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As a practical means of passing over such natural obstacles as canals and brooks, pole vaulting has been used in many parts of the world, such as in the marshy provinces along the North Sea and the great level of the fens of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The artificial draining of these marshes brought into existence a network of open drains or canals intersecting each other at right angles. In order to cross these without getting wet, and at the same time avoid tedious roundabout journeys over the bridges, a stack of jumping poles was kept at every house, which were commonly used for vaulting over the canals.
Modern competitions probably began around 1850 in Germany, when it was added to the gymnastic exercises of the Turner by Johann C. F. GutsMuths and Frederich L. Jahn . The modern pole vaulting technique was developed in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. In Great Britain it was first commonly practised at the Caledonian games . Although strength and good physical condition are essential to efficiency in pole-vaulting, skill is a much more important element. Broad-jumping with the pole, though the original form of the sport, has never found its way into organized athletics, the high jump being the only form recognized. The object is to clear a bar or lath supported upon two uprights without knocking it down. While women's pole vault records were kept for many years, the event only started to gain popularity in the 1990s.
In holding the pole the height of the cross-bar is first ascertained, and the right hand placed, with an undergrip, about 6 in (150 mm) above this point, the left hand, with an over-grip, being from 14 to 30 in (350 to 750 mm) below the right.
To complete a vault, competitors sprint towards the bar and "plant" one end of the poles (which vary significantly in length, and competitors choose different ones depending on their own form and the weather conditions) in a small hole up to 800 mm in front of mattress and bar, using the kinetic energyKinetic energy (also called vis viva or living force is energy possessed by a body by virtue of its motion. The kinetic energy of a body is equal to the amount of work needed to establish its velocity and rotation, starting from rest. Equations Definition gained in their sprint to cause the pole to bend as they pivot up off the ground. As the pole angles towards the vertical, it springs back straight, releasing its stored energy to drive the vaulter higher. As he nears the bar he throws his legs forward, and, pushing with shoulders and arms, clears it, letting the pole fall backwards. Competitors, by this time, push off from the pole and attempt to roll over the bar with the abdomen facing down, landing face up on a soft foam mat. In Britain at one time the vaulter was allowed to climb the pole when it is at the perpendicular. Tom Ray , of UlverstonUlverston is a quaint Market town in the Northwest English administrative county of Cumbria. Some traditionalists considered it to be still in Lancashire. Over the years the town has been the birthplace of several famous persons Sir John Barrow, born at D in LancashireLancashire (archaically, the County of Lancaster is a county palatine of England, lying on the Irish Sea. Its name is sometimes abbreviated to Lancs . Its traditional county town was Lancaster, but the county council is now based in Preston. The county bo, who was champion of the world in 1887, was able to gain several feet in this manner. The other equipment and rules for the competition are virtually identical to the high jump.
The pole vault is exciting to watch because of the extreme heights reached by competitors, and is thus popular with spectators.
The current men's world record is 6.14 metres (20 ft, 1¾ in), held by Sergey BubkaSergey Bubka (born 14 December 1963 in Voroshilovgrad U. today Luhansk, Ukraine) is an Ukrainian athlete. He is the first pole vaulter to clear 6. 1 metres (20 feet). He set the current world record of 6. 14 metres on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere, Italy. of UkraineUkraine Ukrayina in Ukrainian; in Russian) is a republic in eastern Europe which borders the Black Sea to the south, the Russian Federation to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west and Romania and Moldova to the west and, and the women's world record is 4.92 metres (16 ft, 1¾ in), by Yelena IsinbayevaYelena Isinbayeva (born June 3, 1982) is a Russian pole vaulter. Born in the northern Caucasus city of Volgograd. In her first big competition, the 1998 World Junior Championships in Annecy, France, Yelena jumped 4. but this left her 10 cm. away from the of RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With, set on 3 September 2004 at the Ivo Van Damme Memorial in Brussels.