Sixteen feat

Former champ appreciates significance of Dragila's quest

Stacy Dragila stared at a milestone as she stood on the pole vault runway at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston's Roxbury Community College this past weekend. True, Dragila had just broken another world record minutes earlier, eclipsing 4.78 meters (15 feet, 8 1/4 inches), but that's one of those forgettable barriers, with fractions of inches and centimeters that you can only remember if you like studying the fine print of dusty record books for fun. Dragila then opted to take three cracks at an even 16 feet -- a mark no female vaulter had ever achieved, indoors or out.

On the opposite side of the arena, John Thomas, Roxbury's athletic director, anxiously shifted his shoulders and knees, as if a little extra lift from him might also propel Dragila. "Take your time," Thomas said, half under his breath. "The competition's over. Now it's just you. Relax."

It didn't work. The world-record holder missed her three tries at the magical 16-foot barrier. "People can identify with 16, even if you don't understand the significance of it at the time," Thomas said. "You don't realize that's how people will remember you."

Thomas should know. He recalled a very similar scene in 1959, when he stood, without a pole, staring at a bar that nobody else could leap. Thomas was a 17-year-old Boston University freshman competing at the Millrose Games in New York's Madison Square Garden, trying to become the first man to soar over seven feet in the high jump.

"At the time, seven feet didn't seem like a big deal because I was too wrapped up in competing to be able to look at what it meant," Thomas said. "I had done it in practice indoors and out. Other people had done it outdoors in competition, too." But on the creaky boards of the Garden, impediments that made indoor track the daunting tableau it used to be when conditions weren't as refined as they are now, Thomas cleared the height on his second try.

Organizers of the Millrose Games, at 97 the oldest indoor track meet in the country, recently voted Thomas' feat the greatest accomplishment in the event's illustrious history. As a reward for his feat, Thomas' coach gave him $10 after he set the record. "We went out and ate some burgers and felt like kings of 34th street," said Thomas. "That was a different era." Today, Dragila usually gets bonuses of around $50,000 for each record she sets. Since the event is relatively new for women, records fall more frequently. Counting both indoor and outdoor competitions, Dragila set eight of them in 2001. Her world outdoor mark, set at Palo Alto, Calif., in 2001, stands at 4.81 meters (15 feet, 9.37 inches).

Unlike Dragila, Thomas was never an Olympic champion. He won a bronze medal in 1960 and a silver four years later. He ran several successful businesses and coached at his alma mater, before accepting the job as A.D. at Roxbury. He speaks with disappointment of the way money has changed the sport. "The friendships aren't as genuine today," he says. "Too many decisions are based on money." World record attempts fall into that category, too. If a high jumper or pole vaulter breaks a record by several inches, for example, that sets the bar considerably higher, makes it more difficult for them to break a record again and lessens their chances of earning the corresponding bonuses from meet organizers and sponsors for doing so. For this reason in particular, Thomas applauded Dragila's decision to aim for 16 feet. "You'll spend the money," Thomas said, "but if somebody else is the first to make history, the best you can do is be the one to follow." Thousands of runners have run a mile in less than four minutes, and how many people outside track would know the name Roger Bannister if he had been the second man to achieve it instead of the first?

After the meet, Dragila talked about her decision to shoot for 16. "The more shots I take at it, the more I know it's gonna come," she said. "I went through the same thing at 14 feet, 15 feet. I know 16 is in there. I definitely want to be able to say I was the first one to do it, especially since 16 feet feels so close, so within my grasp."

Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers Olympic sports for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.

 

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