Men's pole vault world record progression

Not to be confused with Men's pole vault indoor world record progression.

The first world record in the men's pole vault was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912.^[1]

As of April 20, 2024, 80 world records have been ratified by the IAAF (now World Athletics) in the event. Since 2000, World Athletics makes no distinction between indoor and outdoor settings when establishing pole vault world records. This new rule was not applied retroactively. The introduction in the early 1950s of flexible vaulting poles made from composites such as fiberglass or carbon fiber allowed vaulters to achieve greater height.^[1][2][3] The present record of 6.26 m (20 ft 6+1⁄4 in) was set by Armand Duplantis, competing for Sweden at the Silesia Diamond League.^[4]

Record progression

	Ratified
	Not ratified
	Ratified but later rescinded
	Pending ratification

Mark	Athlete	Nation	Venue	Date	#[a]
3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)	Francis Temple	Great Britain	Woolwich	October 6, 1849[5]	1
3.21 m (10 ft 6+1⁄4 in)	Robert Mitchell		London	June 19, 1868[5]	1
3.225 m (10 ft 6+3⁄4 in)	Edwin Woodburn		Newton	August 31, 1872[5]	1
			Lancaster	June 2, 1873[5]	2
	William Kelsey		Sheffield	July 7, 1873[5]	1
	John Wigfull				1
	Edwin Woodburn		London	March 30, 1874[5]	3
	John Wigfull		Sheffield	July 5, 1875[5]	2
3.38 m (11 ft 1 in)	A. Hammond		Bury St.Edmunds	March 30, 1876[5]	1
	Edwin Woodburn		Ulverston	July 21, 1876[5]	4
3.42 m (11 ft 2+1⁄2 in)	Thomas Ray			September 19, 1879[5]	1
3.43 m (11 ft 3 in)			Birmingham	July 16, 1881[5]	2
3.455 m (11 ft 4 in)			Bradford	August 12, 1882[5]	3
			Nottingham	June 16, 1883[5]	4
3.465 m (11 ft 4+1⁄4 in)			Preston	August 18, 1883[5]	5
3.48 m (11 ft 5 in)			Grasmere	August 20, 1885[5]	6
3.485 m (11 ft 5 in)			Whitehaven	August 13, 1886[5]	7
3.505 m (11 ft 5+3⁄4 in)			Grasmere	August 18, 1887[5]	8
3.52 m (11 ft 6+1⁄2 in)			Whitehaven	August 19, 1887[5]	9
3.53 m (11 ft 6+3⁄4 in)	Ernest Stones		Southport	June 2, 1888[5]	1
3.555 m (11 ft 7+3⁄4 in)	Thomas Ray		Barrow	September 22, 1888[5]	10
3.57 m (11 ft 8+1⁄2 in)	Ernest Stones		Grasmere	August 23, 1889[5]	2
3.58 m (11 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	Richard Dickenson		Kidderminster	July 4, 1891[5]	1
3.62 m (11 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	Raymond Clapp	United States	Chicago	June 16, 1898[5]	1
3.69 m (12 ft 1+1⁄4 in)	Norman Dole		Berkeley	April 23, 1904[5]	1
3.69 m (12 ft 1+1⁄4 in)	Fernand Gonder	France	Paris	June 26, 1904[5]	1
3.74 m (12 ft 3 in)			Gradignan	June 4, 1905[5]	2
3.78 m (12 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Leroy Samse	United States	Chicago	June 2, 1906[5]	1
3.79 m (12 ft 5 in)	Walter Dray		New Haven	May 18, 1907[5]	1
3.82 m (12 ft 6+1⁄4 in)			Philadelphia	April 25, 1908[5]	2
3.855 m (12 ft 7+3⁄4 in)	Alfred Gilbert			June 6, 1908[5]	1
3.86 m (12 ft 7+3⁄4 in)			New Haven	June 12, 1908[5]	2
3.90 m (12 ft 9+1⁄2 in)	Walter Dray		Danbury	June 13, 1908[5]	3
3.91 m (12 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	Leland Scott		Berkeley	April 30, 1910[5]	1
3.93 m (12 ft 10+1⁄2 in)			Boulder	May 27, 1910[5]	2
3.985 m (13 ft 3⁄4 in)	Robert Gardner		Philadelphia	June 1, 1912[5]	1
4.02 m (13 ft 2+1⁄4 in)	Marc Wright		Cambridge, U.S.	June 8, 1912[1]	1
4.09 m (13 ft 5 in)	Frank Foss		Antwerp, Belgium	August 20, 1920[1]	1
4.12 m (13 ft 6 in)	Charles Hoff	Norway	Copenhagen, Denmark	September 22, 1922[1]	1
4.21 m (13 ft 9+1⁄2 in)				July 22, 1923[1]	2
4.23 m (13 ft 10+1⁄2 in)			Oslo, Norway	August 13, 1925[1]	3
4.25 m (13 ft 11+1⁄4 in)			Turku, Finland	September 27, 1925[1]	4
4.27 m (14 ft 0 in)	Sabin Carr	United States	Philadelphia, U.S.	May 28, 1927[1]	1
