__NOTOC__Emma George (born 1 November 1974 in

Beechworth Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859. Beechworth's many histor ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er. She set twelve

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in a row in the late nineties, but she lost the record on 26 May 2000 to

Stacy Dragila Stacy Renée Dragila (née Mikaelson; born March 25, 1971) is an American former pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple world champion. Early life Dragila was born and raised in Auburn, California, northeast of Sacramen ...

and was unable to recapture it. She was previously a

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

artist in

The Flying Fruit Fly Circus The Flying Fruit Fly Circus is Australia's national youth circus, and the only full-time circus school for young people in Australia. History The Flying Fruit Fly Circus was one of the productions of the Murray River Performing Group, initiall ...

. She was coached by world-renowned coach Mark Stewart, who also led

Steve Hooker ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

to Olympic gold. George competed in and won the Gladiator Individual Sports Athletes Challenge in 1995. George suffered a fall while training for the 1999 Seville Championships. She then underwent a number of operations on her back before finally announcing her retirement in 2003.

World records

*4.25 m - Melbourne, Australia 30 November 1995 *4.28 m - Perth, Australia 17 December 1995 *4.30 m - Perth, Australia 28 January 1996 *4.41 m - Perth, Australia 28 January 1996 *4.42 m - Reims, France 29 June 1996 *4.45 m - Sapporo, Japan 14 July 1996 *4.50 m - Melbourne, Australia 8 February 1997 *4.55 m - Melbourne, Australia 20 February 1997 *4.57 m - Auckland, New Zealand 20 February 1998 *4.58 m - South Melbourne, Australia 14 March 1998 *4.59 m - Brisbane, Australia 21 March 1998 *4.60 m - Sydney, Australia 20 February 1999

Achievements

References

External links

Profile
at Athletics Australia
Brief biography at her personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Emma 1974 births Living people Australian female pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia People from Beechworth World record setters in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Universiade gold medalists for Australia Trapeze artists Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games