Luca Michalowski

Sports Award

Age:

20

Biography

Biography

My name is Luca Michalowski and I love many sports including football, cricket and athletics. I am 18 years old and have been competing in athletics for around 10 years. Athletics has many disciplines and I enjoy the challenges that they all provide. At U15, I gained a national bronze medal in the combined events and while I have continued to compete in multi-events, my favourite is pole vault.

I have now been competing at pole vault for Charnwood Athletic Club for over four years and have made good progress. I have won gold and silver medals in the Midlands Championships, represented Leicestershire and qualified for National England Athletics and National Schools competitions.

In 2020 I was selected to be part of the England Athletics Youth Talent Programme (cohort 2020-2022), which provides educational support to improve various aspects of sports performance as well as coaching sessions by former national athletes. In 2020, at U17, I was ranked 6th in the UK.

Having moved into the U20 age group, my aim is to reach more national championships, compete against the best vaulters in the country in my age group and hopefully get selected for international competitions

JHMT Support

Pole vaulting poles come in different lengths and weight ratings. A number of poles are used during an event, during warm up and as progress is made to different heights. As skills develop, poles are outgrown and longer stiffer poles are required.

During recent training, I have been working on improving my technique and physical strength and hoping that an opportunity to get the next size poles arises.

It was fantastic news to learn about the JHMT Inspire Award grant which will help me to buy the next pole size that I need in order to make progress.