Victoria "Tori" Peña (born 30 July 1987) is a

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 with dual American and Irish citizenship who competes for Ireland in IAAF competition.

Early life

Peña was born in

Los Alamitos, California Los Alamitos () is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The adjacent unincorporated community of Rossmoor uses the same 9 ...

. Her father's family are of Mexican extraction, and her maternal grandmother Angela McCoy (née Coyle) was born in Derry. Peña lives in

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, where she graduated from Edison High School. In 2003, she competed in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

at the World

Irish Dancing Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vari ...

Championships. She earned a degree in International Development Studies from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, and competed for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, although frequently hampered by injuries. Her Irish grandmother made her eligible for

Irish citizenship Irish nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of the Republic of Ireland. The primary law governing these regulations is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which came into force on 17 July 1956. R ...

, and in June 2010 she acquired

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

, declared her intention to compete for Ireland, and registered with Finn Valley Athletic Club in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

Irish career

Peña's personal best of was set shortly before she had acquired Irish citizenship, but was sufficient to qualify for the pole vault at the European Athletics championships in Barcelona. In July 2010 won the Irish national championships at

Morton Stadium Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry Demesne, Santry in Ireland. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Dublin city and the home track of Clonliffe Harriers. It h ...

with an Irish record of , which she equalled in Barcelona. At the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships she set an Irish indoor record of , which she increased to in 2012. At the San Diego Triton Invitational on 27 April 2012 she set an outdoor Irish record of . This qualified her for the 2012 Olympics, in the qualifying round of which she failed at the opening height of .

References

External links

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Tori Pena profile
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Tori 1987 births Living people American people of Irish descent American female pole vaulters American sportspeople of Mexican descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Naturalised citizens of Ireland Olympic athletes of Ireland Sportspeople from Huntington Beach, California Sportspeople from County Donegal Track and field athletes from California UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for Ireland