Washington Native Is Fastest Paralympian Okkert Brits’ Misses On Million-Dollar Pole Vault

Tony Volpentest kicked off the One-to-One Challenge at SkyDome on Sunday by proving that he still is the fastest paralympian in the world.

The native of Mountlake Terrace, Wash., hit his stride at the halfway mark of the 100-meter paralympic showdown and blew past Australia’s Neil Fuller at the 70-meter mark to capture the event in 11.69.

Considered the most recognized physically challenged athlete in the world, Volpentest, who holds the world record of 11.36 in the 100 meters and 22.67 in the 200 meters, was about a meter behind after the first 20 meters.

“The last half of the race is mine always,” said Volpentest. “Out of the blocks, the distance between us from the last time we raced was about half. So I was confident.”

Fuller, a native of Australia, and Volpentest’s closest rival, glanced over his shoulder at about 50 meters, a glance that proved costly.

“From the corner of my eye I could see Tony. Then I tensed up a little and was overstriding,” he said. Fuller’s time was 11.77.

Okkert Brits’ million-dollar jump came up just short.

Ranked second in the world in the pole vault, Brits disposed of American Lawrence Johnson to capture the event with a leap of 19 feet, 4-1/4 inches before setting his sights on a world record, which brought with it a $1 million bonus.

However, the native of South Africa failed in three attempts to clear 20-2. Johnson, ranked fourth in the world and holder of the American record at 19-7-1/2, could clear only 18-10-1/4.

The SkyDome crowd then turned its attention to the long jump where Germany’s Heike Drechsler’s unorthodox style proved too much for American Jackie Joyner-Kersee, outjumping her 22-4-1/2 meters to 22-3-1/2.

In an anti-climatic high jump, Sweden’s Patrick Sjoberg proved no match for American Charles Austin.

After clearing 7-0-1/2 and 7-2-1/2 in his first attempts, Sjoberg missed at 7-4-1/2.

Meanwhile, Austin, the 1996 Olympic champion, matched Sjoberg jump for jump over the first two heights before clearing 7-4-1/2 in his first atempt to win the event.

Sweden’s Ludmila Engquist brought the crowd to its feet with an electrifying comeback to take the women’s 100-meter hurdles in a time of 12.83 over Jamaica’s Michelle Freeman (12.96).