Alysha Newman

Alysha Eveline Newman (born 29 June 1994) is a Canadian track and field athlete who specializes in the pole vault.

In 2013, Newman joined Eastern Michigan University, becoming the Mid-American Conference champion and competing in the NCAA tournament.

Afterwards, she transferred to the University of Miami, following her coach Jerel Langley.

Newman competed in the pole vault event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, winning the bronze medal.

The vault ranked Newman fourth in the world in women's pole vault at that time.

She competed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Newman graduated in 2016 with a major in exercise physiology and a minor in nutrition.

Newman successfully cleared at the University of Miami's Hurricane Alumni Invitational on 9 April 2016, breaking the University of Miami school record, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) record, and Canadian national record in the women's pole vault.

In June, Newman won the silver medal at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and finished her college career as a six-time NCAA Division I All-American.

In July 2016 she was officially named to Canada's Olympic team.

Competing in the Olympics, Newman only vaulted in qualification and missed the finals.

Newman competed at the first ever "Vault the Park", a street vault at Victoria Park during the annual Rib Fest in her hometown of London, Ontario.

She successfully cleared, topping her own Canadian women's record.

Newman bettered her own national record again at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational at the University of Miami on 8 April 2017, where she vaulted in Coral Gables, Florida.

In August, she was a finalist at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, finishing seventh by vaulting.

Newman was the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion in the women's pole vault, where she set a new Games record of 4.75 m.

Newman's first sport was gymnastics, which she was forced to abandon at the age of 13 after injuring a lower back vertebra.

After one year off sports where she considered ice hockey and diving, she chose track and field, and was directed by a coach to vaulting due to her gymnastics background.

In March 2018, Newman placed sixth at the 2018 World Indoor Championships with a height of 4.70 m. In April, she competed at her second Commonwealth Games pole vault in the Gold Coast, winning the gold medal with a height of, equaling her personal best and setting a Commonwealth Games record.

In May 2018, while traveling to compete at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in Doha, Newman's poles were all destroyed while in transit with Air Canada.

She competed at the event with poles borrowed from a local athletics club, placing seventh.

Air Canada subsequently replaced all of her equipment.

Newman then suffered a torn patellar tendon in a warmup at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.

In February 2019, Newman won the 2019 Indoor Meeting iKarlsruhe with a clearance of 4.71 m, setting the Canadian indoor track and field pole vault record.

In July 2019, Newman won the Stabhochsprung Jockgrim meet with a new personal best of 4.77 m.

Competing at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Newman won the bronze medal in the pole vault event, clearing.

She expressed dissatisfaction with her performance, saying she "definitely felt that I underperformed."

Later that same month, Newman won the 2019 Meeting de Paris, her first Diamond League win, with a new Canadian record of.

That mark ranked her as the #16 vaulter of all time.

She duplicated 4.82 m while finishing third in the 2019 Diamond League meet in Zürich, where the women's pole vault was held one day earlier than the other events, indoors at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof.

That jump ranked her tied for #12 all time indoors and is the Canadian record.

Newman placed fifth at the pole vault event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, clearing 4.80 m.

While attending the 2021 Drake Relays, Newman suffered a concussion after falling in the shower of her hotel room.

She was not hospitalized, and subsequently would blame Athletics Canada personnel for mismanaging her health situation and advising her to continue training.

She did not participate in the 2021 Diamond League after failing to clear a bar at a tune-up event in Sweden.

Newman was named to the Canadian team for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which the COVID-19 pandemic caused to be delayed to 2021.

Upon arrival in Tokyo for the pole vault event, Newman failed to take off on all three of her attempts in the qualification round, and thus did not move on to the main phase of the competition.

She would later say that her commercial agreements with sponsors necessitated appearing in competition in Tokyo, regardless of health considerations.

After continuing to struggle with concussion symptoms, Newman sought additional medical assistance in October 2021 and began a new recovery regimen.

As her concussion recovery progressed, Newman spent time training at Athletics Canada's facility at York University.