Pole Vault
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Posted by Jim Down in Non Famous section |
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Pole vaulting is an athletics event where the athlete tries to gather his kinetic energy from running and transfer it into a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. This is the only event where the tool is used in order to aid the athlete. In all other events in track and field the tools are obstacles or projectiles used to impede the athletes’ progress.
Pole vaulting was known to the ancient Greeks and the Cretans used long poles to vault over bulls. The Celts used to pole vault - but for length. Poles were used in Europe as a practical means of passing over natural obstacles (crossing canals filled with water or jumping over high level fences). Modern competitions probably began around 1850 in Germany, when it was added to the gymnastic exercises of the Turner by Johann C. F. GutsMuths and Frederich L. Jahn. The heavy, rigid poles were made of ash and the athletes climbed them as they jumped.
In 1889, the Americans banned the movement of the hands along the pole and invented the technique of reversing the legs upwards, clearing the crossbar with stomach facing down, using bamboo poles with a sharp point at the bottom. They competed on grass, planting the point in the grass, vaulting over a pole and landing back on the grass. In the 1896 Olympics, the record, set with a bamboo pole, was 3.2 m.
The bamboo poles were used until 1942, when the receiving ‘box’ for the pole was introduced. In 1957 Bob Gutowski used an aluminium pole to set a world record of 4.78m which was broken again in 1957 by Don Bragg (USA) who used a steel pole to clear 4.80m. This period also saw the introduction of landing mattresses which meant improved safety for competitors. Until then the landing area was originally a heap of sawdust where athletes landed on their feet.
The fibreglass pole, which permitted flexion and has revolutionized vaulting technique, saw the light in the USA in 1956. The first world record using this material was set in 1961. As technology enabled higher vaults, mats evolved into bags of large chunks of foam. Today’s high tech mats are solid pieces of foam usually 1-1.5 meters thick. Mats are growing larger in area as well, in order to minimize any chance of injury. Proper landing technique is on the back. Landing on the feet must be trained out of the athlete, to eliminate the risk of spraining an ankle. Poles are manufactured for people of all skill levels, with sizes as small as 3 m, to as large as 5,20+ m.
Although women’s pole vault performances have been registered since 1911, the event has only been taken seriously in the last few years. The IAAF began ratifying women’s world records in 1995 and the first official international championship was staged at the 1996 European Indoor Championships with Vala Flosadottir of Iceland the winner at 4.16m. The event will be held at the 1997 World Indoor Championships and 1999 World Championships.
In 1985 Sergei Bubka became the first pole vaulter to clear 6 metres; he also holds the current outdoor world record at 6.14 metres, set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere. The only woman to exceed 5 metres is Russian women’s world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva, who reached that height in 2005 and broke her own record that same year with 5.01 metres.
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