The men's pole vault competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was held at the Olympic Stadium on 25–27 August. Thirty-nine athletes from 25 nations competed. The event was won by Timothy Mack of the United States, the nation's 18th victory in the men's pole vault. Toby Stevenson took silver, making it the second consecutive Games that Americans finished 1st and 2nd. Giuseppe Gibilisco's bronze was Italy's first medal in the event.
The men's pole vault at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 20 and 22 August at the Beijing National Stadium. Thirty-eight athletes from 25 nations competed. The event was won by Steven Hooker of Australia, the nation's first medal in the men's pole vault. Russia took its third medal of the four Games since competing independently; including Russian vaulters for the Soviet Union and Unified Team, Russians had taken six medals in the last six Games. The bronze medal initially went to Denys Yurchenko of Ukraine, but was later stripped from him and reassigned to Derek Miles of the United States.
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 six years, 2014–2020. He was the pole vault overall winner of the IAAF Diamond League in seven consecutive years, from 2010 to 2016.
Tina Šutej is a Slovenian pole vaulter. She won bronze medals at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and 2022 European Championships. Šutej earned a silver at the 2021 European Indoor Championships and again in 2023.
Holly Bethan Bradshaw is an English 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.
Katerina Stefanidi is a Greek pole vaulter. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and has also competed at the 2012 London and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Stefanidi was the 2017 World champion and earned bronze at the 2019 World Championships. At the European Athletics Championships, she won two gold medals and two silvers. Indoors, she is a two-time World Indoor bronze medallist from 2016 and 2018, was the 2017 European Indoor champion and earned silver at the 2015 European Indoor Championships.
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 women's pole vault competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 16–19 August.
Nina Kennedy is an Australian athlete who holds the national record in the pole vault. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
The women's pole vault at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place on March 17, 2016. Jennifer Suhr of the United States won gold.
The women's pole vault at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4 and 6 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 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place on 4 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 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 women's pole vault at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 27 to 29 September 2019.
The women's pole vault at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships took place on 19 March 2022.
The men's pole vault at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene on 22 and 24 July 2022.
The men's pole vault at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 23 and 26 August 2023.
The women's pole vault at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 21 and 23 August 2023.
