home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
AT&T WorldNet Service
/
WorldNet Service Installation Disk - Cybercathlon Games and Interactive Tour of Olympic Museum (1996).ISO
/
museum
/
museum.dxr
/
00808_Field_st11.txt.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-06-03
|
1KB
|
33 lines
The U.S. won every pole vault
competition at the Olympics from
1896 until 1968, when the Eastern
Bloc took over dominance of the
event. Interestingly, the U.S.
probably lost the Gold for the first
time in 1972 due to equipment
problems. In the earliest pole
vaulting events, the poles were
made of heavy hard woods.
These were replaced in time by
flexible bamboo poles and then, in
the 1950s, by aluminum ones. By
the 1960s, fiberglass poles,
fashioned after deep-sea fishing
rods, became the standard.
Today, poles are made from
carbon composite materials. The
world record has shot from 15 to
more than 20 feet with the
introduction of these new poles.
Bob Seagren, the defending U.S.
Olympic champion and world
record holder, lost out to an East
German at the 1972 Olympics
when he was not allowed to use
the type of fiberglass pole he
preferred in the competition. The
Americans have never regained
their preeminence in the sport, and
have not won Gold since 1968.