Vanessa Vandy

Background

Born in Auckland to a New Zealand father and Finnish mother, Vandy holds a dual citizenship, and chose to represent her mother"s birthplace Finland at numerous sporting events, including the Olympic games.

Career

At age thirteen, Vandy moved with her family to Vaasa, Finland, where she began pole vaulting. She also set her personal best of 4.15 metres by winning the bronze medal at the Finnish Elite Series in Lahti, ahead of her teammate Minna Nikkanen, who flew over 4.05 metres. Shortly after the series, she continued to beat Nikkanen at the Sweden-match in Gothenburg, and most importantly, at the Finnish Indoor Championships in Joensuu, where she claimed her first ever career title in the pole vault.

The following year, Vandy reached her breakthrough season by vaulting her personal best of 4.31 metres at an athletics meet in Sopot, Poland.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Vandy successfully cleared a height of 4.00 metres in the women"s pole vault, an event which was later dominated by world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia. Vandy, however, failed to advance into the final, as she placed thirty-second overall in the qualifying rounds, tying her position with Tunisia"s Leila Ben Youssef.

In 2009, Vandy extended her personal best of 4.36 metres by finishing second at the Elite World Championships in Lapua, behind her teammate Minna Nikkanen. In early 2011, Vandy announced her retirement from pole vault to focus on and pursue her career in music, having suffered knee problems for the past few years.

Vandy started her music career with piano lessons, until she was able to compose and produce her own songs at age thirteen.

Under the artist name Vivandy, she had already released her first album "Dead Leaves", which was available exclusively on Myspace.

Achievements

• She is a national outdoor and indoor champion for the pole vault, and also, a bronze medalist at the 2009 European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania. In 2007, Vandy made her international debut at the European Junior Championships, where she achieved a seventh-place finish in the women"s pole vault. She also finished sixth at the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, and won her second career title at the national outdoor championships in Tampere, which gave her a qualifying berth for the Olympics. She also won the bronze medal at the European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, with a satisfying height of 4.35 metres.

Membership

She eventually became a member of, and trained full-time at Vasa Idrottssällskap, under her personal and head coach Johan Westö.