Alysha Newman

Newman's first sport was gymnastics, which she was forced to abandon at the age of 13 after injuring a lower back vertebra. After one year off sports where she considered ice hockey and diving, she chose track and field, and was directed by a coach to vaulting due to her gymnastics background.[2]

In 2013, she joined Eastern Michigan University, soon becoming Mid-American Conference champion and competing in the NCAA tournament.[3]

Afterwards, she was transferred to the University of Miami,[4] following her coach Jerel Langley.[5] Newman graduated in 2016, majoring in exercise physiology with a minor in nutrition.[3]

Newman successfully cleared 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) at the University of Miami's Hurricane Alumni Invitational on 9 April 2016, breaking the University of Miami school record, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) record, and the Canadian National record in the women's pole vault. In June, Newman won the silver medal at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and finished as a six-time NCAA Division I All-American.

She competed in the pole vault event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, winning the bronze medal.

The 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) vault ranked Newman as fourth in the world in women's pole vault at that time.[6]

In July 2016 she was officially named to Canada's Olympic team.[7] Competing in the Olympics, Newman only vaulted 4.45 m (14 ft 7 in) in qualification and missed the finals.[8]

Newman competed at the first ever "Vault the Park", a street vault at Victoria Park during the annual Rib Fest in her hometown of London, Ontario. She successfully cleared 4.61 m (15 ft 1 ¹⁄₄ in), topping her own Canadian women's record.

She bettered her own national record again at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational at the University of Miami on 8 April 2017 where Newman vaulted 4.71 m (15 ft 5 ¹⁄₄ in) in Coral Gables, Florida.[9] In August, she was a finalist in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, finishing seventh by vaulting 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in).[10]

In March 2018, Newman placed sixth at the 2018 World Indoor Championships with a height of 4.70 m. In April, she competed at her second Commonwealth Games pole vault in the Gold Coast, winning the gold medal with a height of 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in), equaling her personal best and set a Commonwealth games record.

In May 2018, while traveling to compete at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in Doha, Newman's poles were all destroyed whilst in transit with Air Canada. She competed at the event with poles borrowed from a local athletics club, placing seventh. Air Canada subsequently replaced all of her equipment.[11] Newman then suffered a torn patellar tendon in a warmup at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.[12]

In February 2019, Newman won the 2019 Indoor Meeting iKarlsruhe with a clearance of 4.71 m (15 ft 5 in), setting the Canadian indoor track and field pole vault record.[13][14] In July 2019, Newman won at the Stabhochsprung Jockgrim meet with a new personal best of 4.77 m (15 ft 8 in).[15]

Competing at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Newman won the bronze medal in the pole vault event, clearing 4.55 m (14 ft 11 in). She expressed dissatisfaction with her performance, saying she "definitely felt that I underperformed."[16] Later that same month, Newman won the 2019 Meeting de Paris, her first Diamond League win, and with a new Canadian record of 4.82 m (15 ft 9 ³⁄₄ in).[17] That mark ranks her as the #16 vaulter of all time. She duplicated 4.82m while finishing third in the 2019 IAAF Diamond League meet in Zürich where the women's pole vault was held one day earlier than the other events, indoors at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof.[18] That jump ranks her tied for #12 all time indoors[19] and is the Canadian record.