Elizabeth Parnov

Who is Elizabeth Parnov?

Elizabeth "Liz" Parnov is an Australian athlete who competes in pole vault. She was the Australian National Champion in the event in 2010, jumping 4.40m weeks before she turned 16 years old. She has strong athletic pedigree, being the niece of Tatiana Grigorieva, who won the silver medal for Australia in the women's pole vault at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the granddaughter of Natalya Pechonkina, who won the bronze medal for the USSR in the women's 400m at the 1968 Summer Olympics. She is coached by her father Alex Parnov, himself a former world class pole vaulter. Her older sister Vicky also competes in Pole Vault and is the 2012 Australian national champion.

Elizabeth moved to Australia with her family in 1996, at the age of two.

At the first Youth Olympic Games she was selected to be the Australian flag bearer. She came home with a silver medal. She also won a silver medal at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics, held in Lille.

Her personal best of 4.50 metres, achieved February 17, 2012 at Perth, is the Australian under-20 record, surpassing the record of her sister that she had tied in winning the Australian National Championship in 2010.