Former world and Olympic champion Stacy Dragila ended her 14-year pole-vaulting career with a second-place finish at the DecaNation athletics meet in Paris on Wednesday.
Dragila, 38, a graduate of Placer High School, won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the first Games in which women competed in the pole vault. She is a two-time world champion.
"It was great to be a pioneer in this sport," Dragila told the Associated Press.
She cleared 14 feet, 7 1/4 inches but missed three attempts at 14-11 to finish behind Russian Tatyana Polnova, who cleared that height Wednesday.
"I was able to win a gold medal in Sydney when I never thought it would be possible for a woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the women's pole vault," Dragila said. "To be the first one to win the gold medal is something very special, and something that will always be in the records book."
Dragila won world championships in 1999 and 2001. She also claimed nine U.S. Outdoor championships, including the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000 and 2004 at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium, and won eight national indoor titles.
After two seasons plagued by injury, Dragila – whose personal best is 15-10 – returned to international competition in 2008 but failed to make the U.S. Olympic team. At last month's world championships in Berlin, she didn't qualify for the pole-vault final.
She told The Bee in March this would be her last season.
"I'm healthy and there are new chapters in my life, so I'm looking forward to that," Dragila said. "I had a great career. I made a lot of friends on the circuit, I had great head-to-head competitions. Those things, I will remember for the rest of my life."
The United States won the DecaNation, a meet that tests teams in the decathlon's 10 events.
The Americans finished with 136 points. Bella Vista High School graduate Derek Miles won the men's pole vault after clearing 18-8 1/4.
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