why am i learning to pole vault?

In 2012 when the Olympic games came to an end I needed something to keep me going, working on London 2012 had been the best experience of my life!!! As a dignitary assistant to african sports ministers, I had  access to all the venues, which meant that I watched a lot of sports (different disciplines) and half the time found myself lost and confused with no understanding of how the games were played and what the rules were

That's when the Olympic Challenge began. Try EVERY OLYMPIC SPORT 

I had to research where in my local area they were taking beginners' so that I could sign up to a course and learn to play. The first Sport I chose was handball.

During games time Hackney as a host borough was given free tickets to handball which was housed at the copperbox (known as the handball arena at games time)

I wasn't the only person 'inspired' by the olympics, over 100 people turned up to that handball session at bethnal green in august 2012 just after the closing ceremony.

Since then I have gone on to try 19 sports, all of which begin when a course I have enrolled on comes to an end.

I have kept records of

HOW MUCH THE COURSE COST

WHERE I TRIED THE SPORT (VENUE/LOCATION)

WHO I MET

HOW LONG THE COURSE TOOK

WHAT I LEARNT 

WHAT MUSCLES HURT AFTER

WHY THE SPORT EXISTS - HISTORY 

INTERESTING FACTS I LEARNT ABOUT THE SPORT OR THE ATHELETES

WHAT I LEARNT ABOUT ME AS A PERSON

PHOTO'S AND VIDEO'S

I have been meaning to capture all of this into a blog but I m so busy having fun, so tired from doing the sports & so happy living my little dream that I don’t get the time to record everything.

I have an instagram account from games time which is a gorgeous memory of my time as a dignitary assistant and so now I am going to try to upload photo’s and video’s of POLE VAULTING the 19^th sport I have tried, and slowly record everything into this blog!

I have to complete;

Cycling

Wrestling

Weightlifting

Equestrian

Triathalon

Taekwondo

Sailing

Hockey

Judo

Athletics (as many track and field as I can manage)

I have completed;

1. Handball (Bethnal Green)

2. Synchronised swimming (vauxhall)

3. Table tennis (hackney)

4. Water polo (west london)

5. Basketball (harrow)

6. Fencing (caledonian road)

7. Diving (London Aquatics centre)

8. Volleyball (hackney)

9. Tennis (eton manor olympic park)

10. Archery (koh samui, thailand)

11. Kayaking (waikiki island new zealand)

12. Boxing (bethnal green)

13. Badminton (copper box olympic park)

14. Shooting (koh pangnan thailand)

15. Trampolining (hackney)

16. Gymnastics (central london)

17. Swimming (london fields lido)

18. Pole vaulting (athletics) (lee valley athletics centre)

19. Mountain biking (Cycling) (surrey)

There is no time frame, when the challenge is done then it’s done!!!

I  am having the time of my life doing this, I have lost weight, made new friends, felt exilirated, been absolutely rubbish at stuff, got a gold star for my handstand into a headroll, busted my toe, couldn’t walk for two days after boxing, had to be pushed off the 3m board when I was too scared to dive, nearly drowned in water polo and got my face scratched to bits, found my love for table tennis again and met the love of my life through the game and a new direction with my work so that everything about me is shaped by sport, the Olympics and London 2012.

the ministry of silly walks - how pole vaulters run

in thailand i did archery with my friend tommy and shooting with chris (also known as dengue boy because a mosquito bit him on the nose and he ended up in hospital for two weeks with dengue fever)

amy and linds both tried pole vaulting. one of them burst into tears after falling backwards onto the coaches head and the other perfected her 'ministry of silly walks' in the run up to the plant and told the coach when he asked her what to do with the pole - to dance on it hahahaha

whenever you get a 50p coin - check to see if it has the london 2012 logo and a picture of a sport

A series of sporting images reflecting 29 Olympic and Paralympic sports including swimming, boxing, gymnastics, boccia and goalball, make up the coins' new look


http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/coin-design-and-specifications/london-2012-coins

During games time, when these badboys got released, you could spot them in your change a mile off - proper shiny they were and very distinctive.

