Terrible accident--he fell backwards and landed on his head on the metal "box" where the pole is planted.



Pole vault competition canceled

[ February 23, 2002: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Bummer. Makes a lot of what we normally argue about on this board seem even more trivial. Being a bit of a nonconformist track was one of only two sports I participated in in high school (the other was soccer)so this touches close to home. I worried about a lot of things but dieing on the field was never one of them. My heartfelt condolences go out to those who loved him.

Really sad. I had such a crush on a pole vaulter years ago.

I always knew someone was going to die that way. I've seen people come down and miss the mats and break bones. I've seen people come down and half way hit the mats and break bones. I've seen people going up and their poles snap and they fall and break bones. No one ever seems to really injure anything unless they hit that damn box. I absolutely love the pole vault, but I hate that little box.