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Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Men's pole vault
at the Games of the V Olympiad
Gold medalist Harry Babcock
VenueStockholm Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 10–11
Competitors25 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Harry Babcock
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frank Nelson
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Marc Wright
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) William Halpenny
 Canada
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Frank Murphy
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bertil Uggla
 Sweden
← 1908
1920 →

The men's pole vault was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912, and on Thursday, July 11, 1912. Twenty-five pole vaulters from eleven nations competed.[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[2] It was the second straight Games in which more than 3 medals were awarded in the event. The event was won by Harry Babcock of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the event. Fellow Americans Frank Nelson and Marc Wright tied for second and were both awarded silver; normally, this would have constituted a medal sweep. However, bronze medals were awarded to the three men tied for fourth place. This put both Canada and Sweden on the podium for the second consecutive Games and awarded the United States a total of four medals in the 1912 pole vault.

Background

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This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning vaulters from the 1908 Games were sixth-place finishers Georgios Banikas of Greece and Sam Bellah of the United States. The American team was dominant but there "was no clear American favorite" with many accomplished pole vaulters from the United States. The home team of Sweden was large as well, headlined by Bertil Uggla. Canada's William Halpenny was also a contender, having won the 1908 AAU championship.[3]

Austria, Bohemia, Denmark, Italy, and Russia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its fifth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Competition format

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The 1912 tournament introduced a true two-round format, with results cleared between rounds. Vaulters received three attempts at each height.

The qualifying round started with the bar at 3.00 metres, with the height increasing gradually to 3.65 metres. All vaulters clearing 3.65 metres advanced to the final.

The final had the bar initially at 3.40 metres, increasing to 3.50 metres, 3.60 metres, and then by 5 centimetres at a time until a winner was found.[3][4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record  Marc Wright (USA) 4.02 Cambridge, United States 8 June 1912
Olympic record  Edward Cook (USA)
 Alfred Carlton Gilbert (USA)
3.71 London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 24 July 1908

The Olympic record was equalized or improved 18 times during this competition. Finally Harry Babcock set a new Olympic record with 3.95 metres.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Wednesday, 10 July 1912 14:15 Qualifying
Thursday, 11 July 1912 15:15 Final

Results

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Key

  • o = Height cleared
  • x = Height failed
  • = Height passed
  • r  = Retired
  • SB = Season's best
  • PB = Personal best
  • NR = National record
  • AR = Area record
  • OR = Olympic record
  • WR = World record
  • WL = World lead
  • NM = No mark
  • DNS = Did not start
  • DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation 3.00 3.20 3.40 3.50 3.60 3.65 Height Notes
1 William Halpenny  Canada o o o o 3.65 Q
Harry Babcock  United States o o o o o 3.65 Q
Bill Fritz  United States o o o o o 3.65 Q
Frank Murphy  United States o o o xxo o 3.65 Q
Robert Pasemann  Germany o o o o xxo o 3.65 Q
Sam Bellah  United States xo xxo xo o 3.65 Q
Gordon Dukes  United States xxo o xxo o o 3.65 Q
Frank Nelson  United States o o o o xo 3.65 Q
Marc Wright  United States o o o xo 3.65 Q
Bertil Uggla  Sweden o o o o o xo 3.65 Q
Frank Coyle  United States o o o xxo 3.65 Q
12 Carl Hårleman  Sweden xo o xo o xxx 3.60
Richard Sjöberg  Sweden o o o o xxo xxx 3.60
Clas Gille  Sweden o o xxo xxo xxx 3.60
15 Fernand Gonder  France xo xo o o xxx 3.50
16 Ulrich Baasch  Russia o o o xxx 3.40
Fritz Bøchen Vikke  Denmark o o o xxx 3.40
18 Magnus Nilsson  Sweden o xxx 3.20
Hugo Svensson  Sweden o o xxx 3.20
Sander Santesson  Sweden xo o xxx 3.20
Viktor Franzl  Austria xxo o xxx 3.20
Georgios Banikas  Greece xo xo xxx 3.20
23 Jindřich Jirsák  Bohemia o xxx 3.00
Manlio Legat  Italy o xxx 3.00
Johann Martin  Russia xxx No mark

Final

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Halpenny was forced to retire from the competition after he broke two ribs while clearing 3.80 metres and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.

Rank Athlete Nation 3.40 3.50 3.60 3.65 3.75 3.80 3.85 3.95 4.06 Height Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Harry Babcock  United States o o o o o o o xxx 3.95 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frank Nelson  United States o o o xo o o xo xxx 3.85
Marc Wright  United States o o o o xo xo xo xxx 3.85
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) William Halpenny  Canada o xo o o xo xo r 3.80
Frank Murphy  United States o o xo xo o o xxx 3.80
Bertil Uggla  Sweden o o o o o xo xxx 3.80
7 Sam Bellah  United States o o xo o xo xxx 3.75
8 Frank Coyle  United States o o xo xo xxx 3.65
Gordon Dukes  United States o o o xxo xxx 3.65
Bill Fritz  United States o xo xo xxo xxx 3.65
11 Robert Pasemann  Germany xo xxx 3.40
Harry Babcock on the way to win the gold medal.
Frank Nelson winning the silver medal.
Second silver medalist Marc Wright.
One of the three bronze medalists Bertil Uggla.

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. ^ Official report, p. 61.
  3. ^ a b "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 399.

Sources

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  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 4 January 2007.