pole vault

Athletics field event in which the athlete attempts to clear a high cross bar by means of a long flexible pole. Competitive pole vaulting, for height as opposed to distance, began in the mid-19th century. It has been an Olympic sport for men since the first modern games in 1896; however, women's pole vaulting was not treated seriously by the athletics authorities until the 1990s, and the Sydney 2000 Games was the first Olympics to include a women's as well as a men's pole vault event.

Originally competitors used poles of ash, hickory, or spruce with a spike at the end. Bamboo poles were in use by the early 1900s. In 1942 the US sportsman Cornelius Warmerdam, one of the greatest ever vaulters, reached 4.77 m/15.65 ft). A steel pole was first used in the 1950s, improving the world record to 4.8 m/15.75 ft). The fibreglass pole revolutionized pole vaulting in the 1960s and jumps of over five metres became commonplace in top competition. In 1985 the Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, then representing the USSR, achieved the first ever 6-m/20-ft jump. In June 2001, the record stood at 6.14 m/20.14 ft, set by Bubka in 1994. In June 2001, Stacy Dragila of the USA increased her own women's pole vault world record to a height of 4.81 m/15.77 ft.