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[01]What Is the Women's Pole Vault World Record?

Women's pole vault record, in detail

The 5.06 m jump in Zurich, 2009

Set during the World Championships final on August 28, 2009. Isinbayeva had already won the title; the bar was raised for a record attempt. She cleared on her first try.

Why the record has stood 15+ years

Women's pole vault was added to the Olympics in 2000. Depth has grown rapidly since, but no athlete has matched Isinbayeva's combination of approach speed (~8.5 m/s) and technical efficiency. Active vaulters cluster at 4.90-5.03 m.

Active record challengers

Sandi Morris (USA): 5.00 m. Katerina Stefanidi (Greece): 4.91 m. Anzhelika Sidorova (RUS): 5.01 m. Katie Moon (USA): 4.95 m. Tina Sutej (Slovenia): 4.85 m. The 5.06 mark remains the ceiling.

Women's pole vault

What separates 5.00 m from 5.06 m

Five centimeters at the elite level is enormous. The gap comes down to consistency under fatigue, plant precision, and swing-up timing. AI form check measures all three on phone video.

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Pole vaulter at the plant, pole bending, body inverted, Track & Field AI analysis (womens-record)
Pole Vault · Sample analysis “Takeoff foot is 6 inches behind the top hand, costs you at least 6 inches of usable pole bend. Move takeoff mark forward 12 inches.”
[10]Common questions

What Is the Women's Pole Vault World Record? FAQ

Common questions athletes and coaches ask about this topic.

Who is Yelena Isinbayeva?
Russian pole vaulter who won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008 and broke the women's world record 28 times. She retired from competition in 2016.
Has any woman cleared 5.10 m in pole vault?
No. As of 2024, 5.06 m by Isinbayeva is the highest ever cleared by a woman. Sandi Morris has cleared 5.00 m, the second-highest in history.
When was women's pole vault added to the Olympics?
2000 Sydney Games. Stacy Dragila of the USA won the first Olympic women's pole vault gold.
What is the women's pole vault Olympic record?
4.90 m, set by Katie Moon (USA) at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Moon won the gold; Anzhelika Sidorova took silver.
Why is the women's pole vault record lower than the men's?
Smaller body lever, lower approach velocity (~8.5 m/s vs 9.7-9.9 m/s for elite men), and shorter grip height. The physics of the vault scale with approach speed.
[INDEX]More ways to dial in your pole vault

The full pole vault index

A directory of every pole vault page on the site, from broad analysis tools to specific phase deep-dives. Each entry points to a focused write-up.

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