Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoan Greeks and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.
Jean Galfione is a retired, French pole vaulter. During his pole vaulting career, he won at least one medal in each of the following major international competitions - the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Indoor Championships, the European Championships and the European Indoors Championships
Jennifer Lynn Suhr is an American pole vaulter. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of 17 US National Championships. She holds the world indoor pole vault record at 5.03 m. She holds the American women's pole vault record indoors. In 2008, she won the U.S. Olympic trials, setting an American record of 4.92 m and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics. She won the gold medal at the London Olympics on August 6, 2012. Track & Field News named her American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008.
Renaud Lavillenie is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three World Indoor Championships gold medals (record), three European Championships gold medals and four European Indoor Championships gold medals. He has also won one silver medal and four bronze medals at the World Championships. As of 25 August 2016, he holds the French national records for the highest pole vault clearance both outdoors and indoors. The 6.16 was the absolute world record for the pole vault for over 6 years, 2014–2020. He was the pole vault overall winner of the IAAF Diamond League in seven consecutive years, from 2010 to 2016.
The men's pole vault was a competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 8–10 August. Thirty-two athletes from 23 nations competed. The event was won by Renaud Lavillenie of France, the nation's first victory in the event since 1996 and third overall. Björn Otto and Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany took silver and bronze, respectively; like France, it was the first time since 1996 that Germany reached the men's pole vault podium.
Holly Bethan Bradshaw is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She is the current British record holder in the event indoors and outdoors, with clearances of 4.87 metres and 4.90 metres. Bradshaw won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, gold at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, bronze at the 2018 European Championships, and silver at the 2019 European Indoor Championships. She also won at the 2018 Athletics World Cup. Coached by Scott Simpson, she has been consistently ranked among the world's best and has been ranked in the world top ten on the Track and Field News merit rankings four times.
The Women's Pole vault event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics took place at the Daegu Stadium on August 28 and 30.
Thiago Braz da Silva is a Brazilian athlete specializing in the pole vault who holds the Olympic record of 6.03 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Shawnacy Campbell "Shawn" Barber is a Canadian track and field athlete specialising in the pole vault. He is the former world champion in pole vault having won the event with a height of 5.90 m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. Barber also became a Pan American Games champion in winning the 2015 edition of the Games with a height of 5.80 m. Barber won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as well.
Luke Cutts is a British pole vaulter. His personal best of 5.83 m set in 2014 is the British indoor record for the event. His outdoor best of 5.70 m puts him third on the all-time British lists.
The men's pole vault competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 13–15 August. Thirty-one athletes from 16 nations competed. Thiago Braz da Silva of Brazil won the gold medal, the nation's first medal in the men's pole vault. Renaud Lavillenie of France was unable to successfully defend his 2012 gold, but became the seventh man to win two medals with silver this time. Sam Kendricks's bronze returned the United States to the podium after a one-Games absence.
The men's pole vault at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22 and 24 August.
The men's pole vault at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place on March 17, 2016.
The men's pole vault at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 6 and 8 August.
The women's pole vault at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place on 3 March 2018.
The men's pole vault at the 2018 European Athletics Championships took place at the Olympic Stadium on 10 and 12 August.
The men's pole vault event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 29 athletes from 18 nations competed. Armand Duplantis of Sweden won gold, with Christopher Nilsen of the United States earning silver and Thiago Braz of Brazil taking bronze. It was Sweden's first victory in the event and first medal of any color in the men's pole vault since 1952. Braz, who had won in 2016, became the ninth man to earn multiple medals in the pole vault.
The women's pole vault event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 2 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 31 athletes from 19 nations competed. In her first Olympics, 30-year-old American Katie Nageotte won the gold medal with a clearance of 4.90 metres. The silver medal went to Russian world champion Anzhelika Sidorova and the bronze to Holly Bradshaw of Great Britain.
The men's pole vault at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha from 28 September to 1 October 2019.
All Star Perche is an annual indoor pole vaulting meeting which is typically held in February at the Clermont-Ferrand Sports Hall in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The meeting was founded by world record-breakers Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie in 2016. Its creation was a response to the cessation of the annual Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk due to the War in Donbass.
