Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

The men's pole vault was an event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.[1] Thirty-seven athletes from 24 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Jean Galfione of France, the nation's second victory in the event (previously in 1984). Igor Trandenkov took silver, the first medal for Russia in the pole vault in its first appearance as a separate delegation (though Trandenkov had himself taken silver in 1992 as well, as part of the Unified Team; Trandenkov was the sixth man to win two medals in the event and the first to do it under two different flags). Similarly, Andrei Tivontchik's bronze was the first for reunified Germany, though both East Germany and West Germany as well as the Unified Team of Germany had previously won medals.

Men's pole vault
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Pole vaulting at the 1996 Summer Olympics
VenueCentennial Olympic Stadium
Date31 July 1996 (qualifying)
2 August 1996 (final)
Competitors37 from 24 nations
Winning height5.92 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jean Galfione
 France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Igor Trandenkov
 Russia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Andrei Tivontchik
 Germany
← 1992
2000 →

Summary

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In the final, the tie between returning silver medalist Igor Trandenkov and Jean Galfione was broke by counting the number of their misses, with Galfione having had one miss earlier in the competition, and Trandenkov having had two misses, meaning that Galfione won gold, while Tradenkov earned second straight silver. Andrei Tivontchik cleared 5.92 on his second attempt to take bronze.[3][4]

Background

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This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1992 Games were silver medalist Igor Trandenkov of the Unified Team (now representing Russia), bronze medalist Javier García of Spain, and eighth-place finisher Danny Krasnov of Israel. By this competition, Sergey Bubka (gold medalist in 1988 for the Soviet Union, finalist in 1992 for the Unified Team, and now competing for Ukraine) had already pushed the world record to its current state and was the overwhelming favorite to win. But continuing his Olympic curse, Bubka came into the competition with a heel injury and did not make an attempt. To add further injury, his brother Vasiliy Bubka was one of seven athletes unable to clear a height in qualifying. Without Sergey Bubka competing, the field was "wide-open."[2]

Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Saint Lucia, and Ukraine each made their men's pole vaulting debut. The United States made its 22nd 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 5.20 metres, 5.40 metres, 5.60 metres, and 5.70 metres. All vaulters clearing 5.70 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 cleared that height, the top 12 (including ties, after applying the countback rules) advanced.

In the final, the bar was set at 5.40 metres, 5.60 metres, 5.70 metres, 5.80 metres, 5.86 metres, 5.92 metres, 5.97 metres, and 6.02 metres.[2][5]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

World record   Sergey Bubka (UKR) 6.14 Sestriere, Italy 31 July 1994
Olympic record   Sergey Bubka (URS) 5.90 Seoul, South Korea 30 July 1988

The three medalists (Jean Galfione, Igor Trandenkov, and Andrei Tivontchik) all cleared 5.92 metres, breaking the Olympic record. None succeeded at any higher attempts.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 31 July 1996 9:30 Qualifying
Friday, 2 August 1996 17:00 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 Wednesday July 31, 1996. Qualification rule: Qualifying performance 5.70 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 5.20 5.40 5.60 5.70 Height Notes
1 A Alain Andji   France o o o 5.70 Q
A Tim Lobinger   Germany o o o 5.70 Q
B Pyotr Bochkaryov   Russia o o 5.70 Q
B Riaan Botha   South Africa o o o 5.70 Q
5 A Jeff Hartwig   United States o xo o 5.70 Q
B Jean Galfione   France xo o o 5.70 Q
7 A Igor Trandenkov   Russia xxo o 5.70 Q
8 A Igor Potapovich   Kazakhstan o xo 5.70 Q
9 B Andrei Tivontchik   Germany o xxo 5.70 Q
10 A Michael Stolle   Germany xo xo o xxo 5.70 Q
11 B Lawrence Johnson   United States xo xxo xxo 5.70 Q
12 A Dmitriy Markov   Belarus o o xxx 5.60 q
B Scott Huffman   United States o o xxx 5.60 q
B Danny Krasnov   Israel o o xxx 5.60 q
15 B José Manuel Arcos   Spain xxo o xxx 5.60
16 A Jim Miller   Australia xo xo xxx 5.60
17 A Viktor Chistyakov   Russia xxo xo xxx 5.60
18 A Nuno Fernandes   Portugal xo o xxo xxx 5.60
B Heikki Vääräniemi   Finland xo xxo xxx 5.60
20 A Konstantin Semyonov   Israel o x– xx 5.40
B Nick Buckfield   Great Britain o xxx 5.40
B Javier García   Spain o xxx 5.40
23 A Laurens Looije   Netherlands xxo o xxx 5.40
24 A Neil Winter   Great Britain o xo xxx 5.40
B Kim Chul-kyun   South Korea o xo xxx 5.40
26 B Martin Voss   Denmark xo xo x– xx 5.40
27 B Aleksandrs Obižajevs   Latvia xxo xxx 5.40
28 A Edgar Díaz   Puerto Rico xo xxo xxx 5.40
29 B Alexandru Jucov   Moldova o xxx 5.20
30 A Teruyasu Yonekura   Japan xxo xxx 5.20
A Okkert Brits   South Africa xxx No mark
A Vasiliy Bubka   Ukraine xxx No mark
A Juan Gabriel Concepción   Spain xxx No mark
A Kersley Gardenne   Mauritius xxx No mark
B Simon Arkell   Australia xxx No mark
B Valeri Bukrejev   Estonia xxx No mark
B Dominic Johnson   Saint Lucia xxx No mark
B Sergey Bubka   Ukraine DNS

Final

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Igor Potapovich in Atlanta

The final was held on Friday August 2, 1996.

Rank Athlete Nation 5.40 5.60 5.70 5.80 5.86 5.92 5.97 6.02 Height Notes
  Jean Galfione   France o xo o o x– xx 5.92 OR
  Igor Trandenkov   Russia o xx– o xxx 5.92 OR
  Andrei Tivontchik   Germany xo xo xo xo xxx 5.92 OR
4 Igor Potapovich   Kazakhstan o o x– xx 5.86
5 Pyotr Bochkaryov   Russia xo xo o xx– x 5.86
6 Dmitriy Markov   Belarus o o xo xxo xo xxx 5.86
7 Tim Lobinger   Germany o o o x– xx 5.80
8 Lawrence Johnson   United States o o o xxx 5.70
9 Alain Andji   France o o xxo xxx 5.70
Michael Stolle   Germany o o xxo xxx 5.70
11 Jeff Hartwig   United States o o xxx 5.60
Danny Krasnov   Israel o o xxx 5.60
13 Scott Huffman   United States xo o xxx 5.60
14 Riaan Botha   South Africa o xo xxx 5.60

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Pole Vault, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  3. ^ "The changing face of men's Pole Vaulting | NEWS | World Athletics".
  4. ^ "Olympic pole-vault champ commits suicide - The Local". Archived from the original on 2016-01-04.
  5. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 90.
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