Alysha Newman

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

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.

Newman bettered her own national record again at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational at the University of Miami on 8 April 2017, where she vaulted 4.71 m (15 ft 5+1⁄4 in) in Coral Gables, Florida.

[14] 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.

[19] Competing at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Newman won the bronze medal in the pole vault event, clearing 4.55 m (14 ft 11 in).

"[20] Later that same month, Newman won the 2019 Meeting de Paris, her first Diamond League win, with a new Canadian record of 4.82 m (15 ft 9+3⁄4 in).

[26][27] 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.

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

Proximity to Canadian heptathlete Georgia Ellenwood prompted her to experiment with multi-event training as well, and she competed for the first time since the Olympics in the heptathlon at the NACAC Combined Events Championship in Ottawa in May 2022, at which Newman finished fourth.

[30] She failed to make the final in the pole vault event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, clearing only 4.35 m. Initially depressed by the result, saying she was "not sure where to go from here because this sport continues to break my heart."

[31] Newman was named to the Canadian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in both the pole vault and 100 m hurdles, but an undiagnosed heel fracture hindered her performance.

She withdrew from the vault midway through, placing sixth with a height of only 4.25 m, and did not compete in the hurdles, later announcing the end of her competition season.

[35] After twelve weeks of recovery, Newman successfully resumed competing, and managed an outdoor season's best of 4.76 m on the Diamond League circuit at the 2024 London Athletics Meet, where she came second.