Fabiana Murer

Sport: Track and Field

Nation: Brazil

DOB: March 16, 1981

Hometown: Campinas

Career Highlights: Murer heads to London as one of the favorites to win the gold medal in the pole vault, and she hopes these Olympics go better than the 2008 Games. That shouldn't be a problem, though, considering what transpired in Beijing. Murer had qualified for the finals, but somehow the pole she brought to the stadium for the medal round was lost and she was forced to use a pole that was too long. She failed in all three of her attempts at 4.65 meters - 15 centimeters less than her then-personal best. Murer, the South American champion in 2006, ’07, ’09 and '11, has put that disaster behind her. She took gold at the 2010 world indoor championships with a jump of 4.80 meters and cleared 4.85 meters to win gold at the 2011 worlds. The mark of 4.85 meters is a South American record and the fourth-highest jump ever.

Olympic History: 2008