June 23, 2008

Canadian pole vaulter Kelsie Hendry finally appears to be Beijing bound.

The Saskatoon native cleared a Canadian-record height of 4.55 metres in Provo, Utah, last month but Athletics Canada refused to accept the mark as either a record or for Olympic qualifying purposes.

The Olympic A+ standard, which virtually means automatic selection, is 4.45 metres. Dana Ellis's Canadian record has stood at 4.52 metres.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has listed the jump on its world rankings because it was achieved at a sanctioned competition. But the Canadian sport governing body pointed out she was the sole competitor in the Utah meet.

It's all moot now. On June 14, Hendry cleared 4.55 metres again, this time at the Saskatchewan Provincial Championships in Prince Albert, about a 90-minute drive from her home.

"I have done it in practice before so I knew I had it in me and the pressure of having to jump the standard was enough," said the soon-to-be 26-year-old.

This past week she competed in the PacifiCanada Series, a four-meet track and field circuit that ended Saturday with the Harry Jerome Track Classic in Burnaby, B.C. Her best result there was 4.25 metres, well below her top five jumps this year.

"I went off on a short approach for training purposes and I was getting tired," said Hendry. "I had jumped four times in a week. I couldn't expect a whole lot when I wasn't running off my full approach. I went out there to B.C. originally just in case I didn't make the 4.55 metres in Prince Albert.

"I knew I didn't have to jump high at those meets and also the weather wasn't very good. I was jumping into a headwind. It's easier to go off a short run. Even at nationals I expect to go off a short run in the qualifying round. I will probably have to jump only four metres to make it to the second day final and then I will switch to my normal approach on the second day."

Hendry and her coach Rick Petrucha have planned two weeks of training prior to the Canadian Olympic trials in Windsor, Ont., from July 3-6.

With a 4.55 metres finally listed on the official Athletics Canada yearly rankings she can afford to prepare for the Olympics.

"I know (Athletics Canada) did recognize it," she concludes. "My coach said they may be calling it a pending record until the new year but I am pretty sure they are counting it as the standard.

"I know I have to place in the top four at nationals. I would still like to jump a good height at nationals — 4.55 again or higher — that would make me feel better going into the Olympics and give me some more confidence going in."

She is fully aware that Ellis has applied for a medical exemption to bypass the Canadian Olympic trials. Like Ellis, the University of Saskatchewan student sees the benefit of having two vaulters at the Canadian team's pre-Olympic training site in Singapore and on the runway in Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.

"I would love to have a training partner while I am in Singapore and Dana and I get along really well," Hendry said of her friend and rival. "She has really established herself as a high-level athlete. She always performs well in big meets. It would be great if we could both go."