Patrick Abada

Patrick Abada (born 20 March 1954 in Paris) is a retired French pole vaulter and Olympian, having competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics. His best vault was one of 5.70 m, made on 26 August 1983, in Brussels. As of August 2001, that mark was the 126th best pole vault of all time. He represented France in pole vaulting 25 times between 1973 and 1985.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
1976	Olympic Games	Montreal, Canada	4th	5.45 m
1979	Universiade	Mexico City, Mexico	3rd	5.55 m
1979	World Cup	Montreal, Canada	2nd	5.45 m
1980	European Indoor Championships	Sindelfingen, West Germany	3rd	5.55 m
1983	European Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	3rd	5.55 m
	Mediterranean Games	Casablanca, Morocco	1st	5.55 m
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	6th	5.50 m

Physical characteristics

• Height: 189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
• Weight: 80 kg (176 lb; 12 st 8 lb)

Current work

He is currently president of the athletics section of the Racing Club de France .

Trivia

• For several months he had a relationship with Claude Chirac, the youngest daughter of the former French president Jacques Chirac.

• In a TV show called “The Superstars: The Superstars” filmed on 2 August 1980, he competed for the Ferguson Trophy. It was filmed in the Wingate Sports Institute, Netanya, Israel, and the competitors were: Brian Jacks, Judo champion and winner of that year's UK Superstars; Ties Kruize, 1977 and joint 1978 European Superstars champion, from the Netherlands; Kjell Isaksson, Swedish pole vaulter, and winner of the first two European series; Moshe Ganzi, Israeli water-ski champion; Tony Ward, Rugby Union's player of the year, from Ireland; Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch champion cyclist; and Kork Ballington, 250 and 350cc motor cycling world champion.

External links

• http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/AthletismeFicheAthlete1137.html
• Patrick Abada profile at IAAF

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mike Tully	Men's Pole Vault Best Year Performance alongside Philippe Houvion 1979	Succeeded by Władysław Kozakiewicz