SYDNEY, 2 December 2003 — Former world champion pole vaulter Emma George of Australia said yesterday she was abandoning her dream of competing in next year’s Athens Olympics and retiring from athletics because of chronic back problems.
Doctors told the 29-year-old former world record holder and Commonwealth Games gold medalist she had to retire or risk permanent injury following a series of back operations over the past two years. “My dream was to compete in Athens, but I must also consider other aspects of my life and the severe risks involved with continuing to vault,” George said. “This has been the most difficult decision of my life, but one which does not put my future health and mobility at jeopardy,” she said. George held a total of 17 world records during her career, most famously when she set a mark of 4.60 meters in Sydney in 1999. She also won a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
Ken Maguire of the Perth Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre said George’s vertebra had been compressed from past surgery which removed pieces of disc that were placing pressure on her spinal chord.
Australian athletics figures paid tribute to George and her trailblazing work in women’s pole vaulting. “Emma was an exceptional athlete,” Athletics Australia chief executive Simon Allatson told national radio.
