Chelsea Johnson Aims Skyward

Pole Vaulter Wins Silver at Worlds

By Mark Winitz

photos by Victah Sailer, PhotoRun

You might guess that Chelsea Johnson’s excellence in the pole vault is a consequence of genetics.

After all, her father, Jan Johnson, is the 1972 Olympic Games bronze medalist in the high-flying event and a two-time U.S. titlist and three-time NCAA champion. Her mom, Jani, was a four-time All American in track and cross country at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier at 5,000 meters. Chelsea’s brother, Clay, was a 16-foot vaulter in high school.

Or, you could make the case that Chelsea Johnson is a natural product of her environment.

When other kids were playing in sand boxes and swings, Johnson hung around pole vault pits and equipment in her own backyard. The Johnson family’s home in Atascadero on California’s central coast doubles as the training center for Coach Jan Johnson’s SkyJumpers Vertical Sports Club and vaulting camps. Over 30,000 athletes and their coaches have attended the camps since 1973.

You might even speculate that Chelsea Johnson’s rise from California State girls high school pole vault champion to the world medals podium in just seven years is a matter of sound training and guidance—and the right opportunities at the right time.

This past August, Johnson seized the opportunity of her 25-year-old lifetime while competing in her first world championship meet. At the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany, Johnson drew a first-in-the-order jumping position for the women’s pole vault final. It was the perfect position to put her competition at bay.

Johnson subsequently made three straight clean leaps over the bar—her last a season-high 4.65 meters/15 feet, 3 inches. When Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva—the current world record holder who has dominated the women’s vault since 2004—floundered without making a clearance, Johnson tied for second place and earned a silver medal (along with Poland's Monika Pyrek).

Johnson joins Stacy Dragila (gold medal, 1999 and 2001) as the only U.S. woman ever to medal at a World Outdoor Championships in the pole vault.

“It definitely feels good to be a medalist, but it hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” Johnson said a few days after her performance. “But it’s great to have all the hard work and all the ups and downs of the sport all pay off now.”

Young Talent Shows Promise

As a young athlete, Johnson played soccer and volleyball, and she excelled at them. Her parents put no pressure on her to participate in any particular sport, and she thrived.

“When you’re young, it’s important to try a lot of different sports and just have fun with it,” Johnson said in retrospect. “The pressure will come later in life.”

Chelsea began pole vaulting in 2002 as a senior at Atascadero (Calif.) High School where she also competed in the 100m hurdles and 400m events. In her high school freshman year, she ran a 56.5 relay leg in the 4x400m relay.

“I always thought that Chelsea had the potential to be very good in the pole vault,” said Jan Johnson, who is, perhaps, the pre-eminent pole vault coach in the U.S. “She was big enough and fast enough. In the pole vault you must have speed.”

Under the wing of her dad at Atascadero High, she rapidly progressed in the vault. Johnson won the 2002 CIF Division III title with a prep personal best vault of 4.12m/13-6 while placing second in the 100m hurdles. Her 13-6 was just two inches lower than the U.S. high school record. She also won the prep California State Championship pole vault title (4.04m/13-3) and the Golden West Invitational (again with a 4.12m/13-6) and placed fifth at the U.S. Junior National Championships (3.70m/12-1.5).

How did the young athlete pick up the technically and physically challenging event so quickly?

“Growing up I saw pole vaulters so much. I knew what it looked like in my head even before I started,” Johnson said, referring to the training sessions where she saw her father instruct numerous athletes such as 1997 World Championships bronze medalist Dean Starkey (19-5). “Right from the beginning I felt pretty comfortable with it.”

Chelsea was also nurtured on the many volumes of training technique videos that Jan has produced.

Collegiate Heights and Lows

Johnson’s success as a prep vaulter earned her a collegiate track scholarship at UCLA where she majored in Sociology and excelled under vault coach Anthony Curran. In her sophomore year she became the first collegiate woman ever to jump 15-0 feet when she cleared the height at the 2004 Stanford Invitational. She also holds the collegiate women’s record of 4.60/15-1. Although arthroscopic knee surgery hampered her junior year, Johnson was an NCAA individual champion and runner-up both outdoors and indoors during her collegiate career.

Johnson’s up-and-down collegiate athletic career taught her to keep a good perspective, leave bad performances on the track, and really appreciate the good experiences, she said. “Most of all Coach Curren taught me to have fun with the sport and still take it seriously.”

While at UCLA, Johnson also competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. Her fourth-place (4.50m/14-9) behind Stacy Dragila, Jillian Schwartz, and Kellie Suttle, just missed a spot on the U.S. team that competed in Athens.

“I was really naive to the whole experience, and just went in with no expectations,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t too much of a heart breaker.”

Fast forward to 2008, Johnson’s first Olympic year as a post collegian. After a bout with winter pneumonia, she placed third at the U.S. Indoor Track & Field Championships and missed making the U.S. team for the IAAF World Indoor Championships by one spot. Then, she broke a pole in April, cracked a wrist, and lost about six weeks of training in a cast.

