Why is pole vaulting a sport

Prev NEXT. By: Karim Nice. Photo courtesy www. Cite This! Print Citation. In the 19th century, jumping was a popular sport. The best in the world travel nearly 60 ft in three steps. Poles were often used to traverse canals and streams in northern Europe. Instead of bridges, a stack of poles allowed travelers to swing themselves over an obstacle.

The activity evolved into a sport. Pole vaulting for both height and distance was contested in the UK, Germany, and Netherlands. Pole vaulting for distance never made into the Olympics, and is therefore not a part of modern track and field, but it is still a regional sport in the Netherlands, where it is called fieflijeppen and it is something to behold.

Initially, pole vaulters used stiff poles made of bamboo or aluminum, but with the introduction of flexible fiberglass poles in the s, greater and greater heights were achieved the mens world record is now 6.

The hammer throw dates back as far as the ancient Irish Tailteann games, where contestants would compete at throwing various heavy objects, including blacksmith hammers. The Scottish highland hammer throw still uses a ball attached to a fixed rod. The hammer can be captivating to watch , as contestants violently whirl around in tight circles, on the brink of losing control, before letting fly. While most distance races are pretty straightforward, the 3,meter steeplechase is the peculiar exception.

Most strangely, each lap also includes a water obstacle. While most runners can emerge with just one wet shoe, occasionally some poor runner tumbles in. The winner is the athlete to successfully clear the highest bar height. The athlete can choose which height they would like to start. They then have three attempts to clear the height. If the height is cleared, they can them attempt the next height, where they will have three more attempts.

Once the vaulter has three consecutive misses, they are out of the competition and the highest height they cleared is their result. Share: Facebook Twitter. They seek to clear the greatest height without knocking the bar to the ground. If competitors are tied on the same height, the winner will have had the fewest failures at that height. If competitors are still tied, the winner will have had the fewest failures across the entire competition.

Thereafter, a jump-off will decide the winner. Each jumper has one attempt and the bar is lowered and raised until one jumper succeeds at one height. The event demands speed, power, strength, agility and gymnastic skills.