Firstpost Explains: What makes pole vault the most complicated, yet exhilarating track and field event

It’s considered one of the most technically demanding track and field events. Not without reason. Propelling yourself over a bar that’s usually around 20 feet high, using a tall stick is a skill that even elite athletes will find daunting. Now add to that the fact to maximise the height of your jump you need to take flight with your feet pointing skywards, and pole vaulting becomes a skill only a select set of people can execute. To watch a pole vault executed correctly is to watch physics collide with art. To put it simply, pole vault is a discipline that will fascinate physics nerds — who will offer explanations about kinetic energy and elastic potential energy and gravitational potential energy — as well as gymnastics aficionados — who will gush over the graceful transition of a human taking flight feet first and then arching the body into a ‘U’ as they sail over the bar. Look at it either way, the physics or the aesthetics of it, the pole vault is a complicated sport. You need the explosive burst of speed of a sprinter in your run-up, the ability of a long jumper on the take-off, the upper body strength of a wrestler to propel yourself upwards using the pole, and lastly, a gymnast’s technique and a ballerina’s flexibility while airborne. Here’s a look at how pole vaulters do what they do: The run Scientists, and pole vaulters themselves, will tell you the height achieved on a vault is simply a result of how fast you can run before you lift off. The faster you run, the higher you can propel yourself. Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, who raised the world record bar twice in a week in February 2020, is known the have run the 100m in a blistering time of 10.57 secs (albeit in wind-assisted conditions). Duplantis, a wunderkind in pole vaulting, also broke athletics legend Sergey Bubka’s 26-year-old outdoor mark of 6.14m in September 2020. What makes the run tricky, is that you have to hold the pole steady while running. The plant, the swivel and the takeoff Once the vaulter plants the pole into the pit, they have to swing their body upwards with their feet pointed skywards and their arms hauling their body weight up with the help of the pole. Once in the air, they let go of the pole and swivel their body so that by the time they’re at the height of the bar, they’re facing downwards. via GIPHY (Video courtesy: YouTube/KindaKreative) The pole flex Pole vaulting is the only jumping discipline in track and field where equipment matters as much as the human doing it. This has led to a lot of thought being put into the pole itself. The earlier pole vaulters used poles made of bamboo and steel. Understandably, the first pole vault champion at the Olympics was William Hoyt, who ascended to a height of 3.30m. Until the 1940s and the 50s, vaulters were using bamboo and steel poles. Their jumps were around 4.5 metres. But when fiberglass poles were introduced around 1958, vaulters were able to leap to heights above 5m. Now, with carbon fibre poles, male athletes are able to clear 6m. This is because carbon fibres are more flexible, so they act as loaded springs propelling athletes skywards. The material also makes the poles lighter — the bamboo poles were known to weigh around 10 kgs while modern poles are just around two kgs — which makes it easy for the athletes to run in faster. The ‘U’ While their body achieves its maximum height, pole vaulters twist their body to form a graceful ‘U’ or a ‘V’ while they cross the bar, feet-first. via GIPHY (Video courtesy: YouTube/LSU)