Pole vaulting

NBC actually did a whole segment about this last week during Olympic coverage. They followed a pole vaulter from the U.S. to London and showed how it's shipped. Let's just say they are very long and heavy (they put a bunch of them in a long case, which ends up weighing about 100 pounds). I guess they use different poles for different heights, conditions, etc., so they need a bunch of poles. Also, the poles are made for each individual -- if something happens to them en route, the pole vaulter is basically out of luck. You can't compete on poles that aren't made for YOU. Just won't get the job done. The poles actually fly on the plane with the athlete -- just down in the cargo section where the rest of our luggage goes. They transport them to and from the airport on top of a truck or in a bus.

Edited to add: I was on percocets and recovering from surgery when I saw this, so my mind wasn't the clearest at the time. I think I captured it all accurately, though.

I pole vaulted in HS years ago.  Mostly because they needed a second vaulter for dual meets and I was dumb enough to agree.  The initial height was always 11'-6" and since my PB was 12'-0" (on a very good day) I usually never made it past the second height.

Our "star" vaulter had his own poles (he also had a vaulting pit in his back yard...).  The rest of us used the school's poles; they were fiberglass rated by weight.   I snapped a pole once in an indoor meet.  It sounded like a shotgun going off when it broke.  Fortunately I had just enough momentum to bounce off the front edge of the foam landing pit.  Scared the bejeebies out of me.  I kinda lost my enthusiasm for the event after that...

Mark     

They do, sometimes. And when it happens it is just as scary as you might imagine.

I vaulted in HS.

Wow.  Crazy.  The video is insane!

Socks - 2012-08-11 3:02 PM I would have tried it in a heart beat in HS but alas I am too old and girls didn't do that then When i was at the olympic training center it wasa big deal anytime anyone was going to practice pole vaulting.  We had to be on site at the track and ready to back board someone in an instant

Well it does look like the most dangerous track and field event. :D