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Miles - on a roll and intent on jumping up there with the best
Tuesday 15 February 2005
If momentum has a strong say in things, then US pole vaulter Derek Miles might have the upper hand as he resumes competition tonight in Stockholm’s GE Galan - IAAF permit - meeting.
After tying for fourth at his season opener at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno with a modest 5.60 effort, a competition he had won the previous three years, he took top honours at an invitational in Vermillion, South Dakota on 31 January, jumping 5.80, an effort just shy of his 5.82 personal best from 2002. The following weekend, he won the Millrose Games with a 5.70, but said afterwards that his winning effort was not indicative of his early season shape.
“I’m running better than I was at the Olympics,” he said. “I feel stronger and it’s still fairly early in the season.”
A confidence builder
At Saturday’s Zepter Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk (12 Feb), Ukraine, traditionally the finest gathering of international Pole Vault talent each indoor season, the 32-year-old - the second oldest entrant in the field - did his Vermillion effort one better with a first attempt clearance at a indoor world-leading 5.85, the highest he’s ever jumped indoors or out. He described the win at Sergey Bubka’s annual Pole Vault festival the finest of his career.
“I’ve come here three years, and this is obviously the highest I’ve every jumped in my life, and to do that here with the crowd and the excitement was just an amazing experience,” said Miles. Pleased, but reserved, Miles indicated that better things may come.
“I think it’s a confidence builder. In the next couple weeks, my main goal or objective is to jump higher obviously. But to come here and jump a personal record was just an amazing experience.”
Outstanding national strength
While overshadowed last season by his compatriots, most notably Olympic gold and silver medallists Tim Mack and Toby Stevenson, Miles was part of a strong American contingent that dominated the top end of the yearly performance list. Of the 44 vaults of 5.80 or higher in 2004, all but 12 were by Americans.
“The Americans have been jumping very well recently, six metres, with Jeff [Hartwig] and Toby [Stevenson] and Brad [Walker] also, he’s been jumping really well,” Miles said, referring to his fellow-countrymen that he beat in Donetsk. “And I feel like I’m a little behind in the race, so I want to catch up and jump with these guys.”
Experience, if lacking the heights
While his PB was lagging slightly behind, Miles is no stranger to major competitions. He was in the Athens final with the podium duo, where he finished seventh. He preceded that with a third place finish at the Olympic Trials to earn his ticket to Athens, where, as a native of Sacramento, he competed in a stadium where he jumped as a high schooler. The previous year, he was on both the U.S. World Championship squads, finishing fifth in Birmingham, and tying for sixth in Paris. But before he began making his presence felt on the national and international scene, he took the long road, one that took him from Sacramento, then to Vermillion, then to American vault guru Earl Bell in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Earl Bell’s influence
Miles graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1996 with a 5.38m best, earning four NCAA division II All-American honors. He broke through the 18-foot (5.50m) barrier the following year, but struggled the next two seasons, reaching bests of just 5.35m. Not yet ready to throw in the towel, Miles began making a twice-monthly 12-hour one-way trek from Vermillion to Jonesboro to train under Bell, a three-time Olympian and former world record holder. Firmly committed, he moved there permanently less than two years later.
With world class vaulters such as Hartwig, Chad Harting and Tye Harvey as training partners, Miles’ improvement was immediate and dramatic.
“When you’re given that type of environment,” Miles said, “your intensity, your motivation, everything just goes up a notch. And you combine that with a person who has so much experience in the pole vault, who has been on three Olympics teams, won a medal, travelled the world, and figured out how to travel the world and still stay fit, and all his knowledge of the sport, it’s just an overwhelming atmosphere.”
Firmly under Bell’s wing, Miles improved to 5.65 in 2000, and tied for third at the US Olympic trials. Though he lost a spot on the Sydney squad after a jump-off with Harting, Miles said he easily met any expectations he might have had. “Just making the finals made it a tremendous success,” he said. “I went into it as a complete rookie. I had no pressure about having to make the team. Realistically, the guys I was jumping against were all better than me. The gist of the Olympics is that we want to send the best we have to offer.” In 2000, he readily admits, “I was not among the best three.”
Status upgrade in 2001
His status in the US vaulting scene has since changed. He reached 5.82 in both 2001 and 2002, and in 2003, won his first indoor national title, to punch his ticket to Birmingham. Outdoors, he finished second at the national championship, and grabbed his first Golden League honour with his win on the count-back at the Gaz de France in Paris with a 5.76 clearance. Last year, he reached a best of 5.81 for the second year in a row, and capped his season with a runner-up finish at Berlin’s ISTAF and third at the World Athletics Final.
Still a part-timer!
Remarkably, Miles has balanced his full-time athletic career with a full-time position as the Associate Director for Advisement Services at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, a job, he said, that is not only a means to provide financial stability for a pole vaulter who is still on his way up.
“There are lots of things in life that are important,” he said of his job as a student adviser. “It’s nice to do something that can make a difference.” As a full-time athlete, there are drawbacks. “Sometimes it’s tough. It’s a balancing act. It’s a long day. I work eight to four then train at 4:30. Sometimes I don’t get home until nine or 9:30.” A positive, he points out, is that with two full-time jobs, he is not wholly consumed by one or the other.
Now, after upping a nearly-three year old personal best, Miles is poised for even better things on the pole vault runway.
In Donetsk, he likened his 5.85 to a “kind of a personal victory over the bar.” With that battle won, others will follow, and Miles appears ready to wage another.
“With more confidence over the next couple weeks, I can jump even higher. I know I can still jump 5.90, it’s just a matter of staying healthy and feeling strong. I’m hoping that in the next couple weeks I can get even stronger and faster.”
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF