Athletes intensify the trainings in UFJF seeking better results in the Games Rio 2016 (Photo: Guilherme Leite/UFJF)
Pole vault is one of the most difficult events of athletics because it requires a lot of physical strength and flexibility from the athletes, who jump above the height of 5 meters. Three of the Olympic athletes in this event, which are training at the School of Physical Education and Sports (Faefid) of UFJF, talked about the beginning of their careers.
The Polish Paweł Wojciechowski, 27 years old, started to practice pole vault when he was 19. His uncle used to perform some jumps, as amateur, so this sport activity turned out to be a family tradition. Pawel was not very good in other sports and was the first of the family to take pole vault seriously. In his first appearance in the Athletics World Junior Championship in 2008, held in his hometown, Bydgoszcz (Poland), he conquered a silver medal.
In 2011, the athlete achieved his personal best mark, 5,91 meters, and in the Athletics World Championship, in the same year, in South Korea, he won his first gold medal. Still in 2011, the Polish competed in the Military World Games, held in Rio de Janeiro: “I was enchanted with Rio and I promised to myself that I would come back someday. Here I am”, joked the athlete.
With this gold medal, Pawel qualified to the Olympic Games London 2012. However, he failed to advance to the second stage. In the Athletics World Championship in 2015, in Beijing (China), the Polish reached the podium again, this time sharing the 3rd place with his friend, Piotr Lisek, who is also Polish, and the French Renaud Lavillenie. The three athletes jumped 5,80 meters and, because of that, shared the bronze medal. “This is not common to happen, but then we celebrated together”, he told.
The Chinese Yao Jie, 26 years old, started to practice the long jump when he was 16. “I wasn’t very good, and the coach told me once: Why don’t you try pole vault? And I did very well”. Since then, Yao only practiced pole vault, reaching 5,65 meters as his best personal mark. Last year, he got the 5th place in the Asian Championship which made it possible for him to qualify for the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
During the break from training at UFJF, Yao and Pawel play football together, but, according to the Chinese athlete the only sport he is really good at is the pole vault. “I used to go to the University just to practice, not to study”, admitted the smiling Chinese.
The Chinese Li Ling is another one who doesn’t have much ability with sports that involve balls, even though she is the daughter of a volleyball and a basketball players. Li, who is 27 years old and 1,85 meters tall, start being interested in pole vault when she was 12 years old watching her friends play. “I was terrible with balls and I used to watch the others jumping and it seemed fun. Then, I decided to try and the sensation of being able to fly was great.”
The athlete’s best mark is 4,66 meters and this is her third time in the Olympics. The first one was in the Olympic Games Beijing 2008. She remembers that “competing in an event as big as the Olympics, at home, was wonderful”. Her second participation was in London 2012. Now, in Rio, the Chinese hopes to improve her performance.
Find out more news at UFJF 2016