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Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

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Official Video Highlights
Men's pole vault
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates23 September 1988 (qualifying)
25 September 1988 (final)
Competitors21 from 13 nations
Winning height5.90 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sergey Bubka
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Rodion Gataullin
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Grigoriy Yegorov
 Soviet Union
← 1984
1992 →

The men's pole vault at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 21 competitors from 13 nations, with two qualifying groups (21 jumpers) before the final (15) took place on Wednesday September 28, 1988.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

Three Soviet, French and American athletes made the final, but it was the Soviet bloc that dominated the event, sweeping the medals, with Sergey Bubka already the dominant vaulter. His world record of 6.06 metres, set two months earlier, has only since been cleared by three other men, 2008 gold medalist Steven Hooker, 2012 gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie, and 2020 gold medalist Armand Duplantis in 2020.

But while Bubka would vault in three more Olympics and would continue to dominate the World Championships with six consecutive wins, this would be the only Olympic medal he would achieve. It was also the only victory the Soviet Union had in the men's pole vault, though the Unified Team (ex-USSR countries) would win in 1992.

Rodion Gataullin and Grigoriy Yegorov completed the medal sweep for the Soviet team; it was the fourth pole vault medal sweep (the United States had done it in 1904, 1924, and 1928). The 1988 Games were the first in which the United States competed in the pole vault, but failed to medal.

Background

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This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1984 Games were the two bronze medalists, Earl Bell of the United States and Thierry Vigneron of France. Sergey Bubka of the Soviet Union was dominant: he had won the 1983 and 1987 world championships, the 1986 European championship, and set the world record nine times between 1984 and 1988, becoming the only man to have cleared 6 metres.[2]

South Korea made its men's pole vaulting debut. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912, with results cleared between rounds. Vaulters received three attempts at each height. Ties were broken by the countback rule.

In the qualifying round, the bar was set at 5.10 metres, 5.20 metres, 5.30 metres, 5.40 metres, 5.45 metres, 5.50 metres, and 5.55 metres. The first two heights were only used in the second qualifying group. All vaulters clearing 5.55 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 cleared that height, the top 12 (including ties) advanced.

In the final, the bar was set at 5.10 metres, 5.25 metres, 5.40 metres, 5.50 metres, 5.60 metres, and then increased by 5 centimetres as a time.[2][3]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World record  Sergey Bubka (URS) 6.06 Nice, France 10 July 1988
Olympic record  Władysław Kozakiewicz (POL) 5.78 Moscow, Soviet Union 30 July 1980

When the bar was raised to 5.80 metres, giving vaulters a chance to break the Olympic record, only the three Soviets remained in the competition. Grigoriy Yegorov was the only one to jump at 5.80 metres, becoming the first to break the Olympic record. Rodion Gataullin jumped successfully at 5.85 metres, breaking Yegorov's new record while Yegorov passed. At 5.90 metres, Sergey Bubka broke Gataullin's record with a mark that stood at the end of the Games, as none of the three could clear further.

Schedule

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All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Monday, 26 September 1988 Qualifying
Wednesday, 28 September 1988 12:00 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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The qualifying round was held on Monday September 26, 1988. After a dispute regarding disparate raising increments between the groups, all 15 of the vaulters who had cleared 5.40 metres were advanced to the final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 5.10 5.20 5.30 5.40 5.45 5.50 5.55 Height Notes
1 A Rodion Gataullin  Soviet Union o 5.50 q
A Sergey Bubka  Soviet Union o 5.50 q
3 A Grigoriy Yegorov  Soviet Union o 5.45 q
4 A Kory Tarpenning  United States o x– 5.40 q
A Earl Bell  United States o x– 5.40 q
A Mirosław Chmara  Poland o 5.40 q
B Marian Kolasa  Poland o 5.40 q
8 B Asko Peltoniemi  Finland xxo o 5.40 q
9 A Billy Olson  United States xo 5.40 q
A Philippe Collet  France xo 5.40 q
A Hermann Fehringer  Austria o xo 5.40 q
B Zdeněk Lubenský  Czechoslovakia o o xo 5.40 q
B Philippe d'Encausse  France o xo 5.40 q
B István Bagyula  Hungary o o o xo 5.40 q
15 B Thierry Vigneron  France o o xo xo 5.40 q
16 B Kim Chul-Kyun  South Korea xo xo xo xxx 5.30
17 B Paul Just  Canada xo o xxo xxx 5.30
A Atanas Tarev  Bulgaria xxx No mark
B Lee Jae-bok  South Korea xxx No mark
B Javier García  Spain xxx No mark
B Andy Ashurst  Great Britain xxx No mark

Final

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The final was held on Wednesday September 28, 1988.

Rank Athlete Nation 5.10 5.25 5.40 5.50 5.60 5.65 5.70 5.75 5.80 5.85 5.90 5.95 6.10 Height Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sergey Bubka  Soviet Union xo xxo x 5.90 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Rodion Gataullin  Soviet Union o xxo xxx 5.85
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Grigoriy Yegorov  Soviet Union o xo o xxx 5.80
4 Earl Bell  United States o o o xxx 5.70
5 Thierry Vigneron  France xo o o xo x 5.70
Philippe Collet  France xo xo xxx 5.70
7 István Bagyula  Hungary o o o o o xxx 5.60
8 Philippe d'Encausse  France o x– xo xxx 5.60
9 Asko Peltoniemi  Finland o xxo xxx 5.60
10 Kory Tarpenning  United States o xxx 5.50
11 Zdeněk Lubenský  Czechoslovakia xo o xxx 5.50
12 Billy Olson  United States xxo xxx 5.50
13 Hermann Fehringer  Austria o o xxx 5.40
Mirosław Chmara  Poland xxx No mark
Marian Kolasa  Poland xxx No mark

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, p. 242.
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