Jeff Hartwig
Encyclopedia
Jeff Hartwig is an American
pole vault
er.
have jumped higher in an indoor competition.
With 5.86 metres on 4 July 2004, Hartwig holds the world's best performance for men over 35 years. He also has the world's best performance for men over 40 years at 5.70 metres (18-8.25), achieved while placing second at the U.S. Olympic Trials, 29 June 2008.
Hartwig has received the Jim Thorpe
Award as the best American field events athlete in 1998 and 1999.
Jeff vaulted at Francis Howell High School
(Weldon Spring, Missouri
) and collegiately for Florissant Valley Community College and Arkansas State University
. He has trained under the tutelage of USATF Hall of Famer and former world record holder Earl Bell
for a number of years. Hartwig has been hired as the pole vault coach for MICDS High School in St. Louis.
Aside from vaulting Hartwig also had another passion, reptile
s. For over 15 years Jeff and his wife Karol have been raising reptiles - mostly boa
s and pythons, but also tortoise
s, monitor
s, iguana
s, and caiman
s. Jeff's first snake was a Burmese python
, which he "inherited" from another vaulter. It was 1992 when Jeff decided to give breeding a shot and was very successful in producing 23 baby pythons.
Hartwig and wife Karol raise the snakes to sell to pet stores. Jeff has been known to have more than 100 snakes on the premises. None of the snakes that Jeff raises are poisonous. In his freetime, Jeff also enjoys visiting zoos and giving presentations to local schools in his hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Jeff's coach Earl Bell has referred to him as a ‘modern-day Tarzan
’.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
er.
Biography
In 1998, Hartwig set two North American records with 6.00 and 6.01 metres. The latter was an improvement of 16 centimetres from his personal best of 5.85 m from 1997. In 1999, he won US national championships by improving his own record to 6.02 metres, and his current North American record of 6.03 metres followed in 2000. His personal best indoor is 6.02 metres, also an area record. Only Sergey Bubka and Steven HookerSteven Hooker
Steven Leslie "Steve" Hooker OAM is an Australian pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best is 6.06 m, making him the second highest pole-vaulter in history behind only Sergey Bubka.-Career:...
have jumped higher in an indoor competition.
With 5.86 metres on 4 July 2004, Hartwig holds the world's best performance for men over 35 years. He also has the world's best performance for men over 40 years at 5.70 metres (18-8.25), achieved while placing second at the U.S. Olympic Trials, 29 June 2008.
Hartwig has received the Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
Award as the best American field events athlete in 1998 and 1999.
Jeff vaulted at Francis Howell High School
Francis Howell High School
Francis Howell High School is a four year public high school located in Weldon Spring, Missouri. Approximately 1800 students from Defiance, Foristell, New Melle, O'Fallon, Saint Peters, Saint Charles, Weldon Spring, and Wentzville attend school at Howell....
(Weldon Spring, Missouri
Weldon Spring, Missouri
Weldon Spring is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,270 at the 2000 census. The city is named for its first settler, North Carolina frontiersman John Weldon, who in 1790 built a log home overlooking the spring which bears his name.-Geography:Weldon Spring...
) and collegiately for Florissant Valley Community College and Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and third largest university by enrollment. It is located atop on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA...
. He has trained under the tutelage of USATF Hall of Famer and former world record holder Earl Bell
Earl Bell (athlete)
Earl H. Bell is a former world record holding pole vaulter from the United States, winner of the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics and current coach to a number of the nation's top men and women vaulters. He was born in Ancón, Panama Canal Zone.At his last Olympic appearance, Bell finished...
for a number of years. Hartwig has been hired as the pole vault coach for MICDS High School in St. Louis.
Aside from vaulting Hartwig also had another passion, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s. For over 15 years Jeff and his wife Karol have been raising reptiles - mostly boa
Boa
The Boidae are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in America, Africa, Europe, Asia and some Pacific Islands. Relatively primitive snakes, adults are medium to large in size, with females usually larger than the males. Two subfamilies comprising eight genera and 43 species are currently...
s and pythons, but also tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
s, monitor
Monitor lizard
Monitor lizards are usually large reptiles, although some can be as small as in length. They have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. Most species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known...
s, iguana
Iguana
Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
s, and caiman
Caiman
Caimans are alligatorid crocodylians within the subfamily Caimaninae. The group is one of two subfamilies of the family Alligatoridae, the other being alligators. Caimans inhabit Central and South America. They are relatively small crocodilians, with most species reaching lengths of only a few...
s. Jeff's first snake was a Burmese python
Burmese Python
The Burmese Python is the largest subspecies of the Indian Python and one of the 6 largest snakes in the world, native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of Southern- and Southeast Asia. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees...
, which he "inherited" from another vaulter. It was 1992 when Jeff decided to give breeding a shot and was very successful in producing 23 baby pythons.
Hartwig and wife Karol raise the snakes to sell to pet stores. Jeff has been known to have more than 100 snakes on the premises. None of the snakes that Jeff raises are poisonous. In his freetime, Jeff also enjoys visiting zoos and giving presentations to local schools in his hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Jeff's coach Earl Bell has referred to him as a ‘modern-day Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
’.
Achievements
| Representing the | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Olympic Games Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, 44 events in athletics were contested, 24 by men and 20 by women. There were a total number of 2053 participating athletes from 191 countries.-Men:... |
Atlanta, United States | 12th | |
| 1998 | Goodwill Games Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s... |
Uniondale Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a hamlet as well as a suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 24,759 at the 2010 United States Census.-Geography:... , United States |
1st | 6.01 m AR, =CR |
| 1999 | World Indoor Championships 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the Green Dome Maebashi stadium in Maebashi, Japan from March 5 to March 7, 1999. It was the first time the Championships were staged outside Europe or North America. Primo Nebiolo, president of the IAAF, characterized the... |
Maebashi Maebashi, Gunma is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1892, by the samurai Makuba Kawai.On December 5, 2004 the town of Ōgo, and the villages of Kasukawa and Miyagi, all from Seta District, were merged into Maebashi.... , Japan |
2nd | |
| 2002 | World Cup | Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... , Spain |
2nd | |
| IAAF Grand Prix Final 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final The 18th IAAF Grand Prix Final was held at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France on September 14, 2002. This was the last Grand Prix Final to be staged, the competition being replaced by the World Athletics Final in 2003.-Men:- Women :... |
Paris, France | 1st | ||
| 2003 | World Athletics Final 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final The 1st IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on 13 September and 14 September 2003.The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary a week previous as the Monaco stadium was not large enough to hold the event.One of the... |
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.... , Monaco Monaco Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the... |
4th | |
| 2004 | World Athletics Final 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final The 2nd IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Stade Louis II, in Monte Carlo, Monaco on September 18, and September 19, 2004.The hammer throw event for men and women had to take place in Szombathely, Hungary a week previous as the Monaco stadium was not large enough to hold the event.One of... |
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.... , Monaco Monaco Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the... |
6th | |
Rankings
Hartwig has steadily climbed the Track and Field News world rankings, peaking at number 1 in 2002.| Year | Event | World ranking | US ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Pole vault | - | 9th |
| 1996 | Pole vault | - | 4th |
| 1997 | Pole vault | - | 5th |
| 1998 | Pole vault | 2nd | 1st |
| 1999 | Pole vault | 2nd | 1st |
| 2000 | Pole vault | 3rd | 2nd |
| 2001 | Pole vault | 2nd | 1st |
| 2002 | Pole vault | 1st | 1st |