Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium
Dates23 September 1988 (qualifying)
25 September 1988 (final)
Competitors21 from 13 nations
Winning height5.90 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Sergey Bubka
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Silver medal icon.svg Rodion Gataullin
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Bronze medal icon.svg Grigoriy Yegorov
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1984
1992  

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 (21 jumpers) before the final (15) took place on Wednesday September 28, 1988. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

Three Soviet, French and American athletes made the final, but it was the Soviet bloc that dominated the event, sweeping the medals, with Sergey Bubka already the dominant vaulter. His world record of 6.06 metres, set two months earlier, has only since been cleared by three other men, 2008 gold medalist Steven Hooker, 2012 gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie, and 2020 and 2024 gold medalist Armand Duplantis in 2020.

But while Bubka would vault in three more Olympics and would continue to dominate the World Championships with six consecutive wins, this would be the only Olympic medal he would achieve. It was also the only victory the Soviet Union had in the men's pole vault, though the Unified Team (ex-USSR countries) would win in 1992.

Rodion Gataullin and Grigoriy Yegorov completed the medal sweep for the Soviet team; it was the fourth pole vault medal sweep (the United States had done it in 1904, 1924, and 1928). The 1988 Games were the first in which the United States competed in the pole vault, but failed to medal.

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1984 Games were the two bronze medalists, Earl Bell of the United States and Thierry Vigneron of France. Sergey Bubka of the Soviet Union was dominant: he had won the 1983 and 1987 world championships, the 1986 European championship, and set the world record nine times between 1984 and 1988, becoming the only man to have cleared 6 metres. [2]

South Korea made its men's pole vaulting debut. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912, with results cleared between rounds. Vaulters received three attempts at each height. Ties were broken by the countback rule.

In the qualifying round, the bar was set at 5.10 metres, 5.20 metres, 5.30 metres, 5.40 metres, 5.45 metres, 5.50 metres, and 5.55 metres. The first two heights were only used in the second qualifying group. All vaulters clearing 5.55 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 cleared that height, the top 12 (including ties) advanced.

In the final, the bar was set at 5.10 metres, 5.25 metres, 5.40 metres, 5.50 metres, 5.60 metres, and then increased by 5 centimetres as a time. [2] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Sergey Bubka  (URS)6.06 Nice, France 10 July 1988
Olympic recordFlag of Poland.svg  Władysław Kozakiewicz  (POL)5.78 Moscow, Soviet Union 30 July 1980

When the bar was raised to 5.80 metres, giving vaulters a chance to break the Olympic record, only the three Soviets remained in the competition. Grigoriy Yegorov was the only one to jump at 5.80 metres, becoming the first to break the Olympic record. Rodion Gataullin jumped successfully at 5.85 metres, breaking Yegorov's new record while Yegorov passed. At 5.90 metres, Sergey Bubka broke Gataullin's record with a mark that stood at the end of the Games, as none of the three could clear further.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

DateTimeRound
Monday, 26 September 1988Qualifying
Wednesday, 28 September 198812:00Final

Results

Key

Qualifying

The qualifying round was held on Monday September 26, 1988. After a dispute regarding disparate raising increments between the groups, all 15 of the vaulters who had cleared 5.40 metres were advanced to the final.

RankGroupAthleteNation5.105.205.305.405.455.505.55HeightNotes
1A Rodion Gataullin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union o5.50q
A Sergey Bubka Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union o5.50q
3A Grigoriy Yegorov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union o5.45q
4A Kory Tarpenning Flag of the United States.svg  United States ox–5.40q
A Earl Bell Flag of the United States.svg  United States ox–5.40q
A Mirosław Chmara Flag of Poland.svg  Poland o5.40q
B Marian Kolasa Flag of Poland.svg  Poland o5.40q
8B Asko Peltoniemi Flag of Finland.svg  Finland xxoo5.40q
9A Billy Olson Flag of the United States.svg  United States xo5.40q
A Philippe Collet Flag of France.svg  France xo5.40q
A Hermann Fehringer Flag of Austria.svg  Austria oxo5.40q
B Zdeněk Lubenský Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia ooxo5.40q
B Philippe d'Encausse Flag of France.svg  France oxo5.40q
B István Bagyula Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary oooxo5.40q
15B Thierry Vigneron Flag of France.svg  France ooxoxo5.40q
16B Kim Chul-Kyun Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea xoxoxoxxx5.30
17B Paul Just Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada xooxxoxxx5.30
A Atanas Tarev Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria xxxNo mark
B Lee Jae-bok Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea xxxNo mark
B Javier García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain xxxNo mark
B Andy Ashurst Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain xxxNo mark

Final

The final was held on Wednesday September 28, 1988.

RankAthleteNation5.105.255.405.505.605.655.705.755.805.855.905.956.10HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Sergey Bubka Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union xoxxox5.90 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Rodion Gataullin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oxxoxxx5.85
Bronze medal icon.svg Grigoriy Yegorov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oxooxxx5.80
4 Earl Bell Flag of the United States.svg  United States oooxxx5.70
5 Thierry Vigneron Flag of France.svg  France xoooxox5.70
Philippe Collet Flag of France.svg  France xoxoxxx5.70
7 István Bagyula Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary oooooxxx5.60
8 Philippe d'Encausse Flag of France.svg  France ox–xoxxx5.60
9 Asko Peltoniemi Flag of Finland.svg  Finland oxxoxxx5.60
10 Kory Tarpenning Flag of the United States.svg  United States oxxx5.50
11 Zdeněk Lubenský Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia xooxxx5.50
12 Billy Olson Flag of the United States.svg  United States xxoxxx5.50
13 Hermann Fehringer Flag of Austria.svg  Austria ooxxx5.40
Mirosław Chmara Flag of Poland.svg  Poland xxxNo mark
Marian Kolasa Flag of Poland.svg  Poland xxxNo mark

See also

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 2, p. 242.