnt vaulted or run in about 2 weeks so i lost alot of speed. i tried getting on the same pole i used before and got rejected everytime. Most of the time i would land on the mat, but i just kept going and i got pretty good at rolling when i hit the ground so i wouldnt hurt myself

[rainbowgirl28]

Piotr had a good one tonight at the Seattle International. We were vaulting on a raised runway, and his take off foot took off... off the runway!

Pictures coming soon

In case you missed it... http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=950

[rainbowgirl28]

Here's a good one http://www.vaultstuff.com/html/athletes ... /crash.htm

[Kirk]

My crash story was a bit humerous at the time, but after reading about the recent pv deaths, I count my lucky stars.

Early season, cold weather, 3rd attempt at 15-6. Myself and another competitor (Larry Wolfe) had cleared 15-0, but I was losing on misses.

Late plant, I felt myself going off to the side, but I wanted to win, so I didn't bail. I cleared the bar cleanly, but also cleared the side of the pit!

My knees hit the top edge of the pit, but my whole upper body missed it, propelling my head downwards onto the concrete base. I twisted like a cat to try to break my fall with my hands , but my face took the impact, breaking my 2 front teeth, my nose, and giving me a slight concussion.

After stopping the bleeding, I felt well enough to try 16-0, but Coach Ken Shannon (who was older and wiser than me ) forced me to call it a day.

Could have been lots worse, but I was OK after a couple weeks, and finished the season with a PR.

Lesson learned: If it feels like a late plant - it is! Bail!!!

Caution: Don't try this at home!

Kirk Bryde