Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-D0812-0012-002, Wolfgang Nordwig.jpg
Eventual bronze medallist Wolfgang Nordwig led the qualifying round alongside John Pennel.
Venue Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Dates14 and 16 October
Competitors23 from 15 nations
Winning height5.40 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Bob Seagren
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Claus Schiprowski
Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany
Bronze medal icon.svg Wolfgang Nordwig
Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany
  1964
1972  
Video on YouTube @ 10:20 Official Video TV-icon-2.svg
Video on YouTube @ 10:20 Official Video

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. [1] Twenty-three athletes from 15 nations competed. [2] 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.

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1964 Games were bronze medalist Klaus Lehnertz of the United Team of Germany (now representing West Germany), fifth-place finisher Hennadiy Bleznitsov of the Soviet Union, eleventh-place finisher John Pennel of the United States, fifteenth-place finishers Herve D'Encausse of France and Ignacio Sola of Spain, and eighteenth-place finisher Christos Papanikolau of Greece. Bob Seagren was the world record holder and the favorite, though Pennel (who had held the record for parts of 1963, 1964, 1966, and 1967) was also a strong contender. [2]

Argentina made its first appearance in the event; East Germany and West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 16th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In both rounds, each athlete had three attempts at each height and was eliminated from the competition if he failed to clear that height. Athletes could choose to pass onto the next height, although any failed attempts were carried over into that height. The heights increased in increments of five centimetres. Athletes who successfully jumped the qualifying height 4.90 m (16 ft 34 in) progressed to the final round. In the event that fewer than twelve athletes cleared that height, the best twelve athletes (including those tied with athletes in the top twelve) would progress to the next round. [3]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Bob Seagren  (USA)5.41 Los Angeles, United States 25 July 1964 [4]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Fred Hansen  (USA)5.10 Tokyo, Japan 17 October 1964 [5]

Eleven men cleared 5.15 metres or higher to break the old Olympic record. Nine cleared 5.20 metres or higher. Seven cleared 5.25 metres or higher. Six cleared 5.30 metres. Five cleared 5.35 metres (or higher). The three medalists, Bob Seagren, Claus Schiprowski, and Wolfgang Nordwig, all cleared 5.40 metres—where the Olympic record sat after the competition, as none could clear higher.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Monday, 14 October 196810:00Qualifying
Wednesday, 16 October 196812:30Final

Results

Key

Qualifying

RankGroupAthleteNation4.204.304.404.504.604.704.754.804.854.90HeightNotes
1A Wolfgang Nordwig Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany o4.90Q
A John Pennel Flag of the United States.svg  United States o4.90Q
3A Altti Alarotu Flag of Finland.svg  Finland oo4.90Q
A Erkki Mustakari Flag of Finland.svg  Finland oo4.90Q
A Hervé d'Encausse Flag of France.svg  France oo4.90Q
A Claus Schiprowski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany oo4.90Q
A Christos Papanikolaou Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece oo4.90Q
A Hennadiy Bleznitsov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oo4.90Q
9B Ignacio Sola Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain ooo4.90Q
B Mike Bull Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain ooo4.90Q
B Kiyoshi Niwa Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan ooo4.90Q
12B Aleksandr Malyutin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union xxoooxxoo4.90Q
13A Bob Seagren Flag of the United States.svg  United States xo4.90Q
14A Kjell Isaksson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oxo4.90Q
15A Heinfried Engel Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany ooxxo4.90Q
16B Pantelis Nikolaidis Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece oooxxx4.80
17B Enrico Barney Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina ooxooxxooxxx4.80
18B Klaus Lehnertz Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany oooxxx4.75
19B John-Erik Blomqvist Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oxxoxxx4.75
20A Casey Carrigan Flag of the United States.svg  United States oxxx4.60
21B Wu Ah-min Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan oooxxx4.50
22B Heinz Wyss Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland xoor4.50
B Ingo Peyker Flag of Austria.svg  Austria xxxNo mark
A Renato Dionisi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNS
B Dominique Rakotarahalahy Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar DNS
B Aldo Righi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNS
B Steen Smidt-Jensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark DNS

Final

With three men tied at 5.40 metres, the countback rules determined the medals. At the final height (5.40), Nordwig had failed twice before clearing while the other two men had each failed only once before succeeding; Nordwig therefore took third place and the bronze medal. Because Seagren and Schiprowski were matched at one failure at 5.40 metres, the total number of failures for each before that was the next tiebreaker. Seagren had failed once before 5.40 metres (at 5.20), while Schiprowski had failed twice (at 5.25 and 5.35); Seagren therefore was the gold medalist and Schiprowski took silver.

RankAthleteNation4.604.804.905.005.055.105.155.205.255.305.355.405.45HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Bob Seagren Flag of the United States.svg  United States oxooxoxxx5.40 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Claus Schiprowski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany ooooxooxoxoxxx5.40 OR
Bronze medal icon.svg Wolfgang Nordwig Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany xooooxxoxxx5.40 OR
4 Christos Papanikolaou Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece oooxoxooxxx5.35
5 John Pennel Flag of the United States.svg  United States oxoxoxxoxxx5.35
6 Hennadiy Bleznitsov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union ooooxoxxx5.30
7 Hervé d'Encausse Flag of France.svg  France oxooxxx5.25
8 Heinfried Engel Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany oxxoxooxxx5.20
9 Ignacio Sola Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain xooxooxxoxxx5.20
10 Kjell Isaksson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oxooxxx5.15
11 Kiyoshi Niwa Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan ooooxoxxx5.15
12 Aleksandr Malyutin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oooxxx5.00
13 Mike Bull Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain xooxoxxx5.00
14 Altti Alarotu Flag of Finland.svg  Finland xxor5.00
Erkki Mustakari Flag of Finland.svg  Finland xxxNo mark

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References

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  2. 1 2 "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
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  4. "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 555–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  5. Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games:Men's Pole Vault. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2013-09-07.