A friend recently wrote to ask whether 1960 Olympic Siver Medalist Ron Morris ever cleared 15' with a bamboo pole. As usual, when I know I'm in over my head, I forwarded the question to Gérard Dumas, the greatest vault statistician ever. And as usual, Gérard not only answered the question (no), but provided a great amount of other information on bamboo and metal pole bests. I asked him for permission to forward his answer to some sites where subscribers might be interested.
10 Best Vaulters with Metal Poles: 4.82,6 15'9 3/4" Bob Gutowski 14.06.1957 Austin 4.82i 15'9 1/4" Don Bragg 13.02.1959 Philadelphia 4.78 15'8" John Cramer 23.06.1962 Walnut 4.77,5 15'8" Ron Morris 24.06.1961 New York 4.72,4i 15'6" Bob Richards 09.02.1957 New York 4.70 15'5" Manfred Preussger 14.10.1961 Magdeburg, GER 4.69,9 15'5" Jim Graham 19.05.1959 Norman 4.67,3 15'4" J. D. Martin 21.05.1960 Ames, Iowa 4.67,3 15'4" Henry Wadsworth 21.06.1961 New York 4.65 15'3 1/8" Janis Krassovski 17.07.1960 Moscow 10 Best Vaulters with Bamboo Poles: 4.78,5i 15'8 1/4" Cornelius Warmerdam 20.03.1943 Chicago 4.54,6 14'11" Bill Sefton 29.05.1937 Los Angeles 4.54,6 14'11" Earle Meadows 29.05.1937 Los Angeles 4.52 14'10" Vitaliy Chernobai 30.09.1957 Odessa 4.47,3 14'8 1/8" Richmond Morcom 10.07.1948 Evanston 4.47 14'8" Kenneth Dills 07.06.1940 Compton 4.46,1 14'7 5/8" George Varoff 03.07.1937 Milwaukee 4.46 14'7 5/8" Pyotr Denisenko 13.09.1954 Kiev 4.45,3 14'7 5/8 Guinn Smith 17.05.1947 Modesto 4.44,4 14'7" Loring Day 23.04.1938 Los Angeles BTW--(RR)--If the metric/imperial conversions don't agree with those in your little green book, it's probably because the rules on measurement and conversion have changed since these marks were established. We no longer measure to the nearest millimeter or 1/8". There's also the possibility of my typing errors. Gérard's comments: Boo Morcom did not remember whether his 4.49,5i (14'9") at Cleveland on March 18,1949 was made with bamboo or metal. I talked to Bob Richards several times in 1981-89 and tried to find out what was his best with bamboo. He said that he never cleared more than 14'6 1/8 (4.42,2) with bamboo (Evanston 10.07.1948). A few contemporary vaulters have tried bamboo poles. Each time it was a bit of a fiasco. In 1982, I saw Thierry Vigneron (best on fiberglass 5.91/19'4 1/2") and Philippe Houvion (best on fiberglass 18'11") do 4.43m (14'6") with bamboo. The poles were bending quite a bit and not safe. .The guys were petrified, especially Houvion, who was near 200 pounds at the time. After that clearance, they didn't try higher, although by then they were used to the flexible poles. Hardly fair to have people try bamboo these days--all those changes in runways, grip height, pits, etc., etc.
