Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault
| Men's pole vault at the Games of the II Olympiad
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| Venue | Bois de Boulogne | |||||||||
| Date | July 15 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 8 from 5 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
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Irving Baxter United States
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Meredith Colket United States
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Carl Albert Andersen Norway
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The men's pole vault was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 15, 1900. Eight athletes from five nations competed in the pole vault.
This event was heavily protested by the United States team, as it was held on a Sunday and three of the top American vaulters had been told that they could vault on the following day and have the results count. The French organizers, however, ruled on July 14 that the results of Sunday competitions would be final. The American vaulters did not learn of that decision until after the event. The two that did compete were not regularly vaulters—Baxter had just finished winning the high jump when the pole vault began and decided to join the competition.
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.
(*) unofficial
Irving Baxter equalized the Olympic record with 3.30 metres.
Baxter, despite being a high jumper who had little experience in pole vaulting and having just finished the high jump competition, was the top vaulter. Along with the other medallists, he cleared 3.10 metres first, then 3.20 metres. Andersen could not clear 3.25 while both the Americans did. That was the highest vault that Colket could accomplish, however, and Baxter's 3.30 was enough to win.
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