Kate Staples (Zodiac from American Gladiators) was a British vaulter in the infant days of women’s vaulting. Zodiac has been interested in all sports since childhood, particularly athletics, lacrosse and swimming, but its pole vaulting at which she excels most. Zodiac has since become a champion pole-vaulter, becoming the British record holder in pole vault and has competed at international level. She improved on the sport’s Commonwealth record three times during an indoor event featuring Russia against Great Britain and won the AAA pole vault championships in Germany. Overall, Zodiac has broke over 29 British and Commonwealth records and was ranked ninth in the world! Zodiac was an awesome and very popular Gladiator, excelling particularly in the speed and agility events such as Skytrak, Pursuit, Pyramid, Hang Tough and her speciality- Pendulum. Contenders knew they would see stars when they faced Zodiac! In the 1996 series of Gladiators, Zodiac was only a bystander due to a previous fall on Pole Axe which made her unable to compete fully in the show and she had to undergo a serious neck operation, which was successful. Zodiac then left the Gladiators team before the 1997 series, as she was pregnant with daughter, Ella, who’s Dad is also former Gladiator Trojan and God Mother is none other than Jet! Zodiac is now married to rugby player Chris Sheasby, and as well as Ella has a young son called Oliver. In 1997, Kate’s career took a dramatic turn when she broke her neck in two places and underwent eight hours of surgery, which forced early retirement from both Gladiators and British Athletics. Having made a full recovery, her experiences prompted her to further her efforts to inspire others to live a fit and healthy life. Kate trained with Premier Training, one of the leading personal training bodies in the UK, and started training a select group of celebrity clients in London. In 2003 Kate gained the only qualification in the world to run Adventure Boot Camp, following an intense training program in California and was the first person to bring the program to the UK. Kate is currently training with Chi Yoga, for a world-class international yoga qualification that she will integrate into her fitness program.
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