Boyd Through to Olympic Final

There were mixed fortunes for Australia’s two WAIS pole vaulters in qualifying last night, with Alana Boyd lifting herself through to the final of the women’s pole vault, whilst 18 year-old Olympic debutant Liz Parnov was eliminated.

Boyd twice needed to pull something out with her third vault at lower heights in tricky winds but when the bar was raised to 4.55m Boyd took just two jumps to clear the height and advance to the final.

“It wasn’t easy, was it? Conditions are a little bit funny, but I didn’t exactly make it any easier on myself with third attempts. But I was able to pull out the jumps that I needed to to move onto the next height. I’m rapt and looking forward to Monday night,” the Australian national record holder said.

“I’m just really happy. It’s a big difference to being disappointed in a major, which I have been in the past number of majors – not making the final in Beijing and missing out by one spot in Daegu.

“I know I’ve got a lot better jumps in me. I think half the battle is getting through the heats into the final, so I’ve done that now and I’m just excited to get out there and see what I can do.”

The conditions seemed to get the better of Boyd’s WAIS training partner Liz Parnov. The World Junior Championship silver medallist with a personal best of 4.50m, attempted 4.10m three times, but was unable to negotiate the height, missing qualification through to Monday’s final.