Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
JO Atlanta 1996 - Saut a la perche.jpg
Pole vaulting at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Venue Centennial Olympic Stadium
Date31 July 1996 (qualifying)
2 August 1996 (final)
Competitors37 from 24 nations
Winning height5.92 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Jean Galfione
Flag of France.svg  France
Silver medal icon.svg Igor Trandenkov
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Bronze medal icon.svg Andrei Tivontchik
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
  1992
2000  

The men's pole vault was an event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. [1] Thirty-seven athletes from 24 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 Jean Galfione of France, the nation's second victory in the event (previously in 1984). Igor Trandenkov took silver, the first medal for Russia in the pole vault in its first appearance as a separate delegation (though Trandenkov had himself taken silver in 1992 as well, as part of the Unified Team; Trandenkov was the sixth man to win two medals in the event and the first to do it under two different flags). Similarly, Andrei Tivontchik's bronze was the first for reunified Germany, though both East Germany and West Germany as well as the Unified Team of Germany had previously won medals.

Summary

In the final, the tie between returning silver medalist Igor Trandenkov and Jean Galfione was broke by counting the number of their misses, with Galfione having had one miss earlier in the competition, and Trandenkov having had two misses, meaning that Galfione won gold, while Tradenkov earned second straight silver. Andrei Tivontchik cleared 5.92 on his second attempt to take bronze. [3] [4]

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1992 Games were silver medalist Igor Trandenkov of the Unified Team (now representing Russia), bronze medalist Javier García of Spain, and eighth-place finisher Danny Krasnov of Israel. By this competition, Sergey Bubka (gold medalist in 1988 for the Soviet Union, finalist in 1992 for the Unified Team, and now competing for Ukraine) had already pushed the world record to its current state and was the overwhelming favorite to win. But continuing his Olympic curse, Bubka came into the competition with a heel injury and did not make an attempt. To add further injury, his brother Vasiliy Bubka was one of seven athletes unable to clear a height in qualifying. Without Sergey Bubka competing, the field was "wide-open." [2]

Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Saint Lucia, and Ukraine each made their men's pole vaulting debut. The United States made its 22nd 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 5.20 metres, 5.40 metres, 5.60 metres, and 5.70 metres. All vaulters clearing 5.70 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 cleared that height, the top 12 (including ties, after applying the countback rules) advanced.

In the final, the bar was set at 5.40 metres, 5.60 metres, 5.70 metres, 5.80 metres, 5.86 metres, 5.92 metres, 5.97 metres, and 6.02 metres. [2] [5]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of Ukraine.svg  Sergey Bubka  (UKR)6.14 Sestriere, Italy 31 July 1994
Olympic recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Sergey Bubka  (URS)5.90 Seoul, South Korea 30 July 1988

The three medalists (Jean Galfione, Igor Trandenkov, and Andrei Tivontchik) all cleared 5.92 metres, breaking the Olympic record. None succeeded at any higher attempts.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 31 July 19969:30Qualifying
Friday, 2 August 199617:00Final

Results

Key

Qualifying

The qualifying round was held on Wednesday July 31, 1996. Qualification rule: Qualifying performance 5.70 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

RankGroupAthleteNation5.205.405.605.70HeightNotes
1A Alain Andji Flag of France.svg  France ooo5.70Q
A Tim Lobinger Flag of Germany.svg  Germany ooo5.70Q
B Pyotr Bochkaryov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia oo5.70Q
B Riaan Botha Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa ooo5.70Q
5A Jeff Hartwig Flag of the United States.svg  United States oxoo5.70Q
B Jean Galfione Flag of France.svg  France xooo5.70Q
7A Igor Trandenkov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia xxoo5.70Q
8A Igor Potapovich Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan oxo5.70Q
9B Andrei Tivontchik Flag of Germany.svg  Germany oxxo5.70Q
10A Michael Stolle Flag of Germany.svg  Germany xoxooxxo5.70Q
11B Lawrence Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States xoxxoxxo5.70Q
12A Dmitriy Markov Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus ooxxx5.60q
B Scott Huffman Flag of the United States.svg  United States ooxxx5.60q
B Danny Krasnov Flag of Israel.svg  Israel ooxxx5.60q
15B José Manuel Arcos Flag of Spain.svg  Spain xxooxxx5.60
16A Jim Miller Flag of Australia.svg  Australia xoxoxxx5.60
17A Viktor Chistyakov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia xxoxoxxx5.60
18A Nuno Fernandes Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal xooxxoxxx5.60
B Heikki Vääräniemi Flag of Finland.svg  Finland xoxxoxxx5.60
20A Konstantin Semyonov Flag of Israel.svg  Israel ox–xx5.40
B Nick Buckfield Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain oxxx5.40
B Javier García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain oxxx5.40
23A Laurens Looije Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands xxooxxx5.40
24A Neil Winter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain oxoxxx5.40
B Kim Chul-kyun Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea oxoxxx5.40
26B Martin Voss Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark xoxox–xx5.40
27B Aleksandrs Obižajevs Flag of Latvia (3-2).svg  Latvia xxoxxx5.40
28A Edgar Díaz Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico xoxxoxxx5.40
29B Alexandru Jucov Flag of Moldova (3-2).svg  Moldova oxxx5.20
30A Teruyasu Yonekura Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan xxoxxx5.20
A Okkert Brits Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa xxxNo mark
A Vasiliy Bubka Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine xxxNo mark
A Juan Gabriel Concepción Flag of Spain.svg  Spain xxxNo mark
A Kersley Gardenne Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius xxxNo mark
B Simon Arkell Flag of Australia.svg  Australia xxxNo mark
B Valeri Bukrejev Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia xxxNo mark
B Dominic Johnson Flag of Saint Lucia (1979-2002).svg  Saint Lucia xxxNo mark
B Sergey Bubka Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine DNS

Final

Igor Potapovich in Atlanta JO Atlanta 1996 - Saut a la perche.jpg
Igor Potapovich in Atlanta

The final was held on Friday August 2, 1996.

RankAthleteNation5.405.605.705.805.865.925.976.02HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Jean Galfione Flag of France.svg  France oxooox–xx5.92 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Igor Trandenkov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia oxx–oxxx5.92 OR
Bronze medal icon.svg Andrei Tivontchik Flag of Germany.svg  Germany xoxoxoxoxxx5.92 OR
4 Igor Potapovich Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan oox–xx5.86
5 Pyotr Bochkaryov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia xoxooxx–x5.86
6 Dmitriy Markov Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus ooxoxxoxoxxx5.86
7 Tim Lobinger Flag of Germany.svg  Germany ooox–xx5.80
8 Lawrence Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States oooxxx5.70
9 Alain Andji Flag of France.svg  France ooxxoxxx5.70
Michael Stolle Flag of Germany.svg  Germany ooxxoxxx5.70
11 Jeff Hartwig Flag of the United States.svg  United States ooxxx5.60
Danny Krasnov Flag of Israel.svg  Israel ooxxx5.60
13 Scott Huffman Flag of the United States.svg  United States xooxxx5.60
14 Riaan Botha Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa oxoxxx5.60

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  3. "The changing face of men's Pole Vaulting | NEWS | World Athletics".
  4. "Olympic pole-vault champ commits suicide - The Local". Archived from the original on 2016-01-04.
  5. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 90.