Jillian Schwartz will be Israel’s only representative in the athletics field
events in London and will be looking to add another achievement to the rich
tradition of local pole vaulting.
Two-time European pole vault champion
Alex Averbukh reached Olympic finals in 2000 and 2004 and Schwartz will be
aiming to become the first Israeli women to do so in London.
The
32-year-old, who booked her place at the 2012 Olympics by clearing 4.52 meters
in January, finished the recent European Championships in 11th position,
clearing 4.35 meters with her third and final attempt before jumping 4.40m last
week to win an event in Germany.
The Illinois native represented the US
in the 2004 Athens Games, but missed out on the American team four years later
and received Israeli citizenship in 2009 after agreeing to move to the country
following her triumph for the US in the Maccabiah Games.
These will
likely be Schwartz’s final Olympics and she will be disappointed with anything
but qualification for the final.
With 4.50m being enough to reach the
final of last year’s World Championships and the Beijing Games, Schwartz knows
that if she peaks in London, an Olympic final is well within her reach.
