Alysha Newman, once bullied, sets sights on becoming an all-time great

Pole vaulter Alysha Newman is back competing this week with an eye on the 2021 Olympics and history.

Alysha Newman was not the most popular kid when she was growing up.

“I got bullied tons while I was in high school and elementary school,” Newman said. “The only time I wasn’t bullied was at gymnastics, so I was one of those people that constantly got better so that I could be at gym. I knew if I was the best gymnast, or in the elite group, I would do half-days at school.”

There were plenty of half-days for Newman, first in gymnastics before eventually moving to track and field. Newman credits her parents for exposing her to different opportunities.

“My mom put me in every single sport,” Newman said. “She was throwing me in tap dancing, hockey, soccer, baseball, I even did piano and singing lessons. But the moment I was in gymnastics, she saw I didn’t want to leave. I happened to get too tall and had to retire at 13, but once I found track she saw that passion again.”

While Newman was being pushed athletically at home, she was doing it at the expense of looking like one of the “cool kids.” Newman decided to take on all challengers at an early age.

“I have to thank a little bit of my mom for that,” Newman said. “I had braces, I had glasses, I had a mushroom cut all at once. I was the whole package. When I was at recess, I wanted to beat all the boys. Any guy that wanted to race against me, I never thought that they would beat me. Ever.”

That competitiveness remains alive today as Newman returns to the track at The Livestream Games in Greenville in South Carolina. 

“Every year, I have my little postcards, I write all my goals and I have actually have them sticked on the top of my ceiling so I go to bed seeing them and I wake up every morning seeing them. It’s just a strategy that I have to remind myself that hey, I can’t slack off. I still have goals to accomplish until all those sticky notes come down. I’ve got stuff to do, I’ve got work to do.”

What would those goals be?

“I was the first high school woman in Canada to jump over four meters. I definitely want to go down as one of the best pole vaulters of all time so to be the first Canadian woman to jump over five [meters] has always been a goal of mine and its something I will do and accomplish before I retire.”

Feels like a safe bet. Newman will look cool at this week’s event helped by Zenni.

To listen to more of the Newman interview check out Da Windy City podcast.