Stacy Renée Dragila (née Mikaelson; born March 25, 1971) is an American former

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the My ...

er. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Early life

Dragila was born and raised in

Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark. A ...

, northeast of

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. She also participated in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, but had to give it up due to childhood

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, c ...

. She attended Placer Union High School where she played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and ran on the track team as a sprinter, hurdler, and jumper. Early on she got coaching from

Yuba Community College Yuba College () is a public community college in Marysville, Yuba County, California. It is part of the Yuba Community College District. The college district has an extension campus in Yuba City, California. Yuba College is one of two colleges ...

's John Orognen. She competed in the

300 meters hurdles The 300 metres hurdles (also spelled 300 meters hurdles in American English) is an athletics or track and field event. It is a cut-down version of the International event the 400 metres hurdles. It is a standard event under the NFHS in American hig ...

at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

, but didn't place. In 1990, she placed second at the Golden West Invitational in the

400 meters hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

. She graduated from

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations in Meridian, Idah ...

in 1995. At ISU, she competed in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. She was introduced to pole vaulting by her coach, a former vaulter himself, and she participated in some of the earliest sanctioned women's pole vault competitions.

Pole vaulting career

Dragila won the women's pole vault competition at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials. Women's pole vault was a demonstration event at the Trials, and it was not included in the program of the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. In March 1997, she won the pole vault competition at the Indoor World Championships and set her first indoor world record, 4.48 m (14 ft 8 in). At the 1999 outdoor World Championships, she again won gold and set her first outdoor world record, 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in). Over the course of her career, she set or tied the indoor world record 8 times and set or tied the outdoor world record 10 times. After winning the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials and resetting the world record at 4.63 m (15 ft 2 in), she won the first women's pole vault Olympic gold medal at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. Dragila

Dragila made the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

her final major championship. She finished with a jump of , not progressing to the pole vault final. While she jumped at age 37, her vault at age 38 in 2009 was the ratified W35 Masters World Record until 2017. In 2014, she was elected into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

. Dragila Way, on the campus of

Pocatello Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the P ...

, is named in her honor.

International competitions

National titles

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olym ...

** Pole vault (9): 1996^†, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 *

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

** Pole vault (8): 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 ^† The 1996 contest was a non-championship event

Personal

Stacy divorced Brent Dragila in 2006. She lived in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, California, and is the founder of Altius Track Club. Stacy now lives in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...

, where she owns and coaches at a premier indoor/ outdoor pole vault facility, Dragila Vault Co. She married American discus thrower

Ian Waltz Ian Scott Waltz (born April 15, 1977) is an American discus thrower. He is originally from Post Falls, Idaho and attended Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public ...

and welcomed daughter Allyx (an alternative spelling of the standard 'Alex') Josephine Waltz on June 21, 2010.

References

External links

* * * * * * *
Stacy Dragila Vault Co.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragila, Stacy 1971 births Living people People from Auburn, California Track and field athletes from California American female pole vaulters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World record setters in athletics (track and field) Idaho State University alumni Placer High School alumni Sportspeople from Greater Sacramento Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games gold medalists in athletics 21st-century American women