# Robison Pratt > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robison_Pratt > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robison_Pratt.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robison_Pratt > Source revision: 1340927910 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Robison "Robbie" Pratt** (born February 25, 1980) is an [Olympic](/source/Olympic_Games) [pole vaulter](/source/Pole_vault) and an [NCAA](/source/NCAA) national champion. ## Early life Pratt was born in [Jiddah](/source/Jiddah), [Saudi Arabia](/source/Saudi_Arabia) to [Elbert Pratt](/source/Elbert_Pratt) and Anne Hinton Pratt. He was named after the [Brigham Young University](/source/Brigham_Young_University) coach, Clarence Robison,[1] for whom his father competed in 1974 as a [decathlete](/source/Decathlete).[2] Pratt moved to Dublan, near [Chihuahua](/source/Chihuahua,_Chihuahua), [Mexico](/source/Mexico) when he was two years old, and gained Mexican [citizenship](/source/Citizenship). At age thirteen, he moved to [El Paso, Texas](/source/El_Paso,_Texas), where he began participating in [track and field](/source/Track_and_field). His father, Elbert, is a professional coach and saw to it that he and his four younger siblings all learned to pole vault.[3] Pratt started serious training at age sixteen, and he won his first pole vaulting medal at age seventeen when he placed first at the Pan American Junior Championships in [Havana, Cuba](/source/Havana,_Cuba).[4] Early in his career and up until after the Olympics, Pratt was coached by his father, Elbert Pratt, and by Yuri Volkov and Valeri Karapetov.[5] While at Brigham Young University, he was coached by Larry Berryhill from 2003–2004 and by Jeremy Bailey from the fall of 2004–2006. Bailey continued to coach Pratt throughout his professional career. Soon after winning the Pan American Junior Championships at seventeen, Pratt sustained a [cerebral hemorrhage](/source/Cerebral_hemorrhage), which was incurred unrelated to his vaulting. He was hospitalized for two weeks and was unable to vault for eight months. At age nineteen, Pratt returned to competition and broke the Mexican Junior National Record six times, finishing the season with a personal best of 17 feet 6.5 inches (5.35 m). ## 2000 Olympic Games With a height of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), Pratt was among the tallest international pole vaulters. He qualified for the [2000 Summer Olympics](/source/2000_Summer_Olympics) with another personal best of 18 feet 4.5 inches (5.60 m). At the Olympics, Pratt represented Mexico, the country where he had lived the longest. Being only twenty years old, he was the youngest vaulter, and he finished the competition as a semi-finalist. Immediately after the Olympics, Pratt withdrew from competitive sports for two years. As a member of [the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints](/source/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints) (LDS Church), he volunteered for a mission preaching the gospel of Christ and serving the people in [Torreón](/source/Torre%C3%B3n), Mexico. ## Brigham Young University and professional career In 2003, Pratt began school at Brigham Young University.[6] That year, he was the [Mountain West Conference](/source/Mountain_West_Conference) Champion and a finalist in the [Pan American Games](/source/Pan_American_Games) in the Dominican Republic.[7] In 2004, he married Lisa Antonelli, a fellow BYU track athlete and [All-American](/source/All-America). In 2005, he became the NCAA National Champion[8] and a finalist in the [World University Games](/source/World_University_Games) in [İzmir](/source/%C4%B0zmir), Turkey.[9] In 2006, Pratt jumped a personal best of 18 feet 8.25 inches (5.70 m) and finished the indoor season with a world ranking of sixteenth, according to the [International Association of Athletics Federations](/source/International_Association_of_Athletics_Federations). He was the runner-up in both the indoor and outdoor NCAA National Championships, and he claimed his first senior title in a major international championship by winning the [Central American and Caribbean Games](/source/Central_American_and_Caribbean_Games), breaking the Games record in the process.[10] Additionally, he was named to the 2006 IAAF World Cup Team to represent the Americas, where he finished in ninth place. In 2007, Pratt became a semi-finalist at the [World Championships](/source/2007_World_Championships_in_Athletics)[11] in [Osaka](/source/Osaka), Japan and a finalist in the Pan American Games in [Rio de Janeiro](/source/Rio_de_Janeiro), Brazil. ## References 1. Twitchell, Jeremy (28 September 2006). ["Clarence Robison dies at 83"](https://www.deseret.com/2006/9/28/19976331/clarence-robison-dies-at-83/). *Deseret News*. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. Scorup, Sam (7 February 2006). ["Vaulting His Way to the Top"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060222144809/http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/58338). *The Daily Universe*. Archived from [the original](http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/58338) on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. ["New Mexico Track/Cross Country Clinic"](https://archive.today/20130122174654/http://www.dyestat.com/news/tr2003/030106NewMexicoCoachesClinicRG.htm). *DyeStatCal*. DyeStat. Archived from [the original](http://www.dyestat.com/news/tr2003/030106NewMexicoCoachesClinicRG.htm) on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. Weiler, Rob (9 June 2005). ["Raising the bar — Robbie Pratt and Trent Powell"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121023065119/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600139799/Raising-the-bar--Robbie-Pratt-and-Trent-Powell.html?pg=2). *Deseret News*. Archived from [the original](http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600139799/Raising-the-bar--Robbie-Pratt-and-Trent-Powell.html?pg=2) on October 23, 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. Baxter, Kevin (29 June 2008). ["They're American, except in the Olympics"](http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olymex29-2008jun29,0,4510361.story). *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. ["Men's Track Athlete Profile - Robbie Pratt"](http://www.byucougars.com/Profile.jsp?ID=1186). *Track and Field*. Brigham Young University. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. ["XIV Pan American Games"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110725022827/http://www.athlecac.org/estadisticas/resultsMeet.asp?Meet=784). AthleCAC. Archived from [the original](http://www.athlecac.org/estadisticas/resultsMeet.asp?Meet=784) on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. ["BYU's Pratt captures NCAA championship in pole vault"](https://archive.today/20130121160515/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600140759/BYUs-Pratt-captures-NCAA-championship-in-pole-vault.html). *Deseret News*. 11 June 2005. Archived from [the original](http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600140759/BYUs-Pratt-captures-NCAA-championship-in-pole-vault.html) on January 21, 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. ["Robison Pratt Athlete Biography"](http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=p/country=mex/athcode=176995/index.html). IAAF. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. Renzhofer, Martin (1 March 2006). ["On the way up"](http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3557203?source=rss). *Salt Lake Tribune*. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 1. ["IAAF: Viewing IAAF World Championships in Athletics results"](http://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics). *iaaf.org*. Retrieved 2016-01-08. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robison Pratt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robison_Pratt) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robison_Pratt?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.