With Yelena Isinbayeva facing Jenn Stuczynski as the new U.S. record
holder for the first time at Rome's Golden Gala tomorrow night, it
might be timely to look back at the record contributions of Jenn's
national record predecessor, Stacy Dragila.
I'm not sure I have all of Stacy's records (records to date, that is--I
haven't given up on her adding others in the future), but perhaps
someone can fill in blanks and correct errors. I'm especially uncertain
as to whether USATF accepted as national records marks at Modesto on 21
May 2000 and at Phoenix on 26 May 2000. The Modesto mark of 4.60m tied
her own and Emma George's world outdoor best, but was not submitted to
IAAF for world record ratification because her indoor 4.62 at Atlanta
on 3 March of that year would be considered the world record under the
new IAAF rules combining indoor and outdoor best marks for world
records a/o 1 January 2000. The Phoenix mark was not ratified by IAAF
because there was no drug testing available at the meet, but USATF may
have accepted as sufficient a negative result in a test the following
morning. Another possible difference between IAAF and USATF criteria
might be in what would have been a world record of 5.65m at Pocatello
on 9 February 2001, where Stacy was an invited participant in a college
dual meet and the IAAF ruled that this constituted an exhibition,
rather than a competition.
Setting those uncertainies aside, my files show Dragila bettering or
tying indoor or outdoor national records 43 times. I wonder how that
compares with similar figures for other events. It may be that such a
comparison is unfair, in that pole vaulters and high jumpers are alone
in being able to choose the margin of improvement in any single attempt.
Dragila's Indoor National and World Records:
3.89i 1996-01-13 en Pocatello NR
3.96i 1996-01-13 1 Pocatello NR
4.00i 1996-01-19 1= Reno NRT (tied with Melissa Price)
4.05i 1996-02-10 1 Pocatello NR
4.05i 1996-03-10 en Atlanta NR=
4.10i 1996-03-10 1 Atlanta NR
4.14i 1997-01-11 en Pocatello NR
4.27i 1997-01-11 1 Pocatello NR
4.30i 1997-01-24 1 Reno NR
4.30i 1997-03-09 en Paris-Bercy NR=
4.35i 1997-03-09 en Paris-Bercy NR
4.40i 1997-03-09 1 Paris-Bercy NR/WIR=
4.48i 1998-03-08 1 Sindelfingen NR/WIR
4.51i 2000-01-28 1 Pocatello NR
4.57i 2000-02-19 en Pocatello NR/WIR
4.61i 2000-02-19 1 Pocatello NR/WR
4.62i 2000-03-03 1 Atlanta NR/WR
4.63i 2001-02-02 1 New York NR/WR=
4.65i 2001-02-09 1 Pocatello ?
4.66i 2001-02-17 en Pocatello NR/WR
4.70i 2001-02-17 1 Pocatello NR/WR
4.71i 2003-02-01 1 Boston NR
4.72i 2003-02-07 1 New York NR
4.78i 2003-03-02 1 Boston NR/WIR
4.81i 2004-03-06 2 Budapest NR
Dragila's Oudoor National and World Records:
4.13 1996-04-20 1 Lawrence NR
4.15 1996-06-02 en Abbotsford NR
4.19 1996-06-02 1 Abbotsford NR
4.20 1996-06-19 1 Atlanta NR
4.22 1997-04-12 1 Eugene NR
4.24 1997-04-20 1 Walnut NR
4.28 1997-04-25 1 Provo NR
4.30 1997-05-10 en Modesto NR
4.45 1997-05-10 1 Modesto NR
4.46 1999-04-19 1 Walnut NR
4.47 1999-06-06 en Uniondale NR
4.54 1999-06-06 1 Uniondale NR
4.60 1999-08-21 1 Sevilla NR/WR=
4.60 2000-05-21 1 Modesto ?
4.62 2000-05-26 1 Phoenix ?
4.63 2000-07-23 1 Sacramento NR/WR
4.66 2001-04-27 en Pocatello NR/WOB
4.70 2001-04-27 1 Pocatello NR/WR=
4.71 2001-06-09 en Palo Alto NR/WR
4.81 2001-06-09 1 Palo Alto NR/WR
4.83 2004-08-06 1 Ostrava NR/WOB
N. B.--WR vs WIR vs WOB
Since January 1, 2000 it has been possible to set an absolute world
record (WR) in the vault either indoors or outdoors. Since that time,
an indoor record that is lower than a current world record set outdoors
is classified as the World Indoor Record (WIR). However an outdoor
record that is lower than a current world record set indoors is
classified as the World Outdoor Best (WOB), not as the World Outdoor
Record. I've never heard an explanation for the inconsistency.
