Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1980 Games were seventh-place finisher Thierry Vigneron of France and tenth-place finisher Miro Zalar of Sweden. Earl Bell of the United States, who had been a finalist in 1976 but was kept out of the Moscow Games by the boycott, also returned. Poland and the Soviet Union had become powers in the event in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the Soviet-led boycott kept out significant competitors including the world champion and world record holder Sergey Bubka. The United States had dominated the event through 1968 and still maintained perennially contending teams; Bell and Mike Tully were among the favorites. France also had a strong team and was the only nation of the four to compete in both 1980 and 1984; Vigneron's finish in Moscow had been disappointing, and he sought a better result in Los Angeles along with teammate Pierre Quinon.[2]

The People's Republic of China and the Virgin Islands each made their men's pole vaulting debut. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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. At the time, total attempts was used after total misses.

In the qualifying round, the bar was set at 5.10 metres, 5.20 metres, 5.30 metres, 5.35 metres, 5.40 metres, and 5.45 metres. All vaulters clearing 5.45 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 cleared that height, the top 12 (including ties) advanced.

In the final, the bar was set at 5.10 metres, 5.20 metres, 5.30 metres, 5.40 metres, and then increased by 5 centimetres as a time.[2][3]

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Sergey Bubka (URS)	5.90	London, United Kingdom	13 July 1984
Olympic record	Władysław Kozakiewicz (POL)	5.78	Moscow, Soviet Union	30 July 1980

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following national records were established during the competition:

Nation	Athlete	Round	Time
Virgin Islands	Brian Morrissette	Qualifying	5.20

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Key

Qualifying round

The qualifying round was held on Monday August 6, 1984. Qualification rule: Qualifying performance 5.45 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank	Group	Athlete	Nation	5.10	5.20	5.30	5.35	5.40	5.45	Height	Notes
1	A	Thierry Vigneron	France	–	–	–	o	–	o	5.45	Q
	A	Earl Bell	United States	–	–	–	o	–	o	5.45	Q
	A	Mike Tully	United States	–	–	–	o	–	o	5.45	Q
4	A	Alberto Ruiz	Spain	xo	–	xo	–	xo	xxo	5.45	Q
5	A	Pierre Quinon	France	–	–	xo	–	o	–	5.40	q
6	B	Kimmo Pallonen	Finland	–	o	o	xo	xo	–	5.40	q
7	A	Felix Böhni	Switzerland	–	–	o	–	xxo	xxx	5.40	q
8	A	Tom Hintnaus	Brazil	–	–	–	o	–	xxx	5.35	q
9	B	Mauro Barella	Italy	o	o	xo	xxo	–	–	5.35	q
10	A	Serge Ferreira	France	–	–	o	–	xxx	N/A	5.30	q
	A	Doug Lytle	United States	–	–	o	xxx	N/A		5.30	q
	B	Yang Weimin	China	o	o	o	–	xxx	N/A	5.30	q
	B	Jeff Gutteridge	Great Britain	o	–	o	xxx	N/A		5.30	q
	B	Tomomi Takahashi	Japan	–	–	xxo	–	xxx	N/A	5.30	q
15	B	Brian Morrissette	Virgin Islands	o	o	x–	xx	N/A		5.20	NR
16	B	Keith Stock	Great Britain	xo	xo	xxx	N/A			5.20
17	B	Ji Zebiao	China	xo	xxx	N/A				5.10
18	B	Edgardo Rivera	Puerto Rico	xxo	–	x–	xx	N/A		5.10
—	A	Miro Zalar	Sweden	–	–	xxx	N/A			No mark
—	B	Alfonso Cano	Spain	DNS

Final

The final was held on Wednesday August 8, 1984.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	5.10	5.20	5.30	5.40	5.45	5.50	5.55	5.60	5.65	5.70	5.75	5.80	Height
	Pierre Quinon	France	–	–	–	–	xo	–	–	–	x–	o	o	xxx	5.75
	Mike Tully	United States	–	–	–	–	o	–	o	–	xxo	–	–	xxx	5.65
	Earl Bell	United States	–	–	–	o	–	o	–	o	–	xxx	N/A		5.60
	Thierry Vigneron	France	–	–	–	o	–	–	–	o	–	xxx	N/A		5.60
5	Kimmo Pallonen	Finland	–	–	xo	–	xo	–	xxx	N/A					5.45
6	Doug Lytle	United States	–	–	–	o	–	xxx	N/A						5.40
7	Felix Böhni	Switzerland	–	–	o	–	–	xxx	N/A						5.30
8	Mauro Barella	Italy	xxo	–	xxo	xxx	N/A								5.30
9	Alberto Ruiz	Spain	–	o	–	xxx	N/A								5.20
10	Yang Weimin	China	xo	xxx	N/A										5.10
11	Jeff Gutteridge	Great Britain	xxo	–	xxx	N/A									5.10
—	Tom Hintnaus	Brazil	–	–	–	xxx	N/A								No mark
	Serge Ferreira	France	–	–	xxx	N/A									No mark
	Tomomi Takahashi	Japan	–	–	xxx	N/A									No mark

• 1982 Men's European Championships Pole Vault (Athens)
• 1983 Men's World Championships Pole Vault (Helsinki)
• 1984 Men's Friendship Games Pole Vault (Moscow)
• 1986 Men's European Championships Pole Vault (Stuttgart)
• 1987 Men's World Championships Pole Vault (Rome)

• (in English) Official Report