Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the V Olympiad
1912 Harry Babcock.jpg
Gold medalist Harry Babcock
Venue Stockholm Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 10–11
Competitors25 from 11 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Harry Babcock
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Frank Nelson
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Marc Wright
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg William Halpenny
Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada
Bronze medal icon.svg Frank Murphy
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Bertil Uggla
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
  1908
1920  

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. [1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. [2] 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.

Background

This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning vaulters from the 1908 Games were sixth-place finishers Georgios Banikas of Greece and Sam Bellah of the United States. The American team was dominant but there "was no clear American favorite" with many accomplished pole vaulters from the United States. The home team of Sweden was large as well, headlined by Bertil Uggla. Canada's William Halpenny was also a contender, having won the 1908 AAU championship. [3]

Austria, Bohemia, Denmark, Italy, and Russia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its fifth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Competition format

The 1912 tournament introduced a true two-round format, with results cleared between rounds. Vaulters received three attempts at each height.

The qualifying round started with the bar at 3.00 metres, with the height increasing gradually to 3.65 metres. All vaulters clearing 3.65 metres advanced to the final.

The final had the bar initially at 3.40 metres, increasing to 3.50 metres, 3.60 metres, and then by 5 centimetres at a time until a winner was found. [3] [4]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Marc Wright  (USA)4.02 Cambridge, United States 8 June 1912
Olympic recordUS flag 45 stars.svg  Edward Cook  (USA)
US flag 45 stars.svg  Alfred Carlton Gilbert  (USA)
3.71 London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 24 July 1908

The Olympic record was equalized or improved 18 times during this competition. Finally Harry Babcock set a new Olympic record with 3.95 metres.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 10 July 191214:15Qualifying
Thursday, 11 July 191215:15Final

Results

Key

Qualifying

RankAthleteNation3.003.203.403.503.603.65HeightNotes
1 William Halpenny Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada oooo3.65Q
Harry Babcock US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooooo3.65Q
Bill Fritz US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooooo3.65Q
Frank Murphy US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooxxoo3.65Q
Robert Pasemann Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany ooooxxoo3.65Q
Sam Bellah US flag 48 stars.svg  United States xoxxoxoo3.65Q
Gordon Dukes US flag 48 stars.svg  United States xxooxxooo3.65Q
Frank Nelson US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooooxo3.65Q
Marc Wright US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooxo3.65Q
Bertil Uggla Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oooooxo3.65Q
Frank Coyle US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooxxo3.65Q
12 Carl Hårleman Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden xooxooxxx3.60
Richard Sjöberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden ooooxxoxxx3.60
Clas Gille Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden ooxxoxxoxxx3.60
15 Fernand Gonder Flag of France.svg  France xoxoooxxx3.50
16 Ulrich Baasch Flag of Russia (1991-1993).svg  Russia oooxxx3.40
Fritz Bøchen Vikke Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark oooxxx3.40
18 Magnus Nilsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oxxx3.20
Hugo Svensson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden ooxxx3.20
Sander Santesson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden xooxxx3.20
Viktor Franzl Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Austria xxooxxx3.20
Georgios Banikas Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece xoxoxxx3.20
23 Jindřich Jirsák Bohemian Olympic Flag (1912).svg  Bohemia oxxx3.00
Manlio Legat Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy oxxx3.00
Johann Martin Flag of Russia (1991-1993).svg  Russia xxxNo mark

Final

Halpenny was forced to retire from the competition after he broke two ribs while clearing 3.80 metres and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.

RankAthleteNation3.403.503.603.653.753.803.853.954.06HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Harry Babcock US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooooooxxx3.95 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Frank Nelson US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooxoooxoxxx3.85
Marc Wright US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooooxoxoxoxxx3.85
Bronze medal icon.svg William Halpenny Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada oxoooxoxor3.80
Frank Murphy US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooxoxoooxxx3.80
Bertil Uggla Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oooooxoxxx3.80
7 Sam Bellah US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooxooxoxxx3.75
8 Frank Coyle US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooxoxoxxx3.65
Gordon Dukes US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooxxoxxx3.65
Bill Fritz US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oxoxoxxoxxx3.65
11 Robert Pasemann Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany xoxxx3.40
Harry Babcock on the way to win the gold medal. 1912 Harry Babcock2.JPG
Harry Babcock on the way to win the gold medal.
Frank Nelson winning the silver medal. 1912 Frank Nelson.JPG
Frank Nelson winning the silver medal.
Second silver medalist Marc Wright. 1912 Marc Wright.JPG
Second silver medalist Marc Wright.
One of the three bronze medalists Bertil Uggla. 1912 Bertil Uggla.JPG
One of the three bronze medalists Bertil Uggla.

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. Official report, p. 61.
  3. 1 2 "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  4. Official Report, p. 399.

Sources