🎲

⚽ Sports and games 🏅 The Olympics and athletics

The pole vault

The pole vault

📖 In short

The pole vault is an amazing sport: the athlete runs holding a long, bendy pole, plants its end in a small box in the ground, and the pole bends and then flings them very high, so they fly over a high bar and land on a big mat.

🤩 Did you know?

  • The athlete holds the pole with hands 60 to 90 centimeters apart.
  • The men's world record is higher than 6 meters, taller than a two-story house!
  • Poles used to be made of bamboo.
  • Women's pole vault joined the Olympic Games in 2000.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 A magic stick

Today the pole is made of fiberglass or carbon fiber and is very flexible, bending like a bow, storing the energy of the athlete's run, then straightening and lifting them up.

🔍 Many skills

A pole vaulter needs running speed, strong arms, a gymnast's agility and great courage. They swing their legs above their head, then turn and push the pole away before clearing the bar.

💡 How to hold the pole

The athlete holds the pole with both hands apart and carries it almost level with the ground as they run, then lowers its tip before reaching the box.

🎯 For men and women

This sport used to be for men only, but today women compete in it too at the Olympics and world championships.

📸 More pictures

The pole vault

🧩 Test yourself

1 What does the athlete use to jump very high?

2 What does the vaulter land on?

3 The men's world record is higher than ?? meters, taller than a two-story house!

4 Which picture shows “The pole vault”?

⚽ Discover more

📷 Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons