The pole vault has been a feature of the Olympic Games since the inaugural modern Games of 1896. It's a sport that requires speed, strength and agility, but a successful vaulter also needs a high level of technical skill.
Origins
Pole vaulting was not a part of the ancient Olympic games, but evidence of its existence as a sport can be found as far back as 500 B.C. with illustrations of pole vaulting activities discovered on a number of ancient Greek ceramics. In other areas of the world, long poles were used as a practical way of crossing open ditches and marshland. It was common practice in parts of the Netherlands and in the Fens of the U.K. to use poles to vault across man-made drains and canals instead of walking great distances in search of a bridge. Early pole vaulting competitions revolved around vaulting the greatest length, as opposed to today's sport of vaulting the greatest height.
Technique
The aim of pole vaulting is to clear a high bar placed between two supporting posts by lifting and propelling yourself upwards on the end of strong, flexible pole. Successful pole vaulting requires a mastery of eight separate techniques that must flow into one continuous movement. The techniques are the grip, the carry, the run, the plant, the takeoff, the pull-turn-and push, the clearance and the landing. According to the American Institute of Physics, the pole vault is a perfect example of how one form of energy can be converted into another: the kinetic energy of motion created in the run-up is converted into gravitational potential energy which allows the vaulter to overcome gravity and lift his body upwards. In theory, your height and running speed can be used to estimate the height of vault you could achieve, but in practice it takes a mastery of the technical skills to be able to vault at all.
Equipment
The first recorded competitive pole vaulting event took place in 1890, described as running pole leaping, and the poles used were rigid and made of ash. In the early 1900s, bamboo poles were introduced and remained in use until 1957 when materials such as aluminum and steel became popular. Until the early 1940s, events took place on grass and competitors jumped into sand filled pits. The introduction of the planting box for the pole in 1942 and the pioneering use of landing mattresses by American participants not only softened the impact of landing, but also moved the sport forward dramatically as the feet first style of vaulting developed. Around the same time, lightweight fiberglass poles began to replace the heavier steel versions, allowing vaulters to reach much greater heights through achieving faster sprint speeds on the run-up. Poles used in competition today can be of any length and made of any material, but lightweight and flexible carbon fiber and fiberglass composites are generally favored.
Records
The pole vault gold medal winner in the 1896 Olympic games was the American William Hoyt, with a height of 3.30 m. As of 2010, the world record holder in the men's event is Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, who achieved a height of 6.14 m in 1994, highlighting the effects of the technological advances in the sport. The women's pole vault did not become an Olympic event until 2000 when the gold medal was won by Stacy Dragila of the United States, with a height of 4.60 m. The female world record holder, as of 2010, is Elena Isinbaeva of Russia, who cleared 5.06 m in 2009.
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