Kate Rooney

Kate Rooney
Born	Kate Dennison 5/7/1984
Birthplace	Durban, South Africa
Nationality	British
Occupation	Former pole vaulter
Known for	Former British indoor and outdoor pole vault record holder
Education	Psychology degree, University of Staffordshire
Spouse(s)	Martyn Rooney

Kate Rooney (née Dennison; born 7 May 1984) is a retired English pole vaulter who held both the British indoor and outdoor records before they were surpassed by Holly Bleasdale in 2011. Born in Durban, South Africa, and raised in Alsager, England, Rooney emerged as one of Great Britain's most accomplished pole vaulters during a career that spanned nearly a decade of elite competition. She represented Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. During a remarkable 2009 season, she broke the British record nine times over the course of eight months, culminating in a sixth-place finish at the World Championships in Berlin. A former gymnast who transitioned to pole vault at the age of sixteen, Rooney became the first British junior athlete to clear 4.00 metres and went on to set a peak outdoor personal best of 4.60 metres. She competed for Sale Harriers and was trained by Steven Rippon at the centre of excellence in Loughborough. Following her retirement from athletics, Rooney has worked in schools promoting children's involvement in sport and has pursued a career in financial services and advice.

Early Life

Kate Dennison was born on 7 May 1984 in Durban, South Africa, into a sporting family. When she was four years old, her family relocated to Alsager, a town in Cheshire, England, where she grew up.

Rooney's introduction to athletics came through gymnastics, a discipline in which she was selected to compete at both national and international levels. She achieved a fourth-place finish in the British Championships in gymnastics. However, she did not feel sufficiently drawn to the sport and made the decision to switch to pole vault in 2000, at the age of sixteen. The transition proved to be a turning point in her athletic career.

The move to pole vault yielded rapid results. Rooney became the first British junior athlete to clear 4.00 metres, a milestone that signalled her potential in the event. Her early success in the event earned her a place on the British team at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, where she finished seventh. This early international experience, achieved just two years after taking up the pole vault, established Rooney as one of the most promising young athletes in British track and field.

Education

Rooney attended the University of Staffordshire, where she completed a degree in psychology. Following her graduation, she turned professional and committed herself full-time to pole vault. She relocated to Loughborough, where she was trained by Steven Rippon at the centre of excellence, a move that allowed her to focus entirely on her athletic development.

Career

Early career and Commonwealth Games debut (2002–2006)

After her seventh-place finish at the 2002 World Junior Championships, Rooney continued to develop as a pole vaulter through the mid-2000s, competing in British and international events. Her progress was reflected in her selection for the England team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. At the Games, she was the top English performer in the women's pole vault, finishing seventh overall. The result demonstrated her standing as the leading English pole vaulter of the period and provided valuable experience in major championship competition.

2007 season and domestic dominance

The 2007 athletics season marked a significant step forward for Rooney. She won two outdoor tournaments and captured five indoor titles over the course of the year, establishing herself as the dominant female pole vaulter in British athletics. This run of domestic success confirmed her status as the country's leading competitor in the event and built momentum toward the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Rooney qualified to represent Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, her first Olympic Games. Competing in the women's pole vault, she was eliminated in seventh place in the second heats. Despite not advancing to the final, the Games proved productive from a performance standpoint: Rooney set a new outdoor personal best of 4.40 metres during the competition.

The effort of the Olympic campaign, however, took a physical toll. Following the Beijing Games, Rooney underwent surgery on both Achilles tendons, an injury that might have derailed a less determined athlete.

2009 season: record-breaking year

Despite the double Achilles surgery, Rooney's form in the 2009 season was the best of her career, and the year proved to be a breakthrough period during which she repeatedly rewrote the British record books.

Indoor season

The year began with a statement performance at the 2009 UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield, where Rooney cleared 4.45 metres to break the national indoor record previously held by Janine Whitlock. Whitlock's record had stood for seven years. Just one week later, at the Birmingham Games, Rooney improved upon her own new mark by a further centimetre, raising the British indoor record again.

Outdoor season and British record

The outdoor season brought further record-breaking performances. In June 2009, Rooney broke the British outdoor record with a vault of 4.51 metres at the Memorial Josefa Odložila meeting in Prague. Despite the achievement, she expressed confidence that further improvement was possible and set her sights on reaching the final at the World Championships in Berlin, scheduled for later that summer.

