Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

Men's pole vault at the Games of the II Olympiad
Venue	Bois de Boulogne
Date	July 15
Competitors	8 from 5 nations
Medalists
Irving Baxter  United States Meredith Colket  United States Carl Albert Andersen  Norway

Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Track events
60 m		men
100 m		men
200 m		men
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
110 m hurdles		men
200 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
2500 m steeplechase		men
4000 m steeplechase		men
5000 m team race		men
Road events
Marathon	men
Field events
Long jump	men
Triple jump	men
High jump	men
Pole vault	men
Standing long jump	men
Standing triple jump	men
Standing high jump	men
Shot put	men
Discus throw	men
Hammer throw	men

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.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.

World Record	3.62(*)	Raymond Clapp	Chicago (USA)	June 16, 1898
Olympic Record	3.30	William Hoyt	Athens (GRE)	April 10, 1896 (NS)

(*) unofficial

Irving Baxter equalized the Olympic record with 3.30 metres.

Results

Place	Athlete	Height
1	Irving Baxter (USA)	3.30 m
2	Meredith Colket (USA)	3.25 m
3	Carl Albert Andersen (NOR)	3.20 m
4	Émile Gontier (FRA)	3.10 m
	Jakab Kauser (HUN)	3.10 m
	Erik Lemming (SWE)	3.10 m
7	Karl Staaf (SWE)	2.80 m
8	August Nilsson (SWE)	2.60 m

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.

Sources

• International Olympic Committee.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1].