Londoner Alysha Newman pumped as she prepares for third Olympics

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Alysha Newman almost always flies high in France.

Her first Diamond League win was five years ago in Paris. During the indoor season in February, the pole vaulter cleared 4.83 metres for a Canadian record in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand.

“I was pretty excited the Olympics are happening in Paris (next month) because I really do enjoy being in France,” said the Mother Teresa grad, who turns 30 on Saturday. “I speak fluent French. It’s funny because I’ve always competed well in Europe. I do feel it’s my second home.”

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Newman already has pre-qualified for her third Olympics and is the favourite to win her seventh national women’s pole vault gold this weekend in Montreal. Fellow veteran Anicka Newell is expected to push her for that crown.

“She’s the person to come get my title,” the former University of Miami star said. “I’m always looking forward to a good competition. The higher she vaults, the higher I’ll vault. I always look forward to that.”

ROAD TO PARIS: One of the tougher moments three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics was Newman failing to clear the bar three times at 4.25m and missing out on the finals.

She admits she had been going through a lot – from personal issues at home to physical ailments – and it got the best of her.

This lead-up has also been dramatic.

An ankle injury hampered training at her base in Bolton and forced her to pull out of a couple of Diamond League meets recently. The original target for recovery was six to eight weeks and it lasted more than three months.

“A week ago, it stopped hurting,” she said. “I felt mentally ready but I just wasn’t able to jump the full approach and be competitive in May. But last week, I finally felt I could be competitive.”

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Newman cleared 4.61m at a meet in Turku, Finland, less than two weeks ago after spending the morning in the hospital with a ruptured ovarian cyst.

“I passed out at breakfast and they called the ambulance,” she recalled. “They thought it was the appendix and did all the tests. The cyst was just fluid and if it was bleeding, it would’ve meant an operation. They didn’t say no to competing so I didn’t ask any questions.”

It was a scary reminder that the Olympic path is not always a straight line.

“You just hope everything will come together,” she said. “Maybe that’s what I need. Because I’m such a busybody and like to do a lot of competitions, maybe this is the universe telling me you’re only going to do a couple of meets this year, but make them count.

“I’m looking forward to it. Maybe my normal shouldn’t be the norm.”

STIFF COMPETITION: What’s it going to take to succeed in Paris?

Newman wouldn’t be shocked if a vaulter will need 4.90m or even five metres to land on the podium. Great Britain’s Molly Caudery has a world-leading 4.92m and, at age 24, is pushing veterans like Katerina Stefanidi of Greece and Katie Moon, the defending champ, and Sandi Morris, both of the United States.

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“The Top 10 women in the world all have the potential to go 4.90 or higher,” Newman said. “The one who makes the least mistakes, is mentally sharpest and clears bars on first attempts is what it comes down to at the Olympics.

“I’ve beaten all these girls multiple times, just never at the highest level. You end up stopping comparing yourself to them and it’s just me against the bar. What am I going to do to be my absolute best on the biggest stage?”

SOCIAL MEDIA: Newman has more than half a million followers on Instagram and poured a lot of effort into that venture. She doesn’t believe it ever took away from her training.

“When I first started pole vault, I started a lot of things,” she said. “I had the Nike deals and I was an Instagram girl from 2012. It’s been a while. I’ve been really good at it and now that I’m where I am now, I’m not as interested in social media as I was before. It’s not because it doesn’t bring me money because it does.

“My interests changed as I got older.”

She posts a lot less and is focused on other aspects of her life. Having hundreds of thousands follow her journey isn’t the be-all, end-all anymore.

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“Ten years ago, at age 20, being Instagram famous and all that was very important to me,” she said. “And providing content to make people better was important. Now, it’s how can I be my best version of myself? And sometimes, I don’t get that by posting on Instagram. It’s interesting you go through these waves and it will be interesting to see what I do with social after the Olympics.

“We’ll see.”

Newman grappled with the U.K. Daily Mail over a 2022 feature story that spent a lot of time focused on her account with the OnlyFans Internet content subscription service. She came out of that exchange feeling she doesn’t need approval from any media outlet and has shifted more to OFTV, which is a vlog style platform.

“It (OnlyFans) was an opportunity for me,” she said. “I was already sexualized in sport and tied to that. Let’s bank on it. I did really well. Going to the Olympics, we’ll do behind-the-scenes (vlog), as well, and I’ll make triple what I would make if I won a gold medal.”

Newman thought she was ready to retire after Tokyo. But she met Daniel Amen, her California-based neurologist and mental sports performance coach, and he gave her the inspiration to stay on the track.

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“I wouldn’t be there without him,” she said. “I want to be on the podium and all that. It will be a priority to jump as high as I possibly can. A lot of athletes put an emphasis on winning, but if you go and have fun, you have a higher percentage of (performing better). We forget that a lot. I want this Olympics to be a celebration of all the amazing things I’ve done in the last 15 years of my pole vault career.

“I feel like Paris is the cherry on top and I want to embrace that.”

rpyette@postmedia.com

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