I collected about 50-60 and started giving them away, at the time I hadn't really thought about collecting them properly - too anorak for me! But one christmas my girlfriend bought me the MOST gorgeous red velvet box and that was it, I posted something on Facebook to get all of my friends checking their loose change for coins.

Charlie from the pink singers pinksingers.co.uk found boccia
Kip & Tim found 3 which I can't remember what they were
my mate naomi found one
And then the best one OF ALL TIME!!! Was when me and Linds (the other half) went to the commonwealth games in Scotland, Linds put a £1 into a vending machine for a bottle of water at the airport, not only did she get her water, but the machine accidentally gave her 50p change (result!) and it was HOCKEY!!!!

I have a brilliant friend called  Amy who has done what veruca salts father' did in the film charlie in the chocolate factory………she has got her entire workforce on the look out for the olympic coins i am collecting - someone in her work found 'taekwondo' the other day after a year of searching !!!!!

Only 5 more to collect - if you find one let me know and I will do a swopsy with you with all my spares!!!

pole vaulting in 1912, 2013 and the Traditional fierljeppen in the Netherlands, using poles to clear distances over rivers

my first 'plant' in pole vaulting

when you pole vault you extend your right leg and hold on to the pole with force using your left arm (for right handed ppl) as a result my bum hurts and so does my left arm

my coach, the lovely gerraint williams (pronounced ger as in bear and raint as in pint) is making me do leg and arm extensions as part of my dynamic mobilisation

today; lying face down on my bedroom floor -doing leg and arm extensions- i found it very useful for assessing levels of dust under my bed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_vault

pole vaulting - what i learnt

So…..Pole Vaulting!

What’s it like?

Brilliant!!!! I have an awesome coach and i feel like i am flying

HOW MUCH THE COURSE COST?
this was the most expensive course to date since nowhere in london does beginners pole vaulting courses for adults - i guess there just isn't the demand!
£60 per hour for the coach
£6pp for entry to lee valley athletics centre 

WHERE I TRIED THE SPORT (VENUE/LOCATION)
Lee Valley Athletics Centre on a saturday morning from 11-1

WHO I MET
the coach - gerraint williams - he started coaching because his daughter started pole vaulting and when there were problems with coaches he decided he could learn and then teach his daughter - he is an accountant by trade

HOW LONG THE COURSE TOOK
 1 hour a week including a warm up of 1/2 hour. 4 week course

WHAT I LEARNT 
 poles are made out of carbon fibre
you shouldn't eat shred dies before vaulting
your back muscles need to be very strong
never let go of the pole
you have to run funny with your feet lifted off the floor, no flicking of the foot behind knees should be parallel to the floor
if you stretch to full height holding onto the pole you are at 'base' base + means 1 extra hand base +2 is two hands and so on and so forth
the faster your run up the higher you will jump
there is a rhythm to the steps with the last two steps the most critical (must be very quick)

WHAT MUSCLES HURT AFTER
 my bum on the right side and my arm at the shoulder on the left

WHY THE SPORT EXISTS - HISTORY 
 apparently it was a good way to cross a river
INTERESTING FACTS I LEARNT ABOUT THE SPORT OR THE ATHELETES

WHAT I LEARNT ABOUT ME AS A PERSON
 that i am scared of getting hurt. e.g. running full pelt and hanging onto a pole is suprisinglt scary
i also learnt that being forced to warm up (as you should do for all sports) is a great hangover cure
on my first pole vaulting lesson i had been out the night before at the newly refurbished adam and eve on homerton high st. in the morning bacon butties and copius amounts of liquid did nothing for my hangover - until i was forced to run around the track and jump up and down in preparation for jumping

PHOTO'S AND VIDEO'S
this is my first attempt - don't have high expectations!!! (no  pun)