Focus Is Now on His Height, Not Helmet

For most of his career Toby Stevenson was known as a pretty good pole vaulter, the guy who wears a geeky roller-hockey helmet when he arcs skyward.

Since he started soaring toward new heights this season, he has become known simply as a pretty good pole vaulter.

Stevenson, a six-time all-American at Stanford and the 1998 NCAA pole vault champion, became the ninth man to clear six meters (19 feet 8 1/4 inches) outdoors when he won the Modesto Relays on May 8. It was the best performance in the world since Dmitri Markov of Australia soared 6.05 meters (19-10 1/4) to win the 2001 world championship at Edmonton, Canada, and it ranks second among U.S. athletes to Jeff Hartwig’s jump of 6.03 meters (19-9 1/4) on June 14, 2000.

Stevenson said he felt confident at Modesto and expected to clear 19-4 1/4 or 19-4 3/4. Either would have been a logical progression after he’d won the U.S. indoor title at 19-0 1/4 this winter and jumped a personal-best 19-0 3/4 indoors at the Husky Invitational. He got rolling outdoors with a win at 18-8 3/4 at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays and at 18-8 1/2 to win the Drake Relays.

With the delivery of new poles came his quantum leap at Modesto. He narrowly missed on his third try for an American record at 19-9 3/4, exhausted but ecstatic.

“It’s sinking in slowly,” said Stevenson, who coached at Stanford for two years and moved to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista two years ago to hone his talents.

“My training had been great, and I definitely had the feeling everything was coming together.... When six meters came, it was totally unexpected but not unbelievable, because I’d been putting in the work and training well.

“I’ve been performing below my potential, and hopefully I’m catching up now.”

Like his helmet, Stevenson’s training habits are unusual. He has no coach and relies instead on his instincts and advice from his father, Eddie, a former high school and college pole vaulter who taught him the basics as a youngster in Odessa, Texas. He works on his conditioning with Todd Henson, a fitness consultant at the Olympic Training Center, but his main allies are training partner and fellow Texan Kurt Hannah and the on-site video replay equipment that provides instant dissection of his efforts.

“We do tons of video stuff,” he said. “Every run, every step, it’s all analyzed by a computer. It’s definitely easier than anything I’ve done.”

Stevenson, who cleared 19-6 1/2 to win the Sky Invitational meet Friday at Phoenix, will compete at the Home Depot Invitational in Carson on Saturday. He attended last year’s inaugural meet as a spectator. This time, he’s a headliner and potential record-setter.

“I don’t want to ever put a height or cap on my potential,” he said. “I’m in this sport until I get personal satisfaction. I really don’t believe six meters is my limit.

“Pole vaulting is very quirky. It’s a technical sport that a lot of things can go wrong in.”

As for the helmet, he has worn it since 1995, his senior year in high school, and doesn’t give it a second thought.

“My parents asked me to wear it, and I wear it for one reason: safety,” he said. “To me it’s not a big deal. It’s part of my uniform. I’ll always be known for it, but as I get higher and higher, I hope there will be less focus on it.”

Full Circle for Rings

After seeing the Olympic rings that had adorned the Coliseum during the 1984 Olympics rusting away in storage, obscured beneath a plastic cover, Margaret Farnum wondered why the symbol of the Games had been so sadly forgotten.

Removed after the 1984 football season to make way for a scoreboard, the rings sat in a tunnel at the Coliseum until the fire department ordered them moved after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. They were then shunted to an area meant to be a parking lot.

Farnum realized there aren’t many places to put a 30-foot-wide, 14-foot-tall, 5,000-pound work of iron, but she had a moment of inspiration while at the rededication of the adjacent swim stadium a year and a half ago.

“I looked up at one of the walls,” said Farnum, chief administrative officer of the Coliseum Commission, “and it looked like the perfect place. Then they’d be seen by the community.”

Thanks to logistical and financial help from real estate developer Steve Soboroff and other benefactors, Farnum’s dream came true last Saturday.

With gold neon lights replacing the flames that illuminated them in 1984, the refurbished rings were installed and dedicated on a south-facing wall at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium, a competition site at the 1932 and 1984 Los Angeles Games. Decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson, who lighted the flame above the rings at the 1984 opening ceremony, unveiled the new version.

“They look almost like they did when they were used in 1984,” Farnum said. “Destiny must have meant them to be where they are and for this to happen now, near the 20th anniversary of our Olympics and in an Olympic year.”

Here and There

Sydney Greco-Roman wrestling gold medalist Rulon Gardner said he’s at about 50% strength after dislocating his right wrist in a pickup basketball game last month. Three pins inserted into his wrist were removed last week, leaving him little time to rehab before the Olympic trials begin Friday at Indianapolis.

“Next week will be my final hurrah if I don’t win,” he said. “Retirement is what I’m looking at.” If he doesn’t qualify, “It’ll be pretty devastating to me,” he said, adding he’d help the winner prepare for Athens “to create the best atmosphere and best Olympic team.”

U.S. women’s soccer mainstay Tiffeny Milbrett, who said her creativity was stifled in Coach April Heinrichs’ structured system, isn’t at the team’s training camp in Carson. Teammates say they wish she were there, but goalkeeper Briana Scurry said they can’t let sentiment stand in the way of achieving their goal in Athens.

“I miss her being around and motoring past defenders like they were standing still. However, we have to focus,” Scurry said. “As much as we’d love to have Tiffeny in camp with us, unfortunately she’s not.... She’s entitled to her opinion. We’re going to do the best we can without her. We’re family and Tiffeny, you’re still part of that family.”

Volleyball setter Lloy Ball, about to play in his third Games, said Saturday he’s not taking his wife and son to Athens “a little bit for security issues.” He added, “If I felt the conditions were bad -- they’re not now, if they escalated -- I would think about not going because they’re my top priority.”

Only 89 days until the Athens Summer Games.