PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
Still Here
My last competition in pole vaulting was in 1972. Three silvers and a gold rest on blue velvet in my parents’ living room. The committee recruited me in 1975 to be a commentator in Montreal.
My first thought of the tower when I saw it was, how long would the pole need to be to vault over it.
The small elevator struggles to fit me and my chair, but soon I sit in the top suite, binoculars trained on the field and the athletes. I tell the world I expect Rosemarie, Sara, and Yordanka to take 1, 2, 3. And they do.
[102 words]
Note 1: I have no idea where Dale’s picture was taken, but I see it was taken in Montreal. It made me think of the 1976 Montreal Olympics so I found what looks like a drone shot of Olympic Park in Montreal in 1976.
Note 2: I learned that women were not competing in pole vaulting in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, so I chose the names of the winners for the Women High Jump event.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
Thanks to Google image search, I found out where and what it was in less than a minute. At first I thought you’d written, “My last competition in pole dancing was in 1972” which caught my interest. :D
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lol James on the pole dancing. That would have been a very different story. Most times I like to see where my imagination takes me when I look at an image and use that as a starting point.
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I really liked the subtlety of the mention of her chair
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:) Thank you.
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Well done, Lisa. I love how your imagination runs! The elevator scene was a nice touch and twist!
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Dwight, thank you, much appreciated. Glad you liked the scene.
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Yes!
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I’m glad the Olympics “woke” up. I’d love to see Hegseth compete against any women Olympic athlete. (K)
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LMAO K on hegseth. I was watching Colbert today and thinking about how “Angry H” was slamming our Generals. I’ve got to wonder how clueless he and his rancid boss are to not know what Generals and the Officers and Troops under them signed up for. It wasn’t to attack people on the streets of America.
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I just read something that said that he wasn’t playing to the generals, he was playing to the MAGA faithful, singing their song. We can hope our military leaders will not be lemmings and follow along, but considering how many institutions are just bowing down, I’m not optimistic. But we are ill-prepared to defend ourselves if someone attacks us from the outside.
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In farmer language, we are ripe for the picking. Dumbass seems oblivious to it.
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nicely written….that’ll require quite a long long pole to vault over it..
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Nandini, after I saw Dale’s pics of it, I saw how tall it is :)
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Interesting & creative take, Lisa :)
When we have “Olympics”, there have to be winners!
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Anita, thanks so much.
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Fun story – I liked how you threw in her disability without making it the centre of the story.
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Thanks much, Jen.
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Congratulations Li!! It was so believable, I was applauding you! Nicely done on the prompt! 🙌🏽
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Cindy, thank you very much. I also wanted to tell you how much I liked the poem your read about lost friendship. {{{{HUGS}}}} I’ve lost a couple of friends along the way that it still hurts when I think about it.
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You’re so very welcome, Li! Awww thanks so much for your knowing words and getting it. It’s amazing how that sticks with us!
💗
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<3
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I’m with Cindy! This building is in Old Montreal and you can see the Olympic Stadium from the top but it’s a good distance away ;-)
I loved track and field and was so frustrated that girls couldn’t pole vault so this one speaks to me… Of course, not her eventual last jump – that I would rather not envison!
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Dale I love that you have a connection to the story <3
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Oh yes! 💞
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Cool story. The Olympic stadium complex is an extraordinary piece of architecture. My sweety and I toured it about ten years ago when I was attending a conference and she was sight-seeing. The conference had one of its gala evenings inside one of the buildings… fun!
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Thanks, Steve. I am agog at the complex! Makes me want to go there to see it.
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Oh, it’s one of the most incredible facilities I’ve ever seen, Lisa, truly remarkable. Quite vast, and the view from the tower is spectacular. Montreal is a beautiful city. Some of the old part of it is pedestrianized, a rare thing in North America, unfortunately. We stayed downtown in a hotel for the conference then afterward in a quaint little boutique hotel on the edge of the downtown. It was lovely. Thinking about it makes me want to go back there!
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Sounds like a lot about it to draw you back.
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It does, doesn’t it!🙂
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Nice job, Lisa. Ironic for me in that I actually took a bus trip to Montreal to spend a week at those 1976 Olympics in Montreal. I did get to see track and field events in Olympic Stadium, which at that time was certainly one of more majestic stadiums anywhere. Great memories revisited here, so thanks for that!
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Bruce, so glad to bring it back to you. How thrilling that must have been.
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Love the twist at the end Lisa – great read 🙌
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Thanks so much, Ange :)
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that must be fun. hopefully, they snapped it right for posterity. :)
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Me too, Plaridel. Thank you :)
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I like where the picture took you, Lisa, the simple mention of the chair added to the story.
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When sport and athletics in particular are your passion and life, then being confined to a wheelchair must be awful Great uplifting story.
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James, thank you very much for your thoughts on the story. Yes, I imagine it must be the worst.
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Excellently done, Li! Gosh, I remember bits in the Montreal Olympics, and a great twist in your story with that one.
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Chris, delighted that you found a connection to the story :)
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Your first sentence made me LOL. Fun story, Lisa.
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Oh? Now you make me think you were having naughty thoughts. Thanks much, Nancy.
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Dear Lisa,
I love the subtlety in the way you told us she’d been injured. A really well done piece of story telling.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thanks so much for always taking a close look.
Shalom,
Lisa
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Nicely told. Still here indeed. That would be a terribly long pole to jump over that haha but I can see why they instinctively imagine the size of the pole to jump over anything if that had been the focus of their life for so long
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Laurie, thanks much. I’m glad you got that part.
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