Jeff Hartwig (born September 25, 1967 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American pole vaulter.
Biography In 1998, Hartwig set two North American records with and . The latter was an improvement of 16 centimetres from his personal best of from 1997. In 1999, he won US national championships by improving his own record to , and his current North American record of followed in 2000. Jeff Hartwig held the American record until July 27, 2019, when Sam Kendricks set the American pole vault record by jumping . His personal best indoor is , also an area record. Only Renaud Lavillenie, Sergey Bubka, Steven Hooker, and current world record holder Armand Duplantis have jumped higher in an indoor competition.
With on 4 July 2004, Hartwig broke the world's best performance for men over 35 years; it lasted until 28 February 2024 when Renaud Lavillenie, aged 38, jumped . He also holds the world's best performance for men over 40 years at , 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.USATF – Awards – Jim Thorpe Award
Hartwig 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, reptiles. For over 15 years Hartwig has been raising reptiles - mostly boas and pythons, but also tortoises, monitors, iguanas, and caimans. Hartwig's first snake was a Burmese python named "Fore", which was given to him by fellow pole vaulter Lane Lohr. It was 1992 when Hartwig decided to give breeding a shot and was very successful in producing 23 baby pythons.
Hartwig raises the snakes to sell to pet stores. Hartwig has been known to have more than 100 snakes on the premises. None of the snakes that Hartwig raises are venomous. In his free time, Hartwig also enjoys visiting zoos and giving presentations to local schools in his former hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Hartwig's coach Earl Bell has referred to him as a 'modern-day Tarzan'.
Hartwig holds the current Masters Track and Field American Records in the M35 and M40 Pole Vault.Masters Track & Field American Records. Retrieved Dec 27, 2020
Achievements Representing the 1996Olympic Games Atlanta, United States12th1998Goodwill GamesUniondale, United States 1st6.01 m AR, =CR1999World Indoor ChampionshipsMaebashi, Japan 2nd2002World CupMadrid, Spain 2ndIAAF Grand Prix FinalParis, France 1st2003World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 4th2004World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 6th
Rankings
Hartwig has steadily climbed the Track and Field News world rankings, peaking at number 1 in 2002.
YearEventWorld rankingUS ranking1995Pole vault - 9th1996Pole vault - 4th1997Pole vault - 5th1998Pole vault 2nd 1st1999Pole vault 2nd 1st2000Pole vault 3rd 2nd2001Pole vault 2nd 1st2002Pole vault 1st 1st
Video Links Flotrack Interviews of Jeff Hartwig
References
External links