To the top with borrowed sticks

The international stars can tell you a thing or two about it. Many athletes send their carers on several 1000 km long car journeys or often even drive themselves, as unpleasant surprises are the order of the day when traveling by plane.

Nathalie Kofler has also recently been worried about the transport of her staffs. Due to the Corona restrictions, the route from the place of study in Innsbruck to the U23 Italian Indoor Championships in Padua was already quite difficult, and there was also the transport problem with the bars.

Without further ado, the South Tyrolean record holder drove to Padua without any work equipment and competed in the most important competition of the winter with borrowed sticks. “It wasn’t actually that big of a problem,” says the 20-year-old from Lanan. “In the pole vaulting scene, people are always happy to help each other out, and the coach Marco Chiarello, who is based in Padua, gave me the best possible care on site. It's more pleasant with your own equipment - the big stars practically only jump with their own equipment - but in Padua everything went quite smoothly." Nathalie Kofler is aiming for the 4 m mark.

The 20-year-old mastered the height of 3,90 m and thus set her South Tyrolean national record for the second time. In fourth place, she narrowly missed out on a medal. Behind winner Giulia Valletti Borgnini (4,10 m), five jumpers reached 3,90 m, and although Kofler managed 3,90 m in the first attempt, it was not enough to win a medal due to previous failed attempts. Hubert Indra's athlete narrowly failed once again at the 4m mark.

“Hopefully it will work with the 4,00 m in 2021, it’s about time,” says the 20-year-old. “Last year I ran after this sound barrier all year long, but something was always missing. This winter I changed my training slightly and, above all, added more strength training. Now I feel a lot safer and stronger. Plus, I don’t have to suffer as much with my back.” Bergen as a big goal The big goal for this season is not the 4 m mark, but the height of 4,15 m. “The participation standard for the U23 European Championships in Bergen is at this height. I'm confident I can do this with the new bars. After winter training went well, I now use 4,30 m long bars. Last year there were only 4,15 m long devices,” says Kofler.

The woman from Lanan has been studying sports and nutrition as a teacher in Innsbruck since autumn 2020. “The studies can be easily combined with athletics. In the WUB hall in Innsbruck, we pole vaulters have the best conditions. There are five of us - a tight-knit pole vault team.

Coach Thomas Neuhauser looks after me, a young athlete from Innsbruck and three men, including Riccardo Klotz, who has already managed over 5 m. When I'm in Lana on the weekends and during the holidays, I also have optimal conditions on our open-air facility and, Hubert Indra, I also have my teacher and exercise bike with me. Nathalie Kofler, South Tyrol's best pole vaulter.

Pole vaulting means a lot to Nathalie Kofler: “It’s a great sport. You need speed, strength, gymnastics skills and, above all, the head. The mental aspect is probably even more important in pole vaulting than in other disciplines.”

Things aren't going too well for young pole vaulters in South Tyrol at the moment. There is a gap behind Nathalie Kofler and 5m jumper Nicoló Fusaro (21) from Bolzano. A few years ago, Hubert Indra initiated a pilot project with many young jumpers. In view of the coronavirus problem, everything has fallen asleep a little recently. “Young athletes who come from artistic gymnastics have the best qualifications.” How do you become a pole vaulter? “I can warmly recommend the sport to anyone with a talent for gymnastics,” says the Lanan woman. “Young athletes who come from artistic gymnastics have the best qualifications. I started when I was 11 years old. In general, the best time to gain your first experience is 10 to 12 years old. In the first few years you should definitely not specialize, but rather train in a variety of ways, hurdles, jumps, throws, etc.”

How the 2021 competition year will turn out is still entirely up in the air for the pole vaulters. “Everything is up in the air, but let’s let ourselves be surprised. In any case, I’m really looking forward to the summer months and the first competitions.”

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To the top with borrowed sticks

Pole vaulters don't have it easy with their work equipment. With a length of 4 to 5 m, the rods hardly fit anywhere when traveling, neither in the car nor on the plane.

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