Dragila's pole vault campaign pays off

No amount of prizes or glitzy galas can distract American pole vaulter Stacy Dragila from her one-woman campaign to gain recognition for her sport.

Crowned women's Athlete of the Year by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at a fancy dinner in Monaco on Sunday, Dragila seized the opportunity to lobby the IAAF to designate the women's pole vault a Golden League event.

"I talked to the IAAF president (Lamine) Diack and he's very excited about putting the women's pole vault into the Golden League," said Dragila, who beat Marion Jones to the prize.

"I almost had him put it in writing because I wanted to make sure. But he said I have his word," the Olympic and world champion told a news conference in London on Wednesday. She said the promise could be fulfilled in 2003.

Prestigious events are selected every year to be part of the season-long Golden League, in which athletes compete for a prize of 50 kg of gold. They must win at least five of the seven league meetings in order to get a share of the jackpot.

Women's pole vaulting has gained credibility in recent years, largely through Dragila's exploits on the field and tireless efforts off it to rid the event of its gimmicky image.

WORLD RECORD

The sport became an Olympic event for the first time in Sydney last year and it has been part of only two world championships. Dragila won the gold at all three of the top meetings and also holds the world record of 4.81 metres.

"I never thought the women's pole vault would be recognised at the Olympics and now, to receive such awards as the Jesse Owens award, the women's Athlete of the Year and many others... it's showing that the women's pole vault is here to stay," she said.

The next challenge for the 30-year-old Dragila is to reach the five-metre mark, a feat Ukrainian pole vaulting great Sergei Bubka said earlier this year would complete the rise of the women's event to the status of a top sport.

Asked whether she could break the all-important barrier within a year, Dragila said: "I think it's possible.

"Having some great competitors pushing me, I think the 4.90 mark will definitely come in the indoor season and then we'll continue to push for five metres for the outdoor season."

Dragila said her rivalry with Russia's Svetlana Feofanova, whom she overcame in a riveting duel to clinch gold at this year's world championships in Edmonton, Canada, would keep the world records coming in.

"She's tired of being second and I think she's going to be home training hard for the indoor series...we're going to see some great heights and new world records," Dragila said.

GUINEA PIG

The American, who started her sporting career competing in hurdles races and the pentathlon, said she had been "a guinea pig" for women's pole vaulting and had no idea when she started training in it that she could be so successful.

"I took to the speed, I took to the strength things but when I had to get launched off the ground and get upside down that was the thing that really scared me. I didn't know what to do with myself," she said of her early days as a pole vaulter.

Now she looks set to dominate the women's event much as Bubka did the men's competition for so many years.

"I still love my sport, I'm healthy, and as long as I have those key ingredients I think I'll continue in my sport for a long, long time."

Asked whether that time could stretch to the 2008 Olympics, she said: "You never know."