Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ancient Egyptians, ancient Greeks and the ancient Irish people, although modern pole vaulting, an athletic contest where height is measured, was first established by the German teacher Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths in the 1790s. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.
The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the World Indoor Games in 1985 in Paris, France and were subsequently renamed to IAAF World Indoor Championships in 1987. The current name was adapted with the name change of the sports governing body in 2019.
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist, three-times a World Champion, the current world record holder in the event, and is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time. Isinbayeva was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics after revelations of an extensive state-sponsored doping programme in Russia, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement winning the Olympic gold medal. She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC's Athletes' Commission.
Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila is a former American pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple-time world champion.
Donald George Bragg was an American athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault and won a gold medal in that event at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Jennifer Lynn Suhr is an American former pole vaulter. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of 17 US National Championships. She holds the world indoor pole vault record at 5.03 m. She holds the American women's pole vault record indoors. In 2008, she won the U.S. Olympic trials, setting an American record of 4.92 m and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics. She won the gold medal at the London Olympics on August 6, 2012. Track & Field News named her American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008.
The official results of the Women's pole vault at the 2002 European Championships in Munich, Germany. The final was held on 9 August 2002. The qualifying round was staged two days earlier, on August 7, with the mark set at 4.45 metres.
Elizaveta "Liz" Parnov is a Russian-Australian athlete who competed in the pole vault at the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games. She is also the winner of Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains.
Roberta Bruni is an Italian pole vaulter. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Pole vault. Her personal best of 4.60 m is the Italian record for the event.
Sonia Malavisi is an Italian pole vaulter.
Alysha Eveline Newman is a Canadian track and field athlete who specializes in the pole vault. She is 2024 Summer Olympics bronze medallist and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, and holds both the Canadian national and Commonwealth Games records in the women's pole vault. Newman represented Canada at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This marked her as the first Canadian woman to medal in pole vaulting at the Olympics. Her vault of 4.85 meters also set a new Canadian national record.
Armand "Mondo" Duplantis is a Swedish-American pole vaulter. Regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time, Duplantis is the current world outdoor and indoor record holder [6.26 m and 6.22 m respectively]. He is a two-time Olympic champion, two-time World outdoor and indoor champion, and the current European champion.
The women's pole vault at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4 and 6 August.
Ninon Chapelle is a French pole vaulter. She competed in the women's pole vault at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. She represented France in 2017 European Team Championships, where she was 3rd with a jump of 4.45m in Lille. At the 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships she finished in 5th place with a jump of 4.35m.
Amálie Švábíková is a Czech pole vaulter. She won the bronze medal at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. Švábíková claimed silver and gold at the 2019 and 2021 European Under-23 Championships respectively.
Kathryn Elizabeth Moon is an American pole vaulter. She won gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, and silver medals at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and the 2024 Summer Olympics. Moon was also the 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist.
The women's pole vault at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships was held at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero on 1 and 4 August.
