Madeleine Arnold

This year, the pole vault world bade farewell to a cherished member of its tightly–knit family: U.S. Track & Field Master Pole Vault Official Madeleine Arnold.

Several vaulters, coaches and a number of her fellow officials paid tribute to Madeleine when they gathered at the memorial service held in her honor at the Hollywood–Wilshire YMCA in Southern California, where she and her husband of 55 years, co–official Fred Arnold, had been devoted members and leaders since 1971.

Madeleine and Fred were not only partners in a construction business and in life, they were also a great team on the field. From the day she first began her officiating career in 1984 (in order to “help Fred carry his equipment”) Madeleine’s organizational talents, sense of fair play, firm manner and caring nature were invaluable to her development into a respected pole vault official.

Olympic gold medal winner Tim Mack recalls: “[Madeleine’s] warmth and kindness was always calming prior to competition. We all knew that she would be fair, she would keep the competition going and she would let you know if you couldn’t keep up with her!”

Madeleine and Fred Arnold made a great team in life and on the field as USATF officials.

“Madeleine would come up to check us in and, in the middle of the chaos, a calm would come over you when she approached you,” says Olympic silver medalist Toby Stevenson. “She would talk to you and ask you about your day and how you were, personally. Here’s the thing though...as you turn around to get back into ‘the game,’ you listen to her interactions with the people behind you and IT’S THE SAME THING. She talked to everyone and genuinely cared about every vaulter...Whenever I would arrive and see Fred and Madeleine were running the show, I would smile and tell myself it was going to be a good day.” (See page 21 for another tribute to Madeleine!)