The pole vaulting career of Sydney Walter originated 13 years ago, when she was a Center Grove freshman looking to point her gymnastics background in an entirely different direction.
Now 27, Walter is preparing for her greatest athletic challenge to date — attempting to secure a roster spot on the United States women’s track and field team that will compete in the Tokyo Olympics from July 23 to August 8.
The trials are taking place at historic Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus. It’s the fourth and, by all accounts, final time the two-sport Center Grove standout formerly known as Sydney Clute will have competed at the facility, though a recent renovation of Hayward will make it seem like a debut.
Walter is seeded 14th among the 24 competitors vying for three spots on the U.S. national team. The qualification round is Thursday, with the top dozen performers returning on Saturday for the finals.
The timing couldn’t be better.
Walter’s pole vaulting career previously included training roadblocks ranging from a knee injury to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), an inner-ear disorder which often causes one to feel as if he or she is spinning, and a strained muscle between her ribs.
Had the Olympic trials commenced last summer as originally planned, Walter might not have been able to perform to her lofty expectations. They were pushed back a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving her time to heal and eventually continue normal training practices.
“I’m confident in making it to the second day. Since COVID, I’ve been improving. I’m peaking at a good time and am finally healthy,” said Walter, a 2012 Center Grove graduate who later left her mark as a pole vaulter at Indiana University. “I feel COVID gave me the time to rebuild and get my body ready.”
Prior to November, training included rehearsing run-ups in the parking lot of an elementary school near the Bloomington residence of Walter and her husband, Kyle; repeated repetitions on a pull-up bar in the couple’s backyard assisted in the building of additional upper body strength.
She was finally able to resume training inside IU’s Gladstein Fieldhouse this past fall, ending an eight-month span in which athletes weren’t allowed inside due to COVID restrictions.
Walter’s previous experience at Hayward Field was as a three-time All-American for the Hoosiers. She expects 2016 Olympic silver medalist Sandi Morris and two-time NCAA Division II champion Kate Nageotte to emerge as the trials favorites, but said ageless Jenn Suhr, 39, a two-time Olympic medalist, and Olivia Gruver, the 2018 NCAA Division I champ, will likely be factors.
Walter’s personal-best outdoors is the school-record 4.55-meter vault (14 feet, 11 inches) she had at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge at Arizona State as a redshirt senior at IU. She expects the favorites at the trials to be in the 4.80 (15-8.97 feet) to 4.90 (16-1) range.
There is, however, an air of unpredictability with pole vault competitions, whether it’s wind or a competitor performing above or below seeding.
“With pole vault, you’re always competing against the bar,” said Walter, a three-time Big Ten champion and the conference’s 2017 Field Athlete of the Year. “My goal is to PR. A great day would be to jump my best and just kind of see what happens. If I’m putting a place on it, I would love to be in the top six.”
Regardless of how Walter fares, it’s likely her final premier pole vaulting competition. Rather than dedicate herself to training for a bid at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, she and Kyle hope to start a family in the near future.
“It’s going to be hard to be done, but it’s time,” said Walter, who works part-time as Indiana University’s academic services and excellence academy coordinator. “I think there will be some tears, but there are other things to look forward to.”
