Vanessa Ward
{{short description|Australian high jumper}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Vanessa Ward
née Browne
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = Australian
| sport = Athletics
| event = high jump
| club =
| birth_date = 5 January 1963
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =170 cm
| weight =53 kg
| pb =
}}
Vanessa Carol Ward (née Browne; born 5 January 1963) is a retired high jumper from Australia, who competed at two Olympic Games.
Biography
Browne finished second behind Barbara Simmonds in the high jump event at the British 1982 WAAA Championships.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004941/19820801/583/0027 |title=It's agony for Sonia |work=Sunday Express |date=1 August 1982 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 March 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=15 March 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=15 March 2025 }}
At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she represented Australia in the high jump and finished sixth in the final and four years later she appeared at her second Olympic Games at Seoul 1988.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/64490 |title=Biographical Information |website=Olympedia |access-date=15 March 2025}}
A five-time national champion in the women's high jump event, She set her personal best on 12 February 1989, jumping 1.98 metres at a meet in Perth, Western Australia. This (as of 2013) still stands as the Australian record.
She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder in 1981 to 1984 and 1987 to 1988.{{cite book|title=Excellence : the Australian Institute of Sport|year=2002|publisher=Australian Sports Commission|location=Canberra|isbn=1-74013-060-X}}
Achievements
- Australian high jump record holder – 1.98 metres in 1989 (equalled by Alison Inverarity in 1994)
- Five-time Australian National High Jump Champion (1979, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1990)
| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}} |
| colspan="6"|Representing {{AUS}} |
|---|
| 1982
|Brisbane, Australia |5th |High jump |
| 1983
|Helsinki, Finland |9th |High jump |
| 1984
|Los Angeles, California, USA |6th |High jump |
| 1986
|Edinburgh, Scotland |9th |High jump |
| 1988
|Seoul, South Korea |13th (q) |High jump |
| 1990
|Auckland, New Zealand |4th |High jump |
| 1991
|Tokyo, Japan |10th |High jump |
Note: result with a Q, indicates overall position in qualifying round.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://athletics.possumbility.com/athletes/athlete234.htm Vanessa Ward] at Australian Athletics Historical Results
- [http://hem.bredband.net/athletics/atb-d25.htm Women's World All-Time List]
- {{World Athletics||Vanessa Ward}}
- {{SR/Olympics|br/vanessa-browne-1|Vanessa Browne}}
{{Footer Australia NC High Jump Women}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Vanessa}}
Category:Australian female high jumpers
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Category:Olympic athletes for Australia
Category:People educated at Rossmoyne Senior High School
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes
Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia
Category:21st-century Australian women