Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-time World Champion, the 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 program in Russia, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement after 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.
Władysław Kozakiewicz is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the pole vault. He is best known for winning the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and the bras d'honneur gesture which he showed to the hostile Soviet crowd. In Poland, where the gesture was viewed as a symbol of resistance against Soviet dominance, it became known as "Kozakiewicz's gesture". In addition, he won several medals at continental level, won two Summer Universiades and broke the pole vault world record three times, twice outdoors and once indoors. He is also a ten-time Polish champion.
Anna Rogowska is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the pole vault. She became the World Champion in 2009 in Berlin.
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.
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.
Yarisley Silva Rodríguez is a Cuban pole vaulter. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics – the first Latin American athlete to win an Olympic medal in that event.
The Women's Pole Vault event at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany was held between 15 August and 17 August 2009. Yelena Isinbayeva was the strong favourite prior to the competition, a position enhanced further by the withdrawal of 2008 Olympic silver medallist Jennifer Stuczynski. Anna Rogowska was the only athlete to beat Isinbayeva in the buildup to the event. Fabiana Murer and Monika Pyrek had both registered strong season's bests but had suffered from indifferent form. European Indoor medallists Yuliya Golubchikova and Silke Spiegelburg rounded out the list of the season's highest jumping athletes.
Przemysław Pawlicki is a motorcycle speedway rider from Poland.
Chelsea Johnson is a former American pole vaulter. She is the daughter of Jan Johnson, who won three NCAA championships and a bronze medal in the pole vault at the 1972 Summer Olympics. She won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, but retired from the sport two years later.
Mateusz Didenkow is a retired Polish track and field athlete who competed in the pole vault. His personal best for the event is 5.75 metres, set in 2011.
Anna Jagaciak-Michalska is a retired Polish long and triple jumper. She won three medals in total at Summer Universiades. In addition she finished sixth at the 2017 World Championships and just behind the podium at the 2016 European Championships and 2017 European Indoor Championships.
Holly Bethan Bradshaw is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She is the current British record holder in the event indoors and outdoors, with clearances of 4.87 metres and 4.90 metres. Bradshaw won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, gold at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, bronze at the 2018 European Championships, and silver at the 2019 European Indoor Championships. She also won at the 2018 Athletics World Cup. Coached by Scott Simpson, she has been consistently ranked among the world's best and has been ranked in the world top ten on the Track and Field News merit rankings four times.
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.
Syrine Ebondo is a Tunisian track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault. She is one of Africa's top pole vaulters and is a seven-time African champion. Her personal best of 4.21 metres, set in 2006, was the Tunisian record for the event until it was surpassed by Dorra_Mahfoudhi in Rabat 2019.
Joanna Aleksandra Pilichiewicz/Piwowarska is a Polish pole vaulter. She set her personal best height of 4.53 metres by finishing second for the women's pole vault at the 2006 IAAF Super Grand Prix Meeting in Doha, Qatar.
Katarzyna Kawa is a Polish professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 112 in singles, achieved November 2020, and world No. 64 in doubles, set on 3 October 2022. She has won four WTA Challenger doubles titles, and also seven singles and 19 doubles titles on tournaments of the ITF Women's Circuit.
Sally Peake is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She has a personal best of 4.40 m for the event, which is a Welsh record. She was the silver medallist in the pole vault at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Piotr Lisek is a Polish athlete specialising in the pole vault. He won bronze medals at the 2015 and 2019 World Championships and the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships. He is the first Polish vaulter to jump over 6 meters.
Małgorzata Białecka is a Polish windsurfer, In her career she won the Windsurfing World Championships in 2016. She competed at 2016 Olympic Games where she placed 14th.
Chang Ko-hsin is a retired Taiwanese pole vaulter.
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