In July, she raised her personal best again to 4.55 metres at the European Team Championships, where she finished fourth. She then won the UK national championships with a clearance of 4.57 metres.

World Championships in Berlin

Ahead of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Rooney acknowledged the scale of the challenge she faced. Several athletes from Germany, Poland, and Russia were expected to contend for medals, including the reigning champion Yelena Isinbayeva, who was the dominant force in women's pole vault at the time.

Rooney qualified for the World Championships final, a significant achievement in itself given the depth of competition in the event. In the final, she recorded a clearance of 4.55 metres to finish in sixth place overall. The result represented a career-best performance at a global championship.

End of the 2009 season

Following the World Championships, Rooney continued to compete at a high level. A clearance of 4.60 metres earned her third place at the Pedros Cup, bringing her outdoor personal best to a new peak. The performance capped a season in which she had broken the British record a total of nine times over the course of eight months.

2010 Commonwealth Games

In 2010, Rooney represented England at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. She won a bronze medal in the women's pole vault, the most significant medal of her international career. The bronze medal represented a marked improvement on her seventh-place finish at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and underscored her development as a championship competitor over the intervening four years.

Later career and retirement

Rooney's British records, both indoor and outdoor, stood until 2011, when they were surpassed by Holly Bleasdale. Following her retirement from competitive athletics, Rooney transitioned to working in schools, where she has encouraged children's involvement in sport. She has also pursued a career in financial services and advice.

Personal Life

Kate Dennison married Martyn Rooney, the British 400-metre sprinter, and has since been known as Kate Rooney. Martyn Rooney is a former European champion and multiple-time Olympian in the 400 metres, making the couple one of the more prominent partnerships in British athletics.

Rooney was born in Durban, South Africa, but has lived in England since the age of four, growing up in Alsager, Cheshire. Her background in gymnastics, a sport she competed in at national and international level before switching to pole vault, has been cited as a factor in her technical ability in the vault.

Following her competitive career, Rooney has maintained a connection to sport through her work with schoolchildren, while building a second career outside athletics in the financial services sector.

Recognition

Rooney's 2009 season brought her considerable attention within British athletics. Her nine British record-breaking performances in a single year represented an exceptional run of form in an event where British women had historically been less prominent on the global stage.

Her sixth-place finish at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin was the best result by a British female pole vaulter at a World Championships at that time, and her 4.60-metre personal best set a standard for British women in the event that stood until Holly Bleasdale surpassed it in 2011.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, her bronze medal in the pole vault added to her record as the leading English female pole vaulter of her generation. She was also the top English performer at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in the same event.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics selection confirmed her status as Great Britain's foremost female pole vaulter during the period, and her ability to set a personal best at the Games demonstrated her capacity to perform under the pressure of major championship competition.

Legacy

Kate Rooney's career in pole vault is notable for several firsts and achievements in British athletics. She was the first British junior athlete to clear 4.00 metres in the pole vault, a barrier that signalled the growing competitiveness of British women in an event that had long been dominated by athletes from other nations.

Her British records, set during the extraordinary 2009 season, moved the national standard significantly forward. When she broke Janine Whitlock's seven-year-old indoor record at the UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield, it marked a generational shift in British women's pole vaulting. Her outdoor record of 4.60 metres, achieved at the Pedros Cup, represented a level of performance that placed her among the top pole vaulters in Europe during that period.

The transition from gymnastics to pole vault, achieved in her mid-teens, illustrated the transferable skills between the two disciplines and has been noted as an example of how athletes can successfully cross between sports. Her background in gymnastics provided the body awareness, strength, and flexibility that are advantageous in the technical demands of pole vaulting.

Rooney's recovery from double Achilles surgery following the 2008 Olympics, only to produce the best season of her career in 2009, demonstrated resilience in the face of significant physical setback. Her post-retirement work in schools, encouraging children's participation in sport, has extended her influence in athletics beyond her competitive achievements.

Though her records have since been surpassed, Rooney's contribution to raising the profile and standard of British women's pole vaulting during the late 2000s remains a significant chapter in the history of the event in the United Kingdom.