Chelsea Johnson’s determination melted into a sheepish
grin as she waved to the crowd following her third and final
attempt at 15 feet.
Yes, the bar fell, but her spirits certainly did not.
Johnson had plenty of reason to smile Saturday at Drake Stadium
after making pole-vaulting history for the second time in three
weeks. By clearing the bar on her first attempt at 14 feet, 9
inches, the UCLA sophomore set a new collegiate outdoor record and
further asserted herself as a legitimate Olympic contender.
“It’s crazy how much things have changed,”
Johnson said. “This summer my local paper asked me about the
Olympics, and I told them that I wasn’t really going to try
for it or anything. Now it’s becoming such a
reality.”
Implausible as it might seem, the 20-year-old Johnson, who began
pole vaulting less than three years ago, is already arguably one of
the top Americans in her sport and undeniably the top collegian. To
put her performance into perspective, she out-vaulted all but the
top four competitors at Saturday’s World Indoor Championships
in Budapest.
No other collegiate woman has cleared 14 feet this season.
“Chelsea’s just gotten better and better,”
said her father Jan Johnson, himself an Olympic bronze medalist in
the pole vault. “She’s capable with a good month of
practice of maybe going mid-15s. I’m not predicting that, but
it’s in there.”
At times, it looked as if Johnson might not even clear 14 feet
Saturday, but she persevered. She struggled in warm-ups, and missed
her first two chances at 13-6 and 14-0, each time clearing the bar
on her third and final attempt.
Johnson did not let the pressure affect her, however, as she
approached record-breaking heights.
She paused to cheer on teammate Allison Hall in the 4×400-meter
relay before her second attempt at 14-4, and joked with friends and
pole vaulting coach Anthony Curran between jumps.
After clearing 14-4 on her third attempt, she seemed to refocus
herself, fixing her sights on topping 14-8, the collegiate outdoor
record set last year by Oregon’s Becky Holliday.
Buoyed by the support of her teammates in the stands, Johnson
soared over the record-setting bar with room to spare, establishing
a new school record for the second time in three weeks.
“I knew if she hit a good takeoff, she’d be able to
get it,” Curran said.
Added Johnson: “I just tried to think of it as just
another bar.”
Johnson shook off any sign of fatigue afterward, sprinting into
Curran’s open arms before embracing her father a few seconds
later.
Exhaustion did take its toll, however, as she could not quite
will her body over the bar in her three attempts at 15 feet.
“If I wasn’t so tired, I would have made the second
one,” Johnson said.
With the NCAA Indoor National Championships less than one week
away, Johnson is the clear favorite, a role she has not experienced
at a big meet since high school. Curran said he thinks she has a
chance at the 15-footer, but Johnson is more interested in securing
first place before she worries about improving her record.
“I’m not taking anything for granted,” she
said. I want to go in there thinking I’m the underdog.
“I do feel the pressure, but I do well under
pressure.”