4.30 m (14 ft 1+1⁄4 in)	Lee Barnes		Fresno, U.S.	April 28, 1928[1]	1
4.37 m (14 ft 4 in)	William Graber		Palo Alto, U.S.	July 16, 1932[1]	1
4.39 m (14 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Keith Brown		Boston, U.S.	June 1, 1935[1]	1
4.43 m (14 ft 6+1⁄4 in)	George Varoff		Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.	July 4, 1936[1]	1
4.54 m (14 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	Bill Sefton		Los Angeles, U.S.	May 29, 1937[1]	1
	Earle Meadows				1
4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)	Cornelius Warmerdam		Fresno, U.S.	June 29, 1940[1]	1
4.72 m (15 ft 5+3⁄4 in)			Compton, U.S.	June 26, 1941[1]	2
4.77 m (15 ft 7+3⁄4 in)			Modesto, U.S.	May 23, 1942[1]	3
4.78 m (15 ft 8 in)	Robert Gutowski		Palo Alto, U.S.	April 27, 1957[1]	1
4.80 m (15 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	Don Bragg			July 2, 1960[1]	1
4.83 m (15 ft 10 in)	George Davies		Boulder, U.S.	May 20, 1961[1]	1
4.89 m (16 ft 1⁄2 in)	John Uelses		Santa Barbara, U.S.	March 31, 1962[1]	1
4.93 m (16 ft 2 in)	Dave Tork		Walnut, U.S.	April 28, 1962[1]	1
4.94 m (16 ft 2+1⁄4 in)	Pentti Nikula	Finland	Kauhava, Finland	June 22, 1962[1]	1
5.00 m (16 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Brian Sternberg	United States	Philadelphia, U.S.	April 27, 1963[1]	1
5.08 m (16 ft 8 in)			Compton, U.S.	June 7, 1963[1]	2
5.13 m (16 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	John Pennel		London, England	August 5, 1963[1]	1
5.20 m (17 ft 1⁄2 in)			Coral Gables, U.S.	August 24, 1963[1]	2
5.23 m (17 ft 1+3⁄4 in)	Fred Hansen		San Diego, U.S.	June 13, 1964[1]	1
5.28 m (17 ft 3+3⁄4 in)			Los Angeles, U.S.	July 25, 1964[1]	2
5.32 m (17 ft 5+1⁄4 in)	Bob Seagren		Fresno, U.S.	May 14, 1966[1]	1
5.34 m (17 ft 6 in)	John Pennel		Los Angeles, U.S.	July 23, 1966[1]	3
5.36 m (17 ft 7 in)	Bob Seagren		San Diego, U.S.	June 10, 1967[1]	2
5.38 m (17 ft 7+3⁄4 in)	Paul Wilson		Bakersfield, U.S.	June 23, 1967[1]	1
5.41 m (17 ft 8+3⁄4 in) A	Bob Seagren		Echo Summit, U.S.	September 12, 1968[1]	3
5.44 m (17 ft 10 in)	John Pennel		Sacramento, U.S.	June 21, 1969[1]	4
5.45 m (17 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	Wolfgang Nordwig	East Germany	Berlin, Germany	June 17, 1970[1]	1
5.46 m (17 ft 10+3⁄4 in)			Turin, Italy	September 3, 1970[1]	2
5.49 m (18 ft 0 in)	Christos Papanikolaou	Greece	Athens, Greece	October 24, 1970[1]	1
5.51 m (18 ft 3⁄4 in)	Kjell Isaksson	Sweden	Austin, U.S.	April 8, 1972[1]	1
5.54 m (18 ft 2 in)			Los Angeles, U.S.	April 15, 1972[1]	2
5.55 m (18 ft 2+1⁄2 in)			Helsingborg, Sweden	June 12, 1972[1]	3
5.63 m (18 ft 5+1⁄2 in)	Bob Seagren	United States	Eugene, U.S.	July 2, 1972[1]	4
5.65 m (18 ft 6+1⁄4 in)	David Roberts		Gainesville, U.S.	March 28, 1975[1]	1
5.67 m (18 ft 7 in)	Earl Bell		Wichita, U.S.	May 29, 1976[1]	1
5.70 m (18 ft 8+1⁄4 in)	David Roberts		Eugene, U.S.	June 22, 1976[1]	2
5.72 m (18 ft 9 in)	Władysław Kozakiewicz	Poland	Milan, Italy	May 11, 1980[1]	1
5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄4 in)	Thierry Vigneron	France	Paris, France	June 1, 1980[1]	1
5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄4 in)			Lille, France	June 29, 1980[1]	2
5.77 m (18 ft 11 in)	Philippe Houvion		Paris, France	July 17, 1980[1]	1
5.78 m (18 ft 11+1⁄2 in)	Władysław Kozakiewicz	Poland	Moscow, Soviet Union	July 30, 1980[1]	2
5.80 m (19 ft 1⁄4 in)	Thierry Vigneron	France	Mâcon, France	June 20, 1981[1]	3
5.81 m (19 ft 1⁄2 in)	Vladimir Polyakov	Soviet Union	Tbilisi, Soviet Union	June 26, 1981[1]	1
5.82 m (19 ft 1 in)	Pierre Quinon	France	Cologne, Germany	August 28, 1983[1]	1
5.83 m (19 ft 1+1⁄2 in)	Thierry Vigneron		Rome, Italy	September 1, 1983[1]	4
5.85 m (19 ft 2+1⁄4 in)	Sergey Bubka	Soviet Union	Bratislava, Czechoslovakia	May 26, 1984[1]	1
