Stevenson: I wear it for my mom

[Scott Go Pre]

http://www.eurosport.co.uk/home/pages/v ... 9855.shtml

Stevenson: I wear it for my mom

Olympic silver medalist Toby Stevenson, aka 'Helmetman,' knows what it takes to stay safe and vault high. He speaks out on the origins of the helmet, his tough road to Helsinki, his gold medal pole vautling hopes, and why he is the safest man in the sport.

At the U.S. championships in June Stevenson finished third with a jump of 5.65 metres and qualified for worlds in the final slot. Timothy Mack, Stevenson's friend and the man who took Olympic gold ahead of him in Athens, finished seventh failing to even qualify.

Eurosport: How did you feel about the U.S. Championships and Tim Mack's absence from the upcoming World Championships?

Toby Stevenson: "Unfortunately I didn't jump like I wanted to so I was little disappointed there, but I'm here now. I'm going to jump in Helsinki this summer, and I will try to win the gold medal. In the Pole Vault anything can happen to anybody at anytime. We've seen Sergey Bubka, the world record holder, no-height at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It doesn't mean anything, and Tim is going come back and jump really high."

Q:What exactly is the story behind the helmet and why do you wear it?

Toby Stevenson: "My parents, back in 1995, wanted me to wear it. They talked me into it: 'We got a really good helmet.' It's nice, it's light and I wear it for my mom. Just look at the nature of the event, I'm upside down six metres in the air. Everybody says, 'you're a great jumper you don't need to wear one,' but just in case of an accident, I' m that one guy who will be safer than somebody not wearing a helmet."

'Until the world explodes'

Aside from winning Olympic silver at Athens, Stevenson broke the highly sought after 6 metres mark at the Modesto relays in his home state of California earlier in 2004. Eurosport wondered what the future holds for Stevenson and the sport of pole vaulting.

Q: Were you surprised to break 6 metres and what are your next ambitions?

Toby Stevenson: "I woke up that day and knew that I was going to jump high. I was realistically expecting 5.90m and a personal record. As I've said before, 6m was unexpected, but not unrealistic. Obviously I've got 2 big goals, the one is breaking Jeff Hartwig's American record of 6.03m. And the other is Sergey's world record of 6.16m, which is a really high bar, but not impossible. I don't know if I will jump it, but somebody will and I definitely want to end my career saying that I took shots at 6.16. "

Q: What does he hope to accomplish at the championships, and how does European competition like that at Golden League meets stack up?

Toby Stevenson: "I come over here again with one goal in mind, just to win every meet. It's tougher to compete over in Europe, the conditions are harder, and the competition level is a little higher. So I'm trying to come over here and do the best I can, which is to have high energy, high feeling and to jump high. "

Q: What does Stevenson prefer, winning medals or breaking world records?

Toby Stevenson: "The medals, to me, mean more, because I will forever be the 2004 Olympic silver medalist. Forever. Until the world explodes. I'm in the history books. But world records will always fall. Always. Until the end of time. So what keeps me going is to be able to jump 6.04m, or 6.16, or 6.20, even 6.90. One of these days some kids are going to jump 6.90. You never know when, but it's going to happen. "

[fong520]

haha ive never heard helmetman b4 lol..

[Scott Go Pre]

I guess that is what the Europeans refer to Toby as.