Steve Lewis and Leah Vause set high targets for 2012

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http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/893999- ... s-for-2012

Pole vaulting couple Steve Lewis and Leah Vause set high targets for 2012
Athletes striking up a romance is nothing new but the story of pole vaulters Steve Lewis and Leah Vause makes for interesting reading.

Pole vaulters Steve Lewis and Leah Vause at their training centre in Lee Valley, East London (Picture: Mikael Buck)
Lewis, Great Britain’s number one pole vaulter and a medal prospect for the London 2012 Olympic Games, met his girlfriend online after she had answered a Skype call meant for her friend and fellow Canadian vaulter Kelsie Hendry.
Cupid did not need long to strike.Lewis was in Germany training with world number one Steve Hooker while Vause was in the US with Hendry.
‘It was certainly attraction at first sight,’ muses Vause, 24, as she recalls the story alongside her beau at London’s Lee Valley Athletics Centre.
Lewis elaborates: ‘We talked and maybe said we should get each others’ numbers. As it happened, I invited Leah to join me in Germany and she did!
‘We didn’t get off to the greatest start though – I was late to meet her off the plane at Frankfurt but luckily we bumped into each other in the airport.’

Steve Lewis is a medal prospect but Leah Vause is not assured of selection (Picture: Mikael Buck)

Vause interjects: ‘There I was coming to Europe for the first time and no one was there to meet me off the plane!
‘I’d checked Steve out through the pole-vaulting community because I wasn’t just going to meet up with some guy off the internet.’
When the pair left for London, Vause found she enjoyed the capital, so much so she applied for a more permanent visa. That was in late 2010 and she has stayed put more or less ever since.
While Lewis is nailed on to compete at the Games if fit, Vause’s task is harder as she has no funding.
'I love it London and we're quite close to the Olympic Park so there is a fantastic vibe,' she adds.
‘Seeing everyone training excites me.
‘I’m not expecting Olympic selection but I’m vaulting well and know the standard I need. I hope I’ll be considered.’
‘The pole vault at the Games is going to be exciting,’ adds Lewis. ‘Holly Bleasdale [Britain’s world indoor bronze medallist] is obviously going really well and I just hope we can both be part of that and make it a great Games.’