Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Earle Meadows and Sueo Oe 1936.jpg
Earle Meadows and Sueo Oe
Venue Olympiastadion: Berlin, Germany
DatesAugust 5
Competitors30 from 21 nations
Winning height4.35 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Earle Meadows
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Shuhei Nishida
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan
Bronze medal icon.svg Sueo Ōe
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan
  1932
1948  

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. [1] 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. [2] It was the nation's tenth consecutive victory in the men's pole vault.

A three-way tie for second resulted in a jump-off; after American Bill Sefton was eliminated (ending the United States' streak of two or more medals in every pole vault), two Japanese jumpers were left. They refused to compete further, so Japanese officials chose, by fiat, Shuhei Nishida as the silver medalist and Sueo Oe the bronze medalist. After the Games, Nishida and Oe "took their medals, cut them apart, and combined them into a half-silver, half-bronze medal, the only two of their type ever created." [1] In any case, Nishida became the first man to win multiple pole vault medals, as he had previously taken silver in 1932. (The United States had won 25 medals in the event in 10 Games, all by different men.)

Tie of second and third place

Three men tied for second in clearing 4.25 metres: Bill Sefton of the United States and Sueo Ōe and Shuhei Nishida of Japan. The rules at the time used a jump-off rather than countback to break ties. The jump-off started at 4.15 metres. Sefton was unable to clear that height again, while Ōe and Nishida were. Sefton was thus eliminated, at fourth place.

The two Japanese vaulters then refused to further participate in the tie-breaker. The Japanese team was told to make its own decision about who should claim second place and who third. After lengthy discussion, it was agreed that Nishida, who had vaulted 4.25 at his first attempt, should take precedence over Oe, who had needed two attempts at that height (this method would become standard tie-breaking procedure). Upon returning to Japan, they cut their medals in half and fused them to one another so each athlete ended up with a half-silver, half-bronze medal. They became known as “The Medals of Friendship”. [3]

Background

This was the 10th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning vaulters from the 1932 games were silver medalist Shuhei Nishida of Japan and fourth-place finisher Bill Graber of the United States. The American team was favored, with all three (Graber, Bill Sefton, and Earle Meadows) considered approximately equal. All had beaten 1936 AAU champion and world record holder George Varoff in the U.S. trials. [1]

Chile, the Republic of China, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, and Yugoslavia made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 10th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Competition format

The competition returned to the two-round format introduced in 1912 (after a one-Games direct final due to scarcity of competitors in 1932), with results cleared between rounds. The official report describes it as a three-round competition, but the "semifinal" and "final" were in effect a single round as results carried forward between them. Vaulters received three attempts at each height.

In the qualifying round, the bar was set at heights including 3.50 metres, 3.70 metres, and 3.80 metres. All vaulters clearing 3.80 metres advanced to the final.

In the final, the bar was set at heights including 3.40 metres, 3.60 metres, 3.80 metres, 4.00 metres, 4.15 metres, 4.25 metres, 4.35 metres, and 4.45 metres. [1] [4]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics. Varoff's world record had not yet been ratified; Keith Brown's 4.39 metres was still official at the time.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  George Varoff  (USA)4.43 Princeton, United States 4 July 1936
Olympic recordUS flag 48 stars.svg  Bill Miller  (USA)4.315 Los Angeles, United States 3 August 1932

Earle Meadows set a new Olympic record by clearing 4.35 metres.

Schedule

The "semifinal" was in effect just the first half of the final.

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 5 August 193610:30
16:00
19:00
Qualifying
Semifinal
Final

Results

Key

Qualifying

Only the 3.80 metres jump sequences for those who advanced are available.

RankAthleteNation3.80HeightNotes
1 Earle Meadows US flag 48 stars.svg  United States o3.80Q
Shuhei Nishida Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan o3.80Q
Sueo Ōe Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan o3.80Q
Bill Graber US flag 48 stars.svg  United States o3.80Q
Kiyoshi Adachi Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan o3.80Q
Syl Apps Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada o3.80Q
Péter Bácsalmási Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary o3.80Q
Danilo Innocenti Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy o3.80Q
Jan Korejs Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia o3.80Q
Bo Ljungberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden o3.80Q
Alfred Proksch Flag of Austria.svg  Austria o3.80Q
Wilhelm Schneider Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland o3.80Q
Viktor Zsuffka Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary o3.80Q
Andries du Plessis Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg  South Africa o3.80Q
Ernst Larsen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark o3.80Q
Julius Müller Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany o3.80Q
Miroslav Klásek Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia o3.80Q
Pierre Ramadier Flag of France.svg  France o3.80Q
Siegfried Schulz Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany o3.80Q
Adolfo Schlegel Flag of Chile.svg  Chile o3.80Q
Josef Haunzwickel Flag of Austria.svg  Austria xo3.80Q
Dick Webster Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain xo3.80Q
André Crépin Flag of France.svg  France xxo3.80Q
Fu Baolu Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China xxo3.80Q
Bill Sefton US flag 48 stars.svg  United States xxo3.80Q
26 Aulis Reinikka Flag of Finland.svg  Finland xxx3.70
Eevald Äärma Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia xxx3.70
Jaša Bakov Flag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia xxx3.70
29 Guillermo Chirichigno Flag of Peru (1825-1950).svg  Peru 3.50
Rigoberto Pérez Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg  Mexico 3.50

Final

RankAthleteNation3.403.603.804.004.154.254.354.45HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Earle Meadows US flag 48 stars.svg  United States oooxoxoxxx4.35 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Shuhei Nishida Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan ooooxxx4.25
Bronze medal icon.svg Sueo Ōe Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan oooxoxxx4.25
4 Bill Sefton US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooxxooxxx4.25
5 Bill Graber US flag 48 stars.svg  United States ooxoxxx4.15
6 Kiyoshi Adachi Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan oooxxx4.00
Syl Apps Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada oooxxx4.00
Péter Bácsalmási Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary ooxxoxxx4.00
Josef Haunzwickel Flag of Austria.svg  Austria ooxoxxx4.00
Danilo Innocenti Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy ooxoxxx4.00
Jan Korejs Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia xooxxoxxx4.00
Bo Ljungberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oooxxx4.00
Alfred Proksch Flag of Austria.svg  Austria oooxxx4.00
Wilhelm Schneider Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland ooxxx4.00
Dick Webster Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain oooxxx4.00
Viktor Zsuffka Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary ooxxoxxx4.00
17 Andries du Plessis Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg  South Africa oooxxx3.80
Ernst Larsen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark ooxxx3.80
Julius Müller Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany ooxxx3.80
Miroslav Klásek Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia ooxxx3.80
Fu Baolu Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China ooxxx3.80
Pierre Ramadier Flag of France.svg  France ooxxx3.80
Siegfried Schulz Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany ooxxx3.80
24 Adolfo Schlegel Flag of Chile.svg  Chile xoxxx3.60
25 André Crépin Flag of France.svg  France oxxx3.40

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  2. "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. Askwith, Richard (4 August 2016). "Great Olympic Friendships: Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe, the friends who wouldn't be divided by their medals". The Independent . Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  4. Official Report, vol. 2, p. 666.