Hestrie Cloete

Hestrie Cloete

Personal information
Born	1978-08-26
Medal record Women's Athletics Competitor for South Africa Olympic Games Silver 2000 Sydney High jump Silver 2004 Athens High jump World Championships Gold 2001 Edmonton High jump Gold 2003 Paris High jump

Hestrie Cloete-Storbeck (born 26 August 1978 in Germiston, South Africa) is a former, highly successful South African high jumper. Her foremost achievements were winning two world championships and two silver medals at Olympic Games.

Career

Cloete was discovered at an age of 13 by her long-time coach Martin Marx, and trained at the Lichtenburg High School early in her career. She was quickly found to have a very strong will, which had given other coaches trouble coaching her. Hestrie Cloete had always put a great significance in maintaining a strong mind, and explained that she finds much of that strength in her faith. In 2003, she was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver (OIS) by South African president Thabo Mbeki for excellence in her sports performances.

Cloete had somewhat unusual habits, as she was known to smoke about a pack of cigarettes a day, and has also stated she loved fast food. In an attempt to focus before every jump, Cloete characteristically did spin her index fingers around each other, leaned sideways with her upper body and visualized every step of her attempt.

Cloete retired after the 2004 Summer Olympics to focus on her family.

Achievements

Hestrie's awarded international achievements follow below. She achieved her high jump personal best of 2.06 m on 31 August 2003, when winning the gold medal under the World Championships in Paris (African record, as of Mai 2011)

Championship	Year	Height	Medal
Olympic Games	2004	2.02 m	Silver
	2000	2.01 m	Silver
World Championships in Athletics	2003	2.06 m	Gold
	2001	2.00 m	Gold
World Cup in Athletics	1998	1.96 m (Alture)	Silver
	2002	2.02 m	Gold
Commonwealth Games	2002	1.96 m	Gold
African Championships	2004	1.95 m	Gold
	2002	1.95 m	Gold
	1998	1.92 m	Gold
All-Africa Games	1999	1.96 m	Gold
	1995	1.85 m	Gold

Personal life

Cloete grew up under her maiden name Storbeck in the small railway town of Coligny with her mother Martie and father Willem. She divorced her first husband in 2004 and married Afrikaans singer Jurie Els in 2007, gave birth to a daughter and moved to New Zealand late in 2007.

External links

• IAAF profile for Hestrie Cloete accessdate 2005-12-20
• "Hestrie Cloete". South African History Online. http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/cloete-h.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-03. 
• Hestrie Cloete Pictures

Awards
Preceded by Paula Radcliffe	Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 2003	Succeeded by Yelena Isinbayeva
Sporting positions
Preceded by Venelina Veneva	Women's High Jump Best Year Performance 1999	Succeeded by Monica Iagăr
Preceded by Kajsa Bergqvist	Women's High Jump Best Year Performance alongside Kajsa Bergqvist 2003	Succeeded by Yelena Slesarenko