Paul Burgess 5.95!

[Robert schmitt]

I figured everyone that was there was in the stands facing the pit. It just looks so barren in the background like there is not even a meet going on while Paul is going for 6m

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200502/s1301334.htm

Burgess sets new pole vault record


Olympic pole vaulter Paul Burgess broke his Australian all-comers record at the West Australian athletics championships in Perth on Friday.

Burgess cleared 5.95 metres with his first vault.

Burgess set the previous record of 5.91m last month.

[vaultguru6]

Great pics becca, but i really think you need to work on some video on this one. Over a 4 foot push off! We could all learn something from a vault like that.

[KYLE ELLIS]

well atleast paul isnt considered a lucky jumper anymore just kidding.

[rainbowgirl28]

Great pics becca, but i really think you need to work on some video on this one. Over a 4 foot push off! We could all learn something from a vault like that.

Decamouse tells me he has video and that he will try and send it to me on Monday when he is at work.

[Scott Go Pre]

Decamouse tells me he has video and that he will try and send it to me on Monday when he is at work.

SWEET!!!

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Burges ... click=true

Burgess's golden vault

February 16, 2005


Olympic finalist Paul Burgess has smashed his own Australian all-comers record in the pole vault with a jump that could have won him the gold medal in Athens and makes him a red-hot contender for the upcoming world championships.


Burgess, 25, cleared 5.95 metres at the West Australian state championships on the weekend, the second best effort by an Australian and the best on Australian soil.


It was also the best jump in the pole vault in the world this year and comes six months before the world titles in Helsinki, Finland.


Former world champion Dmitri Markov is the only Australian to have vaulted higher than Burgess when he cleared 6.05m to win the 2001 world title in Edmonton, Canada.


Burgess' previous best effort was 5.91m, which he set at an interclub meeting last month.


His new personal best was the same height American Timothy Mack cleared to win the Olympic gold medal in Athens.


The Commonwealth Games silver medallist will be in action at the A-series in Melbourne on Thursday where he will take on Markov and fellow Olympian Steve Hooker.


Burgess and Markov have already qualified for the world titles but Hooker and Viktor Chistiakov will be chasing the qualifying standard.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common ... 88,00.html

Burgess soars to gold level
Scott Gullan
17feb05

A NEW fitness regimen, diet and attitude have pushed Paul Burgess within reach of pole vault's Holy Grail: the 6m mark.

And the West Australian, who cleared a personal best 5.95m in Perth at the weekend, hasn't ruled out clearing 6m at tonight's A-series meeting at Olympic Park.

Only 10 vaulters have cleared 6m, including Australia's 2001 world champion Dmitri Markov.

Burgess's personal best was the height American Tim Mack cleared to win the Olympic gold medal in Athens.

"Everything means something different to me now. Six metres is achievable, whereas it used to be a dream. And world championship medals are achievable, whereas they used to be a dream," Burgess said.

"I feel like I'm not going to be intimidated by any of the big names because I've jumped the same heights as they have or even higher than some of them."

He has made two attempts at 6m – the first a month ago after setting a then-personal best of 5.91m – and was buoyed by his latest attempt on the weekend.

"I had a lot of height over it but just brushed it on the way down," Burgess said. "It would would be a huge lifetime goal and the biggest thing is you've got to not be intimidated and not look at it as a magical number. You've got to treat it as another height."

Burgess has lived in Markov's shadow for years and the 25-year-old nearly missed a spot in the Athens team

"I was backed against the wall and had to fight my way out to make the team," he said.

"It made me realise what you can do when you're put under pressure and it made me realise how much I wanted to be a world-class pole-vaulter."

While Markov bombed in Athens, Burgess was the only Australian to make the final.

"I didn't get disheartened by it (finishing 11th), I just got motivated by it," Burgess said.