Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

The men's pole vault was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912 and on Thursday, July 11, 1912. Twenty-five pole vaulters from eleven nations competed.[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[2]

Men's pole vault at the Games of the V Olympiad
Gold medalist Harry Babcock.
Venue	Stockholm Olympic Stadium
Dates	July 10–11
Competitors	25 from 11 nations
Medalists
Harry Babcock  United States Frank Nelson  United States Marc Wright  United States William Halpenny  Canada Frank Murphy  United States Bertil Uggla  Sweden

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World Record	4.02	Marc Wright	Cambridge, MA (USA)	June 8, 1912
Olympic Record	3.71	Edward Cook	London (GBR)	July 24, 1908
	3.71	Alfred Carlton Gilbert	London (GBR)	July 24, 1908

The Olympic record was equalized or improved 18 times during this competition. Finally Harry Babcock set a new Olympic record with 3.95 metres.

Results

Halpenny was forced to withdraw after he broke two ribs while clearing 3.80m and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.

Place	Athlete	Preliminary							Final									Mark
		3.00	3.20	3.40	3.50	3.60	3.65	Qual.	3.40	3.50	3.60	3.65	3.75	3.80	3.85	3.95	4.06
1	Harry Babcock (USA)	---	O	O	O	O	O	QF	O	O	O	---	O	O	O	O	XXX	3.95
2	Frank Nelson (USA)	O	---	O	O	O	XO	QF	O	O	O	XO	O	O	XO	XXX	---	3.85
2	Marc Wright (USA)	---	---	O	O	O	XO	QF	O	O	O	O	XO	XO	XO	XXX	---	3.85
3	William Halpenny (CAN)	---	---	O	O	O	O	QF	O	XO	O	O	XO	XO	---	---	---	3.80
3	Frank Murphy (USA)	---	O	O	O	XXO	O	QF	O	O	XO	XO	O	O	XXX	---	---	3.80
3	Bertil Uggla (SWE)	O	O	O	O	O	XO	QF	O	O	O	O	O	XO	XXX	---	---	3.80
7	Sam Bellah (USA)	---	---	XO	XXO	XO	O	QF	O	O	XO	O	XO	XXX	---	---	---	3.75
8	Frank Coyle (USA)	---	---	O	O	O	XXO	QF	O	O	XO	XO	XXX	---	---	---	---	3.65
	Gordon Dukes (USA)	---	XXO	O	XXO	O	O	QF	O	O	O	XXO	XXX	---	---	---	---	3.65
	Bill Fritz (USA)	---	O	O	O	O	O	QF	O	XO	XO	XXO	XXX	---	---	---	---	3.65
11	Robert Pasemann (GER)	O	O	O	O	XXO	O	QF	XO	XXX	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	3.40
12	Carl Hårleman (SWE)	---	XO	O	XO	O	XXX											3.60
	Richard Sjöberg (SWE)	O	O	O	O	XXO	XXX											3.60
	Clas Gille (SWE)	---	O	O	XXO	XXO	XXX											3.60
15	Fernand Gonder (FRA)	XO	XO	O	O	XXX	---											3.50
16	Ulrich Baasch (RUS)	O	O	O	XXX	---	---											3.40
	Fritz Bøchen Vikke (DEN)	O	O	O	XXX	---	---											3.40
18	Magnus Nilsson (SWE)	---	O	XXX	---	---	---											3.20
	Hugo Svensson (SWE)	O	O	XXX	---	---	---											3.20
	Sander Santesson (SWE)	XO	O	XXX	---	---	---											3.20
	Viktor Franzl (AUT)	XXO	O	XXX	---	---	---											3.20
	Georgios Banikas (GRE)	XO	XO	XXX	---	---	---											3.20
23	Jindřich Jirsák (BOH)	O	XXX	---	---	---	---											3.00
	Manlio Legat (ITA)	O	XXX	---	---	---	---											3.00
-	Johann Martin (RUS)	XXX	---	---	---	---	---											NM

Harry Babcock on the way to win the gold medal.

Frank Nelson winning the silver medal.

Second silver medalist Marc Wright.

One of the three bronze medalists Bertil Uggla.

References

1. "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Pole Vault". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
2. Official report, p. 61.

Sources

• Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 4 January 2007.