Sergey Bubka

Bubka and his coach Vitaly Petrov turned the vault into a sprint-and-power event: a very fast approach, a high grip on a stiff pole and an active take-off that drove the pole rather than waiting for it to bend. The result was 35 world records, the first clearance over six metres in 1985 and six straight world titles. He often raised the record a centimetre at a time, which some found calculating, but his 6.14m outdoor mark stood for 26 years.