Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 5, 2026

Simon Arkell

Simon Graham Arkell is an Olympic pole vaulter from Australia, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992.

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Simon Arkell
Personal information
Born1 July 1966 (1966-07) (age 60)
Maidenhead, England1
EducationUniversity of New Mexico '91
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo MBA
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Pole vault
ClubSPOC
Achievements and titles
Personal best5.80 m (1996)1
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1990 Auckland Pole vault

Simon Graham Arkell (born 1 July 1966) is an Olympic pole vaulter from Australia, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992.1

Biography

During his career he was Commonwealth Champion, NCAA All-American (5 times), WAC Conference Champion (7 times) and broke 9 Australian and 4 Commonwealth records. He was also Australian (3) and British (2) Champion, was 1993 Australian Athlete of the Year and is in the Athletics Hall of Fame for the State of South Australia and the University of New Mexico, USA.2 After his athletic career Arkell went on to co-found Versifi Technologies, Predixion Software and Deep Lens, an oncology-focused clinical trial matching software company that uses artificial intelligence to match cancer patient to clinical trials. Deep Lens was backed by venture capital firms Northpond Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Rev1 and Tamarind Hill Fund and was acquired in May 2022 by Paradigm Health in an all-cash deal. He is co-founder and CEO of Ryght, an early stage AI software company focused on the biopharma industry, and he is a seed stage investor and board member.

In 2026 Arkell became the chairman of the Australian Olympic Committee's "Olympic Executive Club" in Los Angeles to raise the profiles of, and support for, Australian Olympians at the 2028 Los Angeles and 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. 3

Arkell twice won the British AAA Championships title in the pole vault event at the 1988 AAA Championships4 and the 1993 AAA Championships.5

Achievements

Year Tournament3 Venue Result Extra
1986 Commonwealth Games Edinburgh, Scotland 7th 4.75 m
1987 Summer Universiade Zagreb, Yugoslavia 9th 5.40 m
1988 British 1988 AAA Championships Birmingham, England 1st 5.10 m
1989 Australian Athletics Championships Brisbane, Australia 1st 5.40 m
1989 IAAF World Cup Barcelona, Spain 5th 5.45 m
Summer Universiade Duisburg, West Germany 4th 5.40 m
1990 IAAF Grand Prix Aarhus, Denmark 2nd 5.61 m NR
Commonwealth Games Auckland, New Zealand 1st 5.35 m
1991 Summer Universiade Sheffield, England 7th 5.40 m
Australian Domestic Perth, Australia 1st 5.70 m CR
World Championships Tokyo, Japan 17th 5.40 m
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 22nd 5.30 m
1993 Australian Grand Prix Adelaide, Australia 1st 5.72 m NR
World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada 17th 5.30 m
British 1993 AAA Championships Birmingham, England 1st 5.60 m
World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 22nd 5.45 m
1995 Australian Grand Prix Adelaide, Australia 1st 5.73 m NR
World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 20th 5.40 m
1996 Australian Grand Prix Perth, Australia 1st 5.75 m NR
1996 IAAF Grand Prix Adelaide, Australia 1st 5.80 m NR
Olympic Games Atlanta, United States NHC —
References

References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Simon Arkell". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019.
  2. "UNM's Arkell Vaults Record 17-10 1/4". Albuquerque Journal. 3 June 1989. p. 32. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  3. "Simon Arkell". Australian Athletics Historical Results. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014.
  4. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  5. "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
External links