Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the III Olympiad
1904 Charles Dvorak.JPG
Charles Dvorak in action on the way to his gold medal.
Venue Francis Field
DateSeptember 3, 1904
Competitors7 from 2 nations
Winning height3.50 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Charles Dvorak
US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg LeRoy Samse
US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Louis Wilkins
US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
  1900
1908  

The men's pole vault was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third time the event was held. Seven pole vaulters from two nations participated. The competition was held on Saturday, September 3, 1904. [1] The event was won by Charles Dvorak of the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the event. With six of the seven vaulters, the United States swept the top three places—the first time that occurred in the pole vault, though the Americans had never had more than two vaulters compete previously. Through the 1904 Games, no American pole vaulter had ever placed lower than any non-American vaulter.

Background

This was the third appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Charles Dvorak, who had expected to compete in 1900 but was foiled by machinations revolving around the Sunday schedule then, was able to compete in 1904. The French world record holder, Fernand Gonder, was not present. Most of the top Americans were; like many events in 1904, it was largely a United States championship. [2]

Germany made its first appearance in the event. The United States made its third appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Competition format

There was a single round of vaulting. The bar was raised by 3 inches each time. [2]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1904 Summer Olympics.

World Record3.69* Flag of France.svg Fernand Gonder Paris (FRA)4 June 1904
Olympic Record3.30 Flag of the United States.svg William Hoyt Athens (GRE)10 April 1896
3.30 Flag of the United States.svg Irving Baxter Paris (FRA)15 July 1900

* unofficial

Charles Dvorak set a new Olympic record of 3.50 metres. All 5 of the vaulters whose results are known bested the previous Olympic record.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Saturday, 3 September 1904Final

Results

Key

The tie for second was resolved through a series of jump-offs. In the four-way jump-off, the jumpers started at 3.28 metres, which all succeeded at. Allen and McLanahan were unable to replicate their 3.35 metres success, while Samse and Wilkins both cleared that height as well as the 3.43 metres they had been unable to achieve in the main final. There was then a second series of head-to-head jump-offs; details are not known, though McLanahan beat Allen and Samse beat Wilkins. [2]

RankAthleteNation3.353.433.503.71HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Charles Dvorak US flag 45 stars.svg  United States ooox3.50 OR
Silver medal icon.svg LeRoy Samse US flag 45 stars.svg  United States ox3.35
Bronze medal icon.svg Louis Wilkins US flag 45 stars.svg  United States ox3.35
4 Ward McLanahan US flag 45 stars.svg  United States ox3.35
5 Claude Allen US flag 45 stars.svg  United States ox3.35
6 Walter Dray US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
7 Paul Weinstein Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany Unknown
LeRoy Samse clearing the bar on the way to the silver medal. LeRoy Samse.jpg
LeRoy Samse clearing the bar on the way to the silver medal.
Louis Wilkins clearing the bar on the way to the bronze medal. 1904 Louis Wilkins.JPG
Louis Wilkins clearing the bar on the way to the bronze medal.
Ward McLanahan in action on the way to finish in fourth place. 1904 Ward McLanahan in action.JPG
Ward McLanahan in action on the way to finish in fourth place.

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 September 2020.

Sources