Toby "Crash" Stevenson (born November 19, 1976, in
Odessa, Texas) is an Olympic class
pole vaulter from the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. He is known for being the only pole vaulter in the international elite to wear a helmet during jumps.
Biography
While attending
Permian High School, Stevenson set 24
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
records, taking three district championships, and winning the state title in 1995, when he was also the top-ranked 18-year-old pole vaulter in the world. Stevenson later went on to graduate from
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. He currently coaches pole vault and multi-event athletes, at the University of Washington. Among the athletes he has coached is
2016 Olympic Champion Ekaterini Stefanidi.
Since the fall of 2002, Stevenson has been a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in
Chula Vista, California. He won the
2004 Olympic silver medal in pole vaulting, the 2003
Pan American Games gold medal, and the 2004 USA Indoor gold medal.
He is known for his emotional antics after a successful vault. He played his pole like a guitar after his silver medal vault.
On Friday, January 29, 2010, he officially retired from pole vaulting at the 2010
National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, NV.
From February, 2014, he is working as Head of Activity for Hammarby Athletics in Stockholm, Sweden.
After a four-year stint coaching at the University of Kentucky, where he coached Olivia Gruver to her second straight NCAA outdoor title, as well as coaching decathlete
Tim Duckworth to both the NCAA decathlon and heptathlon crowns, Stevenson was named associate head track & field coach in charge of the jumps and multi-events at the University of Washington on July 11, 2018.
See also
*
6 metres club
References
External links
*
Profileat ''USA Track & Field''
*
ttp://runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=19323 Toby Stevenson Retires, Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Toby
1976 births
Living people
American male pole vaulters
Sportspeople from Odessa, Texas
Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Track and field athletes from Texas
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
Kentucky Wildcats track and field coaches
Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
21st-century American sportsmen
Permian High School alumni