Pole vaulting is an impressive track and field event, which is also part of the Olympics track and field portion. It is done by an athlete running and using a pole made from fiberglass or carbon fiber to propel themselves up and over a target onto a mat on the other side. Pole vault history is long and it was a sport that was known to many ancient cultures and peoples.
Although pole vaulting was not part of the ancient Olympics, it was a practised sport and it can be seen presented on many ancient Greek ceramics. The dating of some of these finds has been put at around 500 B. C. But pole vaulting was not only limited to ancient Greece, there is also evidence of its practise in ancient Ireland and France and there are Egyptian freezes that date back to 2500 B. C. That depict warriors pole vaulting over walls.
The first competitions involving pole vaulting are thought to have been held circa 1829 B. C. At the Irish Tailteann Games. When the modern Olympics were reinstated in 1896, pole vaulting was included as one of the track and field events. The Olympic event for women was only opened in 2000.
It is thought that the original poles that were used in the ancient sport were made from tree limbs. Before World War II the poles were made from bamboo and then in the 1950s the poles began to be manufactured from fiberglass.
At the 1896 Olympics, the gold medal in the event was awarded to William Hoyt with a jump of 3.30 meters. In 1985 the first pole vaulter to top six meters was Sergey Bubka and he still holds the outdoors record of 6.14 meters, which was set in 1994. There is no woman that is yet to top six meters in pole vaulting.
Pole vault history stretches back a long way into the classical age, when it was a useful skill for warriors to possess. Technology has helped the sport to advance steadily.
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