5.88 m (19 ft 3+1⁄4 in)			Paris, France	June 2, 1984[1]	2
5.90 m (19 ft 4+1⁄4 in)			London, England	July 13, 1984[1]	3
5.91 m (19 ft 4+1⁄2 in)	Thierry Vigneron	France	Rome, Italy	August 31, 1984[1]	5
5.94 m (19 ft 5+3⁄4 in)	Sergey Bubka	Soviet Union			4
6.00 m (19 ft 8 in)			Paris, France	July 13, 1985[1]	5
6.01 m (19 ft 8+1⁄2 in)			Moscow, Soviet Union	July 8, 1986[1]	6
6.03 m (19 ft 9+1⁄4 in)			Prague, Czechoslovakia	June 23, 1987[1]	7
6.05 m (19 ft 10 in)			Bratislava, Czechoslovakia	June 9, 1988[1]	8
6.06 m (19 ft 10+1⁄2 in)			Nice, France	July 10, 1988[1]	9
6.07 m (19 ft 10+3⁄4 in)			Shizuoka, Japan	May 6, 1991[1]	10
6.08 m (19 ft 11+1⁄4 in)			Moscow, Soviet Union	June 9, 1991[1]	11
6.09 m (19 ft 11+3⁄4 in)			Formia, Italy	July 8, 1991[1]	12
6.10 m (20 ft 0 in)			Malmö, Sweden	August 5, 1991[1]	13
6.11 m (20 ft 1⁄2 in)		Ukraine	Dijon, France	June 13, 1992[1]	14
6.12 m (20 ft 3⁄4 in)			Padua, Italy	August 30, 1992[1]	15
6.13 m (20 ft 1+1⁄4 in)			Tokyo, Japan	September 19, 1992[1]	16
6.14 m (20 ft 1+1⁄2 in) A[b]			Sestriere, Italy	July 31, 1994[1]	17
6.16 m (20 ft 2+1⁄2 in) i[7]	Renaud Lavillenie	France	Donetsk, Ukraine	February 15, 2014	1
6.17 m (20 ft 2+3⁄4 in) i	Armand Duplantis	Sweden	Toruń, Poland	February 8, 2020	1
6.18 m (20 ft 3+1⁄4 in) i			Glasgow, UK	February 15, 2020	2
6.19 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in) i			Belgrade, Serbia	March 7, 2022	3
6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) i				March 20, 2022	4
6.21 m (20 ft 4+1⁄4 in)			Eugene, U.S.	July 24, 2022	5
6.22 m (20 ft 4+3⁄4 in) i			Clermont-Ferrand, France	February 25, 2023	6
6.23 m (20 ft 5+1⁄4 in)			Eugene, U.S.	September 17, 2023	7
6.24 m (20 ft 5+1⁄2 in)			Xiamen, China	April 20, 2024	8
6.25 m (20 ft 6 in)			Paris, France	August 5, 2024	9
6.26 m (20 ft 6¼ in)			Chorzów, Poland	August 25, 2024	10
Notes: The numbered occurrence of the athlete breaking the world record, in other words "#7" would indicate the 7th time the athlete broke the world record. "From 2000, IAAF Rule 260.18s (formerly 260.6.a) was amended to say world records (as opposed to indoor world records) can be set in a facility 'with or without a roof.' So far, only one event - the women's pole vault - has been affected by this change, which was not applied retrospectively."[6] Sergey Bubka set an indoor record of 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in) on February 21, 1993, in excess of the outdoor record, before this rule came into effect. Lavillenie's indoor world record was set after the rule came into effect, and thus since it exceeded Bubka's 6.14 m (20 ft 1+1⁄2 in) set outdoors, it also became the world record, the first indoor mark to do so in this event.

See also

• Men's pole vault indoor world record progression
• Women's pole vault world record progression
• List of pole vaulters who reached 6 metres

References

1. "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 555–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
2. "Man who broke 15 feet defends fiberglass pole". Ocala Star-Banner. Ocala, Florida. Associated Press. February 7, 1962. p. 10.
3. "World record progression in pole vault". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (table). May 23, 1963. p. 3D.
4. "Duplantis breaks own pole vault world record at Silesia Diamond League". Reuters. August 25, 2024.
5. "Main > Men, Pole Vault > World Records Progression". Track and Field Statistics [d].
6. "Berlin 2009: Past results / Africa Champs, Asian Games" (PDF). IAAF. p. 546. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
7. "Progression of IAAF World Records — 2015 edition" (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF. 2015. pp. 163–171. Retrieved 16 August 2016.

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