It was the early nineties, a time when men were the only pole vaulters at track and field events. Fortunately, her coach, Dave Nielson, was persistent. He told her of a then-15-year old named Melissa Price who was an up and coming female vaulter from California. With a little persistence he convinced Dragila to give pole vaulting a shot. She had the opportunity to do so before she graduated college, when she competed in her first pole vaulting event. Despite receiving laughs of doubt and claims that the sport would never take off, she managed to ignore the negativity and take second place. Soon after, she was invited to an event in Britain and continued to improve and move up in track and field rankings.

Slowly but surely Dragila began to see the dramatic change in the event’s popularity around the world, especially in the United States.

“At first managers were laughing at us.  They thought we were just trying to get attention,” Dragila explained of her rough start. “But then fans began buying seats specifically near us to watch us break world records.”

Dragila’s hard work and training proved well worth it when she qualified to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where she won gold. She followed her medal with a first place finish at U.S. Championships in 2004, earning a berth to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.     

A year later Dragila moved from her Idaho home to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., where she has been training full time. She is now focusing on qualifying to the third Olympic Games of her career and standing on top of the podium in Beijing, China with another gold medal around her neck.

“Everyone is saying that this will be the most watched Games so far. To be apart of that would be very exciting,” Dragila said.

The Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista has been a great motivation to Dragila’s training.  It’s a place Dragila calls “a very supportive small community.”

“It’s nice to be with other athletes that understand your desire and motivation,” Dragila said. “We all help push each other everyday.”

Dragila’s career has been a pivotal part of the development of women’s pole vaulting, an event that moved from only an exhibition sport when she began, to a world-wide recognized and respected Olympic event. She has broken 20 American and 18 world records.

It appears that Dragila, who was once doubted and laughed at, has gotten the last laugh.