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 was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 15, 1900. Eight athletes from five nations competed in the pole vault.
The men's pole vault was one of six jumping events on the athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The competition was held on Friday, July 24, 1908. 15 pole vaulters from seven nations competed. It is the only one of the 111 events featured in 1908 to not have any competitors from the host nation. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Edward Cook and Alfred Carlton Gilbert of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. The tie was permitted, rather than a jump-off being held, due to the length of the competition. Similarly, bronze medals were awarded to all three men who had cleared 3.58 metres for third place. Sweden and Canada thus received their first medals in the pole vault, while the United States had the unusual distinction of winning three medals in an event but not sweeping.
Charles Edward Dvorak was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the pole vault. He attended the University of Michigan where he competed for the Michigan Wolverines men's track and field team from 1900 to 1904. He participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics where he was a favorite in the pole vault. However, he missed the competition after being told by officials that the finals would be held on a Sunday. He won a special silver medal in a consolation competition. In 1903, he set a world's record in the pole vault with a jump of 11 feet, 11 inches.(This mark doesn't appear in the progression of World or American Records). Dvorak returned to international competition and won the gold medal in the pole vault at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Dvorak later served as a high school football, basketball and track coach in Seattle, Washington, where he died in 1969 at age 91.
The men's pole vault at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 21 competitors from 13 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (15) took place on Wednesday September 28, 1988. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.
The men's pole vault was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912, and on Thursday, July 11, 1912. Twenty-five pole vaulters from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. It was the second straight Games in which more than 3 medals were awarded in the event. The event was won by Harry Babcock of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the event. Fellow Americans Frank Nelson and Marc Wright tied for second and were both awarded silver; normally, this would have constituted a medal sweep. However, bronze medals were awarded to the three men tied for fourth place. This put both Canada and Sweden on the podium for the second consecutive Games and awarded the United States a total of four medals in the 1912 pole vault.
The men's pole vault was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Nineteen athletes from 12 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was held on the third day of the track and field competition, on Monday November 26, 1956. The event was won by Bob Richards of the United States, the nation's 13th consecutive victory in the event. Richards was the first man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the pole vault; he was also the first man to win three total medals in the event. For the second straight Games, the American team went 1–2, this time with Bob Gutowski taking silver. Georgios Roubanis's bronze was Greece's first pole vault medal since 1896, and Greece's first Olympic medal overall since 1920.
The men's pole vault was an event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Twenty-eight athletes from 18 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was held on Tuesday July 22, 1952. The event was won by Bob Richards of the United States, the nation's 12th consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Another American, Don Laz, took silver. Ragnar Lundberg's bronze was Sweden's first medal in the event since 1912.
The men's pole vault event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, August 18, 1920, and on Friday, August 20, 1920. 16 pole vaulters from seven nations competed. No nation had more than 4 jumpers, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Frank Foss of the United States, the nation's sixth consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Henry Petersen's silver was Denmark's first medal in the event and the first time a non-American had done better than bronze in the pole vault. Edwin Myers's bronze continued the American streak of winning at least two medals in each pole vault, however.
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.
The men's pole vault event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924, on Thursday, July 10, 1924. Twenty pole vaulters from 13 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4. The event was won by Lee Barnes of the United States, the nation's seventh consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Americans Glen Graham (silver) and James Brooker (bronze) completed the sweep, the second time the United States had done so—though the Americans had taken two golds and a bronze in 1908 and a gold, two silvers, and a bronze in 1912.
The men's pole vault event at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, 27 September and Friday, 29 September. Thirty-six athletes from 22 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Nick Hysong of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event since its 16-Games streak ended. The American team also took silver, as Lawrence Johnson finished second. Maksim Tarasov became the seventh man to win multiple pole vault medals, and the second to do so under two different flags, adding a bronze to his 1992 gold.
The men's pole vault event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place on August 1. Twenty athletes from thirteen nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was four. The event was won by Sabin Carr of the United States, for the nation's eighth consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Americans William Droegemuller and Charles McGinnis won silver and bronze respectively, giving Team USA their second consecutive and third overall medal sweep in the Olympic pole vault event.
The men's pole vault event at the 1932 Olympic Games took place August 3. Eight athletes from four nations competed. The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes. The event was won by Bill Miller of the United States, the nation's ninth consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Japan won its first pole vault medal, with Shuhei Nishida's silver. George Jefferson won bronze, extending the American streak of two or more medals in each pole vault to nine as well.
The men's pole vault event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on August 5, 1936. Thirty athletes from 21 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Earle Meadows of the United States. It was the nation's tenth consecutive victory in the men's pole vault.
The men's pole vault event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Nineteen athletes from 10 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition was held on July 31 and August 2. During the final, a rainstorm came in during the jumps at 4.10. All the jumpers at 4.20 and higher had to deal with wet conditions on the runway and with their poles. The final was won by American Guinn Smith. Erkki Kataja had held the lead with a perfect set of jumps until Smith's last attempt clearance of 4.30. Smith's win was the United States' 11th consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Kataja's silver was Finland's first medal in the event.
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.
The men's pole vault field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 1 & 2. Twenty-one athletes from 12 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Wolfgang Nordwig of East Germany, the first non-American to win the event. Nordwig and silver medalist Bob Seagren were the third and fourth men to win multiple medals in the event.
The men's pole vault was one of four men's jumping events on the athletics program at the 1968 Summer Olympics. The competition had two rounds, qualifying and a final, which were held on 14 and 16 October respectively at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City. Twenty-three athletes from 15 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Bob Seagren of the United States, the nation's 16th consecutive victory in the men's pole vault. Claus Schiprowski of West Germany took silver, while Wolfgang Nordwig of East Germany took bronze—the first medals for each of those nations as separate teams, though two West German vaulters had earned silver and bronze for the United Team of Germany in 1964.
The pole vault at the Summer Olympics is grouped among the four track and field jumping events held at the multi-sport event. The men's pole vault has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first Summer Olympics in 1896. The women's event is one of the latest additions to the programme, first being contested at the 2000 Summer Olympics – along with the addition of the hammer throw, this brought the women's field event programme to parity with the men's.
