Items18The creator’s order
  1. 1Cornelius WarmerdamCornelius WarmerdamWarmerdam took a bamboo pole about as far as it could go. In 1940 he became the first man over 15 feet, and his 4.77m in 1942 stood as the world record for 15 years, an astonishing span in an equipment-driven event. Wartime cancellations meant he never had the chance to compete at an Olympics. He…0i
  2. 2Bob RichardsBob RichardsBorn 20 Feb 1926Richards, an ordained minister nicknamed the "Vaulting Vicar", won Olympic gold in Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956 in the era of rigid metal poles. He remains the only man to win the Olympic pole vault twice, and his consistency in championship conditions, more than any single height, made…0i
  3. 3Bob SeagrenBob SeagrenBorn 17 Oct 1946Seagren's career is the fibreglass revolution in one story. He broke the world record several times with the new bending poles and won Olympic gold in Mexico City in 1968. Then, weeks before the 1972 Munich Games, the governing body banned the new model of pole he and others had been using,…0i
  4. 4Władysław KozakiewiczWładysław KozakiewiczBorn 8 Dec 1953Kozakiewicz won the 1980 Moscow Olympic title with a world record of 5.78m while a hostile home crowd whistled at him, and answered with a defiant arm gesture that became a symbol in Poland. Technically he was a fast, aggressive vaulter who exploited the fibreglass pole's whip as well as anyone of…0i
  5. 5Sergey BubkaSergey BubkaBorn 4 Dec 1963Bubka 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…0i
  6. 6Emma GeorgeEmma GeorgeBorn 1 Nov 1974George came to the vault from Australia's Flying Fruit Fly Circus, and her trapeze-honed body control was exactly what the newly recognised women's event needed. Between 1995 and 1999 she broke the world record 11 times, taking it to 4.60m, and won the first women's Commonwealth title in 1998. She…0
  7. 7Stacy DragilaStacy DragilaBorn 25 Mar 1971Dragila, a former rodeo athlete and hurdler, won the first women's Olympic pole vault in Sydney in 2000, having already taken the first women's world title in 1999. She brought a speed-based, sprinter's approach to an event still finding its technical identity and broke the world record repeatedly…0i
  8. 8Yelena IsinbayevaYelena IsinbayevaBorn 3 Jun 1982A trained gymnast who switched to the vault at 15, Isinbayeva brought inversion and body control the women's event had not seen before. She set 28 world records, became the first woman over five metres in 2005, and won Olympic gold in Athens and Beijing. In her peak years she worked with Bubka's…0i
  9. 9Steve HookerSteve HookerBorn 16 Jul 1982Hooker's 2009 world title in Berlin is the most remarkable piece of competition management in the event's history: injured, he passed his way up the bar, took a single jump at 5.90m and won. A year earlier he had won Olympic gold in Beijing with an Olympic record, built under coach Alan Launder on…0i
  10. 10Fabiana MurerFabiana MurerBorn 16 Mar 1981Murer's career is a lesson in how much a vaulter depends on equipment. In the Beijing 2008 Olympic final one of her poles went missing mid-competition and she finished well down the field. She recovered to become Brazil's first world champion in the event in Daegu in 2011, then won silver in 2015.…0i