Amber Marie Cnossen (née Welty; born April 24, 1967) is an American former
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
athlete who competed in the
high jump
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
.
Career
Welty was born in
Salmon, Idaho
Salmon is a city in Lemhi County, Idaho. The population was 3,119 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Lemhi County.
History
The Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass, to the southeast of Sal ...
, United States. Amber graduated from Twin Fall High School in Twin Falls, Idaho. Amber attended
Idaho State University
Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...
in Pocatello, Idaho. She was coached by Dave Nielsen, a world renowned coach and supporter of providing women an opportunity to compete in pole vaulting. Dave had the opportunity to coach the 1st official Olympic gold medalist in women's pole vaulting.
Amber's first opportunity to compete against the best in the United States at the NCAA Division 1 Championships came in 1987. She finished third at the
NCAA Championships
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...
with a jump of 1.86 m.
In June 1988, Welty won the NCAA title with a career best of 1.92 m at the University of Oregon. Two weeks later, she finished third at the US National Championships, clearing 1.89 m. In July, at the Olympic trials in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, she was fifth with 1.90 m. In 1990, she won her third NCAA medal, finishing second to Angie Bradburn, both clearing with a jump of 1.89 m.
In 1992, after ankle surgery (using the
palmaris longus
The palmaris longus is a muscle visible as a small tendon located between the flexor carpi radialis and the flexor carpi ulnaris, although it is not always present. Reviews report rates of absence in the general population ranging from 10–20%; h ...
tendon from the wrist to transplant to the outside right ankle to make it stable) in October 1991 at the US National Championships in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, incorporating the Olympic trials, Welty finished second with 1.89 m, to earn Olympic selection, providing she could attain the qualifying standard of 1.92 m. She achieved this a week later at a meet in Boise. At the
Barcelona Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
, she cleared 1.88 m in the qualifying round to finish 27th overall.
Welty also represented the US at the
1992 IAAF World Cup
The 6th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 25–27, 1992, at the Estadio Panamericano in Havana, Cuba.
Overall re ...