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 competitions were known to the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoan Greeks and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-time 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.
Svetlana Yevgenyevna Feofanova is a Russian pole vaulter.
The first world record in the women's pole vault was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1994. The inaugural record, 4.05 metres by Sun Caiyun of China set in 1992, was the world's best mark as of December 31, 1994.
The first world record in the men's pole vault was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912.
Giuseppe "Peppe" Gibilisco is an Italian coach and former pole vaulter, who won the 2003 World Championships with a personal best of 5.90 m. He followed this with a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. He also competed in four-man bobsleigh in two race of the 2016–17 Bobsleigh World Cup finishing 25th and 28th.
Timothy "Tim" Mack is an American pole vaulter who won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.
Silke Spiegelburg is a German pole vaulter. She is the younger sister of Richard Spiegelburg. She represented Germany at the Summer Olympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012, as well as having competed at the World Championships in Athletics. She is a European silver medallist in the event both indoors and outdoors.
Björn Otto is a retired German pole vaulter.
Renaud Lavillenie is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three World Indoor Championships gold medals (record), three European Championships gold medals and four European Indoor Championships gold medals. He has also won one silver medal and four bronze medals at the World Championships. As of 25 August 2016, he holds the French national records for the highest pole vault clearance both outdoors and indoors. The 6.16 was the absolute world record for the pole vault for over six years, 2014–2020. He was the pole vault overall winner of the IAAF Diamond League in seven consecutive years, from 2010 to 2016.
Anna Giordano Bruno is a retired Italian track and field athlete who specialised in the pole vault.
Angelica Therese Bengtsson is a Swedish track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She became the first pole vault winner at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, 2010.
The following is the Men's pole vault indoor world record progression starting from 1889, with additional demonstration and professional records being noted. The best indoor performances on record as agreed to by the world's leading statisticians were accepted as the inaugural Indoor World Records from 1 January 1987; previous to this, they were regarded as world indoor bests. However, the inaugural record in this event was set early in 1987 by Sergey Bubka.
Jillian Schwartz is an American-born female former pole vaulter who competed internationally for Israel. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive World Championships in Athletics from 2003 to 2011. Her best placing in international competition was fourth at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Lacy Janson is an American track and field athlete who specialized in the pole vault. She was the 2010 USA indoor champion in the event and represented her country at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. At college level, she won both an outdoor and an indoor NCAA title for Florida State University.
Roberta Bruni is an Italian pole vaulter. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Pole vault.
This is the progression of world record improvements of the pole vault W35 division of Masters athletics.
This is the progression of world record improvements of the pole vault M60 division of Masters athletics.
This is the progression of world record improvements of the pole vault M85 division of Masters athletics.
Gabriela Mihalcea is a Romanian former track and field athlete who competed in the high jump and pole vault. She holds the Romanian record of 4.25 m for the pole vault. She was two-time national champion in high jump and a six-time pole vault champion.
Sweden 
United States 
Austria 
France 
Canada