Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

Men's pole vault at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Eventual bronze medallist Wolfgang Nordwig led the qualifying round alongside John Pennel.
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Dates	14 and 16 October
Medalists
Bob Seagren  United States Claus Schiprowski  West Germany Wolfgang Nordwig  East Germany

Video on YouTube @ 10:20 Official Video

The men's pole vault was one of four men's jumping events on the athletics program at the 1968 Summer Olympics. The competition had two rounds, qualifying and a final, which were held on 14 and 16 October respectively at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City.

Bob Seagren, who had set a world record of 5.41 m (17 ft 8+3⁄4 in) a month earlier, won the gold medal for the United States. The medallists, Seagren, Claus Schiprowski, and Wolfgang Nordwig, all finished the competition with the same height (5.40 m (17 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) and the trio shared in breaking Fred Hansen's Olympic record of 5.10 m (16 ft 8+3⁄4 in) set at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Both Seagren and Schiprowski cleared the winning height on their second attempt and were separated by Schiprowski having two misses earlier in the competition, while Seagren only had one. Nordwig entered the final height, tied with Seagren with only one miss earlier in the competition, but Nordwig took three attempts to clear the winning height. Of the top five competitors, only Schiprowski would not hold the World record at some point in time. Tenth place Kjell Isaksson would also hold the world record.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In both rounds, each athlete had three attempts at each height and was eliminated from the competition if he failed to clear that height. Athletes could choose to pass onto the next height, although any failed attempts were carried over into that height. The heights increased in increments of five centimetres. Athletes who successfully jumped the qualifying height 4.90 m (16 ft 3⁄4 in) progressed to the final round. In the event that fewer than twelve athletes cleared that height, the best twelve athletes (including those tied with athletes in the top twelve) would progress to the next round.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Monday, 14 October 1968	?	Qualifications
Wednesday, 16 October 1968	?	Finals

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Bob Seagren (USA)	5.41 m A	Echo Summit, United States	12 September 1968
Olympic record	Fred Hansen (USA)	5.10 m	Tokyo, Japan	17 October 1964

The following new Olympic record was set during this competition:

Date	Event	Athlete	Mark	Notes
16 October	Final	Bob Seagren (USA)  Claus Schiprowski (FRG)  Wolfgang Nordwig (GDR)	5.40	OR

Results

Qualifying

Rank	Group	Name	Nationality	Mark	4.20	4.30	4.40	4.50	4.60	4.70	4.75	4.80	4.85	4.90	Notes
1=	A	Wolfgang Nordwig	East Germany	4.90					–	–	–	–	–	o
1=	A	John Pennel	United States	4.90					–	–	–	–	–	o
3=	A	Altti Alarotu	Finland	4.90					–	o	–	–	–	o
3=	A	Erkki Mustakari	Finland	4.90					o	–	–	–	–	o
3=	A	Hervé d'Encausse	France	4.90					–	–	–	o	–	o
3=	A	Claus Schiprowski	West Germany	4.90					–	–	–	o	–	o
3=	A	Christos Papanikolaou	Greece	4.90					–	–	–	o	–	o
3=	A	Hennadiy Bleznitsov	Soviet Union	4.90					o	–	–	–	–	o
9=	B	Ignacio Sola	Spain	4.90	–	–	–	–	o	–	–	o	–	o
9=	B	Mike Bull	Great Britain	4.90	–	–	–	–	o	–	–	o	–	o
9=	B	Kiyoshi Niwa	Japan	4.90	–	–	–	–	o	–	–	o	–	o
12	B	Aleksandr Malyutin	Soviet Union	4.90	–	–	xxo	o	–	o	–	xxo	–	o
13	A	Bob Seagren	United States	4.90					–	–	–	–	–	xo
14	A	Kjell Isaksson	Sweden	4.90					–	o	–	–	–	xo
15	A	Heinfried Engel	West Germany	4.90					o	–	–	o	–	xxo
16	B	Pantelis Nikolaidis	Greece	4.80	–	–	o	–	o	–	–	o	–	xxx
17	B	Enrico Barney	Argentina	4.80	o	o	–	xo	o	xxo	–	o	–	xxx
18	B	Klaus Lehnertz	West Germany	4.75	–	–	o	–	o	–	o	–	xxx
19	B	John-Erik Blomqvist	Sweden	4.75	–	–	–	–	o	–	xxo	–	–	xxx
20	A	Casey Carrigan	United States	4.60					o	–	–	–	–	xxx
21	B	Wu Ah-Min	Taiwan	4.50	o	o	–	o	xxx
22	B	Heinz Wyss	Switzerland	4.50	–	xo	–	o	–	r
—	B	Ingo Peyker	Austria	–	–	–	–	xxx

Key: OR = Olympic record; o = clear ; – = pass; x = fail; r = retired

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	4.60	4.80	4.90	5.00	5.05	5.10	5.15	5.20	5.25	5.30	5.35	5.40	5.45	Mark	Notes
	Bob Seagren	United States	–	–	–	–	o	–	–	xo	–	o	–	xo	xxx	5.40	OR
	Claus Schiprowski	West Germany	–	–	o	o	–	o	–	o	xo	o	xo	xo	xxx	5.40	OR
	Wolfgang Nordwig	East Germany	–	–	–	xo	–	–	–	o	–	o	o	xxo	xxx	5.40	OR
4	Christos Papanikolaou	Greece	–	o	–	o	–	–	o	–	xo	xo	o	xxx	–	5.35
5	John Pennel	United States	–	–	–	–	o	–	–	xo	–	xo	xxo	xxx	–	5.35
6	Hennadiy Bleznitsov	Soviet Union	o	–	o	–	–	o	–	o	–	xo	xxx			5.30
7	Hervé d'Encausse	France	–	–	–	o	–	–	xo	–	o	–	xxx			5.25
8	Heinfried Engel	West Germany	–	o	–	xxo	–	xo	–	o	xxx					5.20
9	Ignacio Sola	Spain	–	xo	–	o	–	xo	o	xxo	xxx					5.20
10	Kjell Isaksson	Sweden	–	–	o	–	xo	–	o	xxx						5.15
11	Kiyoshi Niwa	Japan	–	o	o	o	–	o	xo	xxx						5.15
12	Aleksandr Malyutin	Soviet Union	o	–	o	o	–	xxx								5.00
13	Mike Bull	Great Britain	–	xo	o	xo	–	xxx								5.00
14	Altti Alarotu	Finland	–	–	–	xxo	r									5.00
—	Erkki Mustakari	Finland	–	xxx												NM

Key: OR = Olympic record; o = clear ; – = pass; x = fail; r = retired

References

• Sports Reference