Eliza McCartney

Eliza McCartney
Information
Full name	Eliza McCartney
Born	December 11, 1996
Hometown	Auckland, NZ
Affiliations	Lorde (attended school with)

Eliza McCartney was a classmate of Lorde's at Vauxhill whom she used to play netball with. She is also a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault.

Background with Lorde

Lorde mentioned how she used to play netball with Vauxhill classmate Eliza McCartney. Lorde congratulated Eliza during the 2016 Summer Olympics with a tweet reading "AHHHHHH CRUSHED IT ELIZA!" She also posted a photo of Eliza on Instagram, saying "This is ELIZA MCCARTNEY - just the nicest person ever - and a finalist in today's pole vault in Rio. When they were kids at Vauxhall School in Devonport, Ella & Eliza were in the same netball team. And now look! NZ wishes you all the luck in the world, Eliza. Go get it. 🇳🇿 💪🏻 #olympics #rio2016 #nzteam@eliza_mac_ WOOOOHOOOOO - ELIZA JUST GOT A BRONZE"

Background of Eliza McCartney

In 2011, McCartney was 14 when she went to former pole vaulter Jeremy McColl—he won gold in that discipline at the 2004 Oceania Athletics Championships—to try out the sport. McColl remains her coach. In 2012, McCartney won the national youth (under 18) title and the New Zealand secondary school championship. The following year she broke the New Zealand youth record and was selected for the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics where she finished fourth.

In April 2016, McCartney was selected to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the Olympic final, she cleared 4.50 m, 4.60 m, 4.70 m, and her personal best 4.80 m on her first attempts, but was eliminated after failing to clear 4.85 m. Her 4.80 m result and no misses up to that height saw her place ahead of Australia's Alana Boyd to win the bronze medal. At age 19 years and 252 days, McCartney became the youngest Olympic medallist in the women's pole vault. She was also only the fourth New Zealand Olympic medallist in a field event, after Yvette Williams (long jump, 1952), Valerie Adams (shot put, 2008, 2012, 2016), and Tomas Walsh (shot put, 2016). BMX rider Sarah Walker, an Olympic silver medallist, approached McCartney at the Halberg Awards ceremony on 18 February 2016 and has been mentoring her since.

On 22 February 2017, McCartney equalled her indoor national record of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) at the Vertical Pursuit, held at Auckland's Britomart precinct.  Four days later, she jumped a height of 4.82 m (15 ft 9 ³⁄₄ in) at the Auckland Track Challenge, breaking her own national record and the Oceanian record.