But after she recovered, Johnson PRed twice, clearing 4.68m/15-4.25, and 4.73m/15-6.25. The latter mark, set at an all-comers meet in Los Gatos, Calif. a week before the Olympic Trials, was an all-time best for Johnson and ranks her third on the U.S. all-time list behind Jenn Stuczynski (4.92m/16-1.75) and Stacy Dragila (4.83m/15-10). At the Trials, however, she struggled with nervousness, and a hamstring cramp hampered her performance in the finals where she finished seventh.

“I was disappointed, of course, but I learned from the day,” Johnson commented. “This year, I came in much better prepared and obviously it’s paid off.”

Early this year, Coach Johnson began Chelsea on a program with drills that had her doing short run-ups with a relatively low grip (about 14 feet for her) on the pole. He also worked on keeping her pole tip higher on the runway so she wouldn’t over-stride, and keeping her chin down on her chest while pulling with her arms during the upside-down portion of the vault.

And this year Chelsea has been healthy. Consistent training allowed her to go into last June’s U.S. Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. believing in herself. She placed second behind Stuczynski with a 4.60m/15-1 vault and earned a spot on the U.S. team headed to Berlin’s 1936 Olympic stadium.

“I felt so great that day, one hundred percent confident. That’s when I probably first thought I might have a chance at medaling,” said Johnson.

On July 2, the Nike-sponsored athlete headed to Europe for a series of IAAF Golden League/Grand Prix meets in Madrid, Athens, Paris, London, and elsewhere—eight total—where the competition was intense prior to Worlds.

“I was proving to myself that I deserved to be there, that I’m just as good as these girls. There’s nothing special that they’re doing that I’m not doing,” Johnson said. “That experience (in Europe) really paid off.”

A Valuable Mentor

As a bonus, Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Champion Stacy Dragila took Johnson under her wing like an older sister on the European tour which included two weeks of final preparation for Worlds at a Team USA training camp in Saarbrucken, Germany.

Johnson said Dragila, who has announced that she is retiring from competition after the 2009 season, has had an immeasurable influence on her development.

“I have a hard time finding words of appreciation for Stacy’s help,” Johnson said. “She taught me what it means to be a world-class athlete who has class, and competes with dignity and grace whether winning or losing. She taught me how to train hard every single day and the importance of rest. She’s inspired me with mental toughness. We really created a great friendship over the last couple of months that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

When Jan Johnson arrived at the U.S. training camp in Saarbrucken, he was immediately impressed by his daughter’s composure and physical readiness.

“We had two really meaningful practices there,” he said. “I was blown away by how fast she was running. It indicated that she could jump pretty high.”

In Berlin, Chelsea had a difficult time in the prelims. With about 15 athletes on each of two runways, her warm-up wasn’t adequate. She missed her first two jumps at 4.55m/14-11, then changed to a longer pole, and made the third, qualifying for the final.

After that it was smooth sailing for Johnson in the final.

She performed with remarkable composure, clearing her first three bars on her first attempt—4.40m/14-5.25, then 4.55m/14-11, then 4.75m/15-3. Only five of the 11 finalists remained when the bar was moved up to 4.75m/15-7, Isinbayeva’s opening height.

“Chelsea was running sweet. Her 14-11 (second) jump was one of the biggest clearances I’ve ever seen her make,” said Coach Johnson who was watching from the stands. “She made it by a foot.”

Johnson then made three unsuccessful attempts at 4.75m/15-7, and watched almost in disbelief as Isinbayeva, the world outdoor record holder at 5.05m/16-6.75, missed all three of her vaults.

“I was sure that she (Isinbayeva) would make the bar and that I would get bronze,” Johnson said. “But when she missed (on her last try), I had a ton of unexpected emotions. I felt sympathy for her because she had a bad day and, as a pole vaulter, you know how that feels. Realizing that I had the silver medal was pretty cool.”

So was the feeling of standing on the awards podium—almost, but not quite on top, of the world—before a packed crowd at a beautifully modernized Berlin stadium.

Indeed, Chelsea Johnson, with a world silver medal already in her pocket at 25 years old, seems poised to reach even more prominent heights.

“She’s got a lot of gas left in the tank,” remarked Jan Johnson. “I think she can jump much higher than 15-6. And she has the motivation to go get it.”

And, does the younger Johnson have aspirations to increase the count to two Olympic medalists in her family some day, perhaps in 2012?

“Oh, yes, absolutely,” the reigning world silver medalist said. “Right now I’m not burned out on the pole vault at all. I still feel really new in the event and that I’m learning so many things.”

Indeed, if Johnson plays her genetics, background, and opportunities correctly, more high achievements will surely come her way.

Story published in late August, 2009

Chelsea Johnson – USATF Bio

www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/oldBios/2007/Johnson_Chelsea.asp

Jan Johnson’s SkyJumpers Vertical Sports Club

www.skyjumpers.com

photos by Victah Sailer, PhotoRun