Pole Vaulter: Delta Airlines Robbed Me Of My Title By Losing My Poles
May 29, 2012, 1:18 pm
#1
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Pole Vaulter: Delta Airlines Robbed Me Of My Title By Losing My Poles
http://consumerist.com/2012/05/pole-...medium=twitter
Submitted for your commentary, my Flyertalk friends! 
A college athlete claims Delta Air Lines cost her an All-American title by losing her poles, for which she'd paid $200 in oversize baggage fees to check on her flight.
Kati, a college student in Washington, tells KATU.com she blames the airline for robbing her of her third All-American title on Friday, because they sent her poles to Atlanta instead of Colorado Springs, Colo.
May 29, 2012, 1:23 pm
#2
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http://consumerist.com/2012/05/pole-...medium=twitter
Submitted for your commentary, my Flyertalk friends!
Submitted for your commentary, my Flyertalk friends!
May 29, 2012, 1:28 pm
#4
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May 29, 2012, 1:52 pm
#8
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Personally I'd have thought a pole was a pole. Do javlin throwers have 'personal' javlins? Ditto for the discus, hammer and shot put.
Imagine if swimmers started to take their own swimming lanes with them !
May 29, 2012, 2:13 pm
#9
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I would have thought that sportsmanship would suggest that her competitors should have bee willing to lend her their poles for the event....or the coach could have purchased a new pole somewhere in COS or even drive to Denver to get one. COS is a pretty sporting small city and is even home to some Olympic training center, which is its own campus catering to a number of different summer sports.
May 29, 2012, 2:17 pm
#10
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Too bad the meet didn't have a flat tire rule that would have allowed her to compete later, since her coaches got stuck in traffic in the process of retrieving the pole. 
May 29, 2012, 2:19 pm
#11
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I would have thought that sportsmanship would suggest that her competitors should have bee willing to lend her their poles for the event....or the coach could have purchased a new pole somewhere in COS or even drive to Denver to get one. COS is a pretty sporting small city and is even home to some Olympic training center, which is its own campus catering to a number of different summer sports.
May 29, 2012, 2:21 pm
#12
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You can, but at that level of competition, custom made poles for the athlete are a must. An inch or two difference in order to clear can cost you placement or even a title. Material, cut, weight, and height of the pole effects every user differently. Same argument can be said of skis, custom made for what event for the athlete's specialty. I pole vaulted (was not a champ at all) in high school and the standard equipment was just enough for one to learn basic technique and form.
May 29, 2012, 2:22 pm
#13
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I would say that the coaches should have done something earlier to acquire appropriate poles, especially if she uses a particular odd size, rather than waiting until the time that DL promised that the bag would appear in DEN.
May 29, 2012, 2:23 pm
#14
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You can, but at that level of competition, custom made poles for the athlete are a must. An inch or two difference in order to clear can cost you placement or even a title. Material, cut, weight, and height of the pole effects every user differently. Same argument can be said of skis, custom made for what event for the athlete's specialty. I pole vaulted (was not a champ at all) in high school and the standard equipment was just enough for one to learn basic technique and form.
May 29, 2012, 2:28 pm
#15
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Not sure about single events but I know that in competitions like the modern pentathlon and decathlon etc that the equipment is provided as part of a pool and the competitors take pot luck on what is provided.
[...]
Imagine if swimmers started to take their own swimming lanes with them !
[...]
Imagine if swimmers started to take their own swimming lanes with them !
