Erica Bartolina
American pole vaulter
Erica Bartolina (née Boren; born May 15, 1980, in Corvallis, Oregon) is an American pole vaulter. She set a personal best of 4.55 m by placing third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, which guaranteed her a qualifying place for the Olympics.
Career
Bartolina grew up on a sheep farm in Corvallis, Oregon. She lost her eyesight as a baby in a car accident, when a pair of scissors swiped across the dashboard during the collision, causing the injury and limiting her depth perception for life. Despite being blind in one eye, Bartolina did not stop her dream of becoming an Olympic athlete. She started her athletic career as a cross-country runner at age fourteen, until she was advised by her high school track coach Joe Fulton to try out for pole vault. Since then, Bartolina developed into one of the top pole vaulters in the state, and earned a full scholarship at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where she won two Big 12 Conference titles, and also, held the distinction of being one of the school's first female pole vaulters.
Bartolina improved her marks in pole vault, when she finished ninth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2004, and fourth at the U.S. Indoor Championships in 2005. Shortly after the championships, Bartolina took a year off from pole vault, when she suffered a severe back injury from training at Texas A&M University. In 2008, she came out of recovery from injury, and competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, where she successfully cleared a height and set a personal best of 4.55 metres in the women's pole vault.
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