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Londoner Alysha Newman overcame years of personal challenges and sporting setbacks to win a bronze medal while breaking Canada’s national record in women’s pole vault at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Newman, 30, previously competed at two other Summer Games – Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021 – but didn’t qualify for the final at either. The Mother Teresa secondary school alumnus cleared 4.85 metres to claim the bronze behind Australia’s Nina Kennedy and American Katie Moon.
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It’s been a long road for Newman, who has spoken openly about the devastation of no-heighting in qualification at the Tokyo Games, a disappointment that sparked a professional and personal spiral. She was competing there after a concussion suffered during a bathroom fall. In 2022, she told The Athletic she began drinking to excess before and after the Tokyo Games to deal with crippling anxiety she believed was brought on by the concussion.
But Newman was all smiles amid the pressure of Wednesday’s medal-winning performance.
“It’s all coming together for Alysha Newman of London, Ontario,” CBC announcer Mark Lee said during the broadcast. “What a story of perseverance, of courage and of athleticism.”
Newman competed at the University of Miami. She finished 17th at her Olympic debut in 2016. In a Free Press interview one year later, she expressed confidence about the future.
“I didn’t make the Rio finals and that hurt me so bad because I should’ve been there,” she said in 2017. “I put way too much pressure on myself. But I learned from it.”
Newman was one of four medal hopefuls from London heading into the Paris Games, alongside decathlete Damian Warner, swimmer Maggie Mac Neil and soccer player Jessie Fleming. With Wednesday’s triumph, she is bringing home the city’s lone medal.
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