Kate Rooney

Kate Rooney (born Kate Dennison, 7 May 1984) is an English pole vaulter. She is a former British record holder both indoors and out, before both of her records were surpassed by Holly Bleasdale in 2011.

Kate Rooney
Personal information
NationalityGreat Britain
Born (1984-05-07) 7 May 1984
Durban, South Africa
Height171 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Spouse(s)Martyn Rooney
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Pole vault
ClubSale Harriers

Born in Durban, South Africa, Rooney came from a sporting family and moved to Alsager, England, when she was four years old. She first became interested in athletics through gymnastics. Rooney was selected to compete at national and international levels, finishing fourth in the British Championships, but did not feel passionate about the sport and changed to pole vault in 2000.[2] She became the first British junior athlete to jump 4.00 meters, as she finished seventh at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica.[3]

She competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and was the top English performer, finishing seventh overall. Rooney completed a degree in psychology at Staffordshire University and turned professional, committing herself full-time to the sport. Following graduation, she moved to be trained by Steven Rippon at the center of excellence in Loughborough.[4]

Rooney won two outdoor tournaments and five indoor titles in the 2007 athletics season.[4] She competed at her first Olympic Games at Beijing 2008 and was knocked out in seventh place in the second heats but set a new outdoor personal best of 4.40 m.[5] Following this she had surgery on both her Achilles,[6] but this did not affect her form in the next season – she broke the national indoor record, beating Janine Whitlock's seven-year-old record, with a jump of 4.45 m at the 2009 UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield,[7] and bettered that mark by another centimeter at the Birmingham Games a week later.[8]

Following a successful indoor season, Rooney broke the British record in June with a vault of 4.51 m at the Memorial Josefa Odlozila meeting in Prague. Despite the achievement she felt confident of further improvement, setting her eyes on a place in the final at the Berlin World Championships.[9] Another personal best of 4.55 m brought her fourth place in the European Team Championships 2009.[10] After a win at the UK national championships with 4.57 m, she noted the difficulty of the competition she faced in Berlin: several athletes from Germany, Poland, and Russia, including reigning champion Yelena Isinbayeva, were in the running for a medal.[11]

She recorded 4.55 m in the World Championships final, finishing in sixth place overall.[12] A 4.60 m clearance for third place at the Pedros Cup brought an end to a successful season for the Briton, which had seen her beat the national record nine times over the course of eight months.[13]

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, Rooney won a bronze medal in the women's pole vault.

Since retiring, Rooney works in schools and encourages kids to get involved in sport.

Personal bests

Rooney is the British record holder in pole vault indoors, and she previously held the outdoor record. She beat Janine Whitlock's 4.47 m outdoor record in June 2009.[14] She broke the British record nine times in 2009. Her own outdoor record of 4.60m was beaten by Holly Bleasdale in June 2011, with a jump of 4.70m.

Event Date Venue Height
Pole vault, indoor February 2010 Birmingham, Great Britain 4.60 metres
Pole vault, outdoor 22 July 2011 Barcelona, Spain 4.61 metres
  • All information taken from IAAF Profile.[15]

References
  1. "Kate Dennison". teamgb.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  2. Kate Dennison Biography. British Olympic Association. Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  3. "UK All-Time Lists: Junior Women — Field, Multis, Walks and Relays". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  4. "Number one Kate has high hopes of final". The Sentinel. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  5. Present Olympics Athletes >> Kate Dennison. ESPN. Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  6. Turnbull, Simon (2009-06-13). Kate Dennison: 'It helps being a little bit crazy'. The Independent. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.
  7. Brown, Matthew (14 February 2009). "Chambers equals 6.51 world lead in Sheffield – UK indoor champs day 1". IAAF.org. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  8. Ashenden, Mark (2009-02-21). Farah breaks record in Birmingham. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2009-02-23.
  9. Dennison breaks pole vault record. BBC Sport (2009-06-08). Retrieved on 2009-06-09.
  10. GB make strong start in Portugal . BBC Sport (2009-06-20). Retrieved on 2009-06-24.
  11. Dennison targets final in Berlin. BBC Sport (2009-07-16). Retrieved on 2009-07-17.
  12. Landells, Steve (2009-08-17). Event Report - Women's Pole Vault - Final Archived 2009-08-20 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-16.
  13. Dennison beats vault record again. BBC Sport (2009-09-16). Retrieved on 2009-09-17.
  14. "UK All-Time Lists: Women — Jumps". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  15. Kate Rooney at World Athletics Retrieved on 24 June 2009.
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