Raising the bar

Greg Schindler

Call me unpatriotic, but my favorite athlete at the Beijing Olympics won't be representing the United States. She'll be competing for Tunisia, and she happens to be a small-town Montana girl.

Leila Ben-Youssef isn't hard to root for. I met the Sidney native at Stanford, where she was majoring in human biology, minoring in archeology, and starring as a pole vaulter on the Cardinal track and field team.

Though she was raised in eastern Montana, Ben-Youssef's triple citizenship (her father was born in Tunisia and her mother in France) assured her a spot on the Tunisian squad provided she clear the Olympic qualifying height by July 23. She hit her mark on June 19, soaring 14 feet, 1 1/4 inches at an all-comers meet in Los Gatos, Calif.

"I was anxious but hopeful all the same," Ben-Youssef said. "Either way, it had been a great experience."

That experience began at Sidney High School, where Ben-Youssef was a three-time Class A state champion before graduating in 2000. Her vast dreams flourished in her tiny town, but Olympic glory wasn't part of her vision.

"I think doing well enough to compete in college was kind of my primary goal," Ben-Youssef said. "I was excited to attend a school that was strong both academically and athletically.

"The idea of training for the Olympics definitely didn't happen until after college."

To secure a spot in Beijing, Ben-Youssef had to improve upon her best collegiate vault by more than a foot. But raising the bar is nothing new for her.

Ben-Youssef, who also has a master's degree in medical anthropology from Stanford, remains a student-athlete. She is starting medical school through the University of Washington this summer, and will be completing her first year of coursework at Montana State through a program that allows Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho residents to pay in-state tuition for Washington's prestigious medical school.

Her semester begins Aug. 18, meaning Ben-Youssef will miss her first week of school to attend opening ceremonies and compete in Beijing, then skip closing ceremonies to travel back to Bozeman by Aug. 24.

But the Olympics will at least give Ben-Youssef a rare break from her books, right?

"Nope, I have a quiz the Monday I get back," she said. "I've arranged with my professors, so they'll be sending me notes and all kinds of good stuff.

"It kind of comes with the territory."

Ben-Youssef is hardly the first Olympian to compete for a country she doesn't call home.

"For African nations, it's actually pretty common," she said. "For example, Nigeria has a lot of their track and field athletes and basketball players coming from the states."

Ben-Youssef knows many of her more than two dozen Tunisian teammates via international competition. During the last year, she has taken first place at the Pan-Arab games in Egypt, the Pan-African games in Algeria and the African Championships in Ethiopia.

Tunisia is Africa's northernmost country - and more than 5,000 miles from Montana - but the nation's culture isn't lost on Ben-Youssef, who has been there about a dozen times, including last summer.

"My whole dad's side of my family is there," she said. "My grandma's there, my cousins are there, my second cousins are there - the whole crew."

And intrasquad communication shouldn't be a problem. Ben-Youssef grew up speaking French - one of Tunisia's common languages, along with Tunisian Arabic - at home.

Ben-Youssef has traveled throughout much of the world, but she doesn't have to remind herself of her Montana roots. They're the core of everything she's accomplished.

"I'm thrilled to be representing Montana in the Games," she said. "It's where I grew up and a large part of who I am.

"A lot of people who started me on this road to becoming an athlete and showing me how to compete are from there. Sidney has a long tradition of being a very athletic community - being strong in its sports."

Despite a lifetime of achievement, Ben-Youssef remains an underdog - at least in Beijing, where her sport's front runners will stand eight to 10 inches taller than her, with a much better view of the medal stand. Ben-Youssef admits to being 5-foot-2 - "in shoes."

"When I was starting, the sport was really new, and pole vaulters at the time were all ex-gymnasts, so I didn't find myself disadvantaged by any means in regards to stature," she said. "Now, as the sport's progressed, the better pole vaulters are the taller ones because it's physically easier for them.

"Technically, I just have to be much more precise. I don't have the margin of error of women who might be 6 feet."

No matter how she fares in Beijing, Ben-Youssef knows the trip will be unforgettable - even if her studies interfere with the party.

"I think it's going to be a little bit of everything," she said. "It's going to be exciting, it's going to be overwhelming.

"I'm going to be nervous, but competition-wise, I feel really prepared.

"As for the environment, I feel like it's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be surrounded by quality athletes form all over the world."

Many of those international athletes have never heard of Montana, let alone Sidney, which will allow Ben-Youssef to transition from student to teacher. She said she typically mentions mountains and cowboys when describing The Last Best Place.

"People don't tend to know where Tunisia is, either," Ben-Youssef said, "so I've gotten really good at drawing maps."

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Greg Schindler is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached at gschindler@dailyinterlake.com