Jillian Schwartz (born September 19, 1979) is an American-born female former

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 who competed internationally for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive World Championships in Athletics from 2003 to 2011. Her best placing in international competition was fourth at the

2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004. A total off 139 countries were r ...

. She competed at the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

while at Duke University and gained

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honours on three occasions. Although she never won at a

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 a ...

Championships event, she took the runner-up spot on three occasions at both the USA Outdoor and USA Indoor Championships. Her personal best mark is 4.72 m, set indoors in

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the f ...

in 2008. After gaining Israeli citizenship in 2010, she set Israeli records of 4.60 m in the pole vault both outdoors and indoors and competed for Israel at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Career

Early life and college

Born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, and Jewish, she was raised in Lake Forest. She wanted to take up pole vaulting at Lake Forest High School, but was not allowed as the girl's pole vault was not permitted in Illinois until 1997. She moved to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

in order to train in the discipline. Schwartz attended Duke University and became the first woman to win an

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fr ...

title for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

in 1999.Jillian Schwartz

. Retrieved on January 27, 2011. The following year she won the Atlantic Coast Conference pole vault title and came third at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. She attended the United States Olympic Trials for the first time in 2000, but failed to register a height.Roth, John (June 23, 2008)
Roth: Schwartz Aims For Second Olympics
Duke Blue Devils. Retrieved on January 27, 2011. In her final year at Duke, in 2001, she set university records of 4.10 m indoors and 4.32 m outdoors, as well as winning the ACC outdoor and indoor titles. She claimed second place at the NCAA Outdoors and signed with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

that summer, deciding to turn professional.

Olympic and World Championship competition

She was the runner-up at the 2002 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships behind Mary Sauer and improved her outdoor best to 4.50 m. However, she only managed tenth place at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

that year. She placed sixth at the 2003 USA Indoors but rebounded with a second-place finish at the outdoor nationals. This gained her a place on the team for the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results T ...

and she came eighth in the qualifying round of the vault.Schwartz, Jillian
IAAF. Retrieved on January 27, 2011. The 2004 season proved to be her breakthrough year as she was runner-up to Stacy Dragila at the USA Indoor Championships and then placed fourth at the

, vaulting a personal best mark of 4.60 m. She achieved the same mark outdoors to take second at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...

and was runner-up to Dragila at the 2004 Olympic Trials, securing her first Olympic berth. She cleared 4.30 m in the qualifying rounds of the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, but this was not enough to make the final. Schwartz did not compete indoors in 2005 but managed to finish in the top three at the USA Outdoors. One of three Americans in the women's pole vault at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

(along with Dragila and Tracy O'Hara), she finished second in the qualifying but could not repeat her form in the final round, ending up in eleventh place. She became the Voluntary Assistant Coach for the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

track and field team in 2008. She was the runner-up at both the national outdoor and indoor championships in 2006 and improved her best by a centimeter to 4.61 m in

. She competed at the

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena. The announcement by the I ...

, but did not make it into the final on this occasion. She also made appearances on the 2006

IAAF Golden League The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize, ...

circuit Her progress stagnated in 2007 as she failed to clear higher than 4.50 m. Still, she took third place at the USA Outdoors and competed at the 2007 World Championships, where she achieved her season's best of 4.50 m in qualifying. She started 2008 with a big personal best indoors in Jonesboro, improving 12 cm with a clearance of 4.72 m. She was again the runner-up at the USA Indoors, this time behind

Jennifer Stuczynski Jennifer Lynn Suhr (née Stuczynski; born February 5, 1982) is an American former pole vaulter. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of ...

. At the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, she was eliminated once again at the qualifying stage. She set her sights on making the team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and had podium finishes at the Reebok Grand Prix and the Adidas Track Classic. However, she came fourth at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, being beaten by the less-established April Steiner Bennett and Erica Bartolina. She came fourth at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships, but was gifted a place at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

as the reigning US Champion Stuczynski withdrew due to injury. Schwartz vaulted 4.50 m at the championships in Berlin, just missing the qualifying mark by 5 cm.

Move to Israel

She competed at the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-18 ישראל תשס"ט), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Ol ...

and won the pole vault gold medal for the United States. Officials approached her about a possible move to compete for Israel and she agreed, seeing it as a better chance to participate at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

given the strong competition for a place in the United States.Jillian Schwartz wants to compete for Israel
All-Athletics (December 17, 2009). Retrieved on January 27, 2011. She gained Israeli citizenship and switched nationality in preparation for the 2010 season. She set an Israeli record mark of 4.60 m indoors in Jonesboro in May 2010 and then set an outdoor record of 4.60 m to win at the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League meet. She won her first national title at the Israeli Athletics Championships in June. Other performances that year included at win at the Vardinoyiannia and runner-up at the

London Grand Prix The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Di ...

Diamond League. In the 2011 season she cleared 4.50 m early in the season and won at the 2011 European Team Championships 3rd League, but she did not reach higher as the year progressed, finishing second at the national championships and being eliminated in qualifying at the

. She opened 2012 with a win at the U.S. Open Track and Field in January in a season's best of 4.52 m. Again her early performances remained the best of the year, as she finished eleventh at both the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fou ...

and

2012 European Athletics Championships The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years. ...

. She did, however, manage to win her second national title and make her Olympic debut for Israel at the 2012 London Games, competing in qualifying only. She retired from the sport after the Olympics.

International competitions

National titles

* Israeli Athletics Championships **Pole vault: 2010, 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Jillian Living people 1979 births Sportspeople from Lake Forest, Illinois Track and field athletes from Illinois American female pole vaulters Israeli female pole vaulters Olympic female pole vaulters Olympic athletes of Israel Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships athletes for Israel Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Duke Blue Devils women's track and field athletes Jewish female athletes (track and field) American emigrants to Israel 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women