Toby Teleconference

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.asp?DUid ... 0_19_34_41

Toby Stevenson teleconference excerpts
05-20-2004

INDIANAPOLIS - World-leading pole vaulter and 2004 U.S. Indoor champion Toby Stevenson appeared Tuesday on a USA Track & Field media teleconference. The 2003 Pan American Games gold medalist, Stevenson will compete Saturday in the Visa men's pole vault at the 2004 Home Depot Invitational, the first invitational meet on USA Track & Field's 2004 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour. The meet will be broadcast live on NBC from 4-6 p.m. Eastern Time.

Stevenson enters the Home Depot Invitational in Carson, Calif., as the favorite, having cleared 6.00 meters/19 feet, 8.25 inches last weekend at the Modesto Relays. It was the best jump in the world since 2001, and made him just the second American ever to clear the 6-meter barrier. A win at the Home Depot Invitational will not come easy, however: including Stevenson, seven athletes who have cleared 19 feet or higher will compete, including American record holder Jeff Hartwig, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Nick Hysong, and 2001 world champion Dmitri Markov of Australia.

One of the hottest up-and-coming athletes in American track & field, the 27-year-old Stevenson is a 2000 graduate of Stanford University, where he was a six-time All-American. His 1998 NCAA title was the first for Stanford in the pole vault since 1929.

A digital replay of this teleconference will appear tomorrow at www.usatf.org.

Q: You've made huge strides this year with your performances. What's been the difference for you this year?

Stevenson: There's quite a few things actually. The biggest and best thing is I got to finish the season last year. My last two seasons have ended in an injury, one with a broken ankle and the other with an accidental fall in Europe. Finally, last summer I competed all the way through it and took time off and then got to continue on with it. Other than that it's been just a growing process, basically. I'm here at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego and I'm able to study the event as it pertains to me and only me. I think I've been trying to jump like other people up until now before I took the time to realize that I've got the talent to jump this high. I just needed to figure out how to do it my way. I'm not saying my way is better than anybody else's, but my way is the right way for me, and I kind of evolved that strategy throughout the year.

Q: How long have you been coaching yourself, and what has that experience been like for you?

A: Coaching myself purely in the vault technique has been roughly since I left college, so since 2000. I still get help from my father, who was my coach growing up and mainly through college. I have a speed and strength consultant here at the Training Center, Todd Henson, and my training partner here at the Training Center Kurt Hanna, a fellow Texas vaulter, helps me out too. In terms of just the pure vault, I would say since 2000 I've been coaching myself.

Q: How tough is coaching yourself compared to being in college and having someone reviewing your tapes and everything?

A: It definitely makes it tougher. In 2001 and 2002 I really didn't do much video work and that made it almost impossible. When I moved down to the Training Center two years ago is really when I started getting into the video. Watching myself immediately after I jump, immediately after I practice, that's really the only reason I can coach myself.

Q: What does surpassing the six-meter barrier mean to you?

A: It's definitely a boundry to a lot of vaulters. Six meters just means that I think now I'm definitely the kind of personality that I want to see that I can do it before I do it, kind of person, and now that I've actually done six meters and also jumped 5.94, which is 19-6, it actually makes it easier to do it again. Six meters would've won a gold medal in every Olympic Games up until now, and 5.94 would've won an Olympic gold medal up until now. It does nothing but give me confidence.

Q: You've been very consistent all year, how important is it to continue to do that between now and the Trials?

A: Now that I've done it twice, if I have a bad meet in there I'm not going to worry too much about it. I don't plan on jumping low, of course, ever, but I definitely need to be a consistently high jumper because the Olympic Trials is going to be nothing less than a war in the men's pole vault because there are so many good guys out there.

Q: Will you be competing overseas this year?

A: I will not head overseas before the Olympic Trials. More than likely, literally the day after I jump I'll be heading overseas for several meets especially if I make the team I'll be overseas for the majority of the summer. I was in Europe last summer for approximately two months and competed in a full season over there. Europe is hard to jump in. There are different conditions and different competitors, but all in all, no matter where you're at, the event is still basically the same. It's adjusting to the facilities and how you feel and weather conditions.

Q: Have you had an experience in your vaulting career that compares to jumping six meters at Modesto?

A: No. That was definitely a peak in my career right now with all the excitement. I was super excited to jump 5.94 the next weekend in Phoenix just because it kind of legitimizes the six-meter jump as not just a fluke. Up to this point it was a dream come true track meet to PR three times and jump six meters at Modesto, a meet I've jumped in the last six or seven years since my freshman year in college.

Q: What happened in your training to send you to this next level?

A: I've been working on small technical things that have been coming together. I've just hit the right place in my life with the physical attributes I've got right now and the mentality. As I get older and do this longer everything kind of flows down in my mind and I can actually feel the vault out instead of just relying on my instincts that I've been doing in the past.

For a complete biography of Toby Stevenson, visit the Athlete Bios section of www.usatf.org