With seven of the top eight Olympic finishers in the field, the women’s Pole Vault will be one of the evening’s closest London recreations. Gold medallist Jen Suhr will be hoping for a similar finish against Cuba’s silver medallist Yarisley Silva and Germans Silke Spiegelburg and Martina Strutz, who were fourth and fifth behind her. The American will keep a particularly close eye on Spiegelburg whose 4.82m national record from Monaco is the highest leap in the world this year, and on Brazil’s Fabiana Murer, the World champion who’ll be aiming to make up for the London disaster which saw her fail to qualify for the final.  more

London, UK – On a night of shock results, Renaud Lavillenie lived gloriously up to his billing as favourite in the Pole Vault as an Olympic record of 5.97 metres enabled him to become the fourth (including 1906) Frenchman to secure this title.

Lavillenie had to draw upon all his reserves to hold off the German challenge of Bjorn Otto and Raphael Holzdeppe, who both cleared 5.91 to earn silver and bronze respectively, and in so doing he brought to mind the epic contest these three had undergone at the European Championships in Helsinki, where the order – and indeed the winning vault – were identical.

“It was the best fight I have ever done, so to win was just a dream, and I am so happy,” said the 25-year-old from Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire after emulating the Olympic victories of the late Pierre Quinon in 1984, Jean Galfione in 1996, and more distantly Fernand Gonder in 1906.  Continue reading →