She won bronze in Paris. Now she's aiming higher

Pole vaulter is parlaying fame — and some risque content — into money for athletes

- KERRY GILLESPIE

Alysha Newman is having the best year of her athletic career. She won Canada's first Olympic medal in pole vault in more than 100 years, raised her Canadian record for the first time in five years, and has a shot at another accolade in the prestigious Diamond League final on Saturday in Brussels.

She could be forgiven for not wanting this season to end but, in fact, she can't wait. That's because she has big plans to parlay her bronze medal from Paris into an even bigger prize: a new indoor training facility for pole vault and field events in the GTA.

It's ambitious but that's just the sort of plan that Newman likes best. As she puts it: "I shoot for the moon and I usually land on a bunch of stars."

The 30-year-old from Delaware, Ont., who lives and trains in Caledon, has been ahead of the curve on monetizing her sporting career and now, with an Olympic medal to further boost her profile, she and her coaches are determined to make the most of it for a broader purpose.

They have meetings with Caledon officials next week to discuss building a facility at their preferred location — the abandoned tennis courts where they currently train in the summer — and Newman is hosting a gala fundraiser for the project next month in Toronto.

"If there's any Olympic gift I can give my coaches, it's to give them a facility where they can develop more pole vaulters, more high jumpers, more long jumpers, and Canada is dominating like crazy in the throws events,” she said. “Money is going to need to be raised and so I think (that will take) most of my time this off-season.”