2008 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Pole Vault (Women)

sport	athletics
discipline	Pole vault
gender	Women
place	Beijing National Stadium
Attendees	36 athletes from 25 countries
Competition phase	August 16 and 18, 2008
Medalist
gold	Jelena Isinbayeva ( RUS )
silver	Jennifer Stuczynski ( USA )
bronze	Svetlana Feofanowa ( RUS )

The women's pole vault at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was held on August 16-18, 2008. 36 athletes took part.

The Russian Jelena Isinbayeva , who set a new world record , became the Olympic champion . The US-American Jennifer Stuczynski won the silver medal, bronze went to Svetlana Feofanova , also from Russia.

Current titleholders

Olympic Champion 2004	Jelena Isinbayeva ( Russia )	4.91 m	Athens 2004
World Champion 2007		4.80 m	Osaka 2007
European Champion 2006		4.80 m	Gothenburg 2006
Pan American Champion 2007	Fabiana Murer ( Brazil )	4.60 m	Rio de Janeiro 2007
2008 Central American and Caribbean Champion	Milena Jazmin Agudelo ( Colombia )	4.10 m	Cali 2008
South American Champion 2007	Fabiana Murer ( Brazil )	4.50 m	São Paulo 2007
Asian Champion 2007	Roslinda Samsu ( Malaysia )	4.20 m	Amman 2007
African champion 2004	Leila Ben Youssef ( Tunisia )	4.00 m	Addis Ababa 2008
Oceania Champion 2008	Women's pole vault not included in the championship program		Saipan 2008

Existing records

World record	5.04 m	Jelena Isinbayeva ( Russia )	Monaco	July 29, 2008
Olympic record	4.91 m		Athens Final , Greece	August 24, 2004

qualification

August 16, 2008, 10:10 am

The qualification was carried out in two groups. The qualification height for the direct entry into the final was 4.60 m. Apart from Jelena Isinbayeva, who jumped this height (highlighted in light blue), no other jumper even tackled the 4.60 m, as it was clear that 4.50 m would be enough for the final. In addition to Issinbayeva, eleven other athletes qualified for this final.

Group A

The Cuban Yarisley Silva is eliminated from the qualification with a skipped 4.15 m

space	Surname	nation	4.00 m	4.15 m	4.30 m	4.40 m	4.50 m	4.60 m	height	annotation
1	Elena Isinbayeva	Russia	-	-	-	-	-	O	4.60
2	Gao Shuying	People's Republic of China	-	-	O	O	O	-	4.50
3	Svetlana Feofanova	Russia	-	-	-	xo	O	-	4.50
	April Steiner Bennett	United States	-	-	xo	O	O	-
5	Monika Pyrek	Poland	-	-	-	O	xo	-	4.50
6th	Carolin Hingst	Germany	-	O	xo	O	xo	-	4.50
7th	Naroa Agirre	Spain	O	O	O	xo	xxx		4.40
8th	Anastasija Reiberger	Germany	-	O	xo	xo	xxx		4.40
9	Joanna Piwowarska	Poland	xo	O	xo	xxx			4.30
	Afroditi Skafida	Greece	-	xo	xo	xxx
	Sandra-Helena Tavares	Portugal	O	xo	xo	xxx
12	Marion Buisson	France	O	O	xx-	-	-	-	4.15
13	Natalia Kushch	Ukraine	-	xxo	-	xxx			4.15
	Li Ling	People's Republic of China	-	xxo	xxx
	Yarisley Silva	Cuba	-	xxo	xxx
16	Alejandra García	Argentina	xxo	xxo	xxx				4.15
17th	Leila Ben Youssef	Tunisia	xo	xxx					4.00
	Vanessa Vandy	Finland	xo	xxx

Group B

The Australian Alana Boyd is 4.30 m not enough for the final

space	Surname	nation	4.00 m	4.15 m	4.30 m	4.40 m	4.50 m	height	annotation
1	Vanessa Boslak	France	-	O	O	O	O	4.50
	Fabiana Murer	Brazil	-	-	-	O	O
	Jennifer Stuczynski	United States	-	-	-	-	O
4th	Anna Rogowska	Poland	-	-	-	O	xo	4.50
5	Yulia Golubchikova	Russia	-	-	O	xo	xo	4.50
6th	Silke Spiegelburg	Germany	-	-	xxo	O	xo	4.50
7th	Kate Dennison	Great Britain	xo	xo	xo	xxo	xxx	4.40	PBe
8th	Alana Boyd	Australia	-	-	O	xxx		4.30
	Roslinda Samsu	Malaysia	O	O	O	xxx
10	Kelsie Hendry	Canada	-	-	xo	xxx		4.30
11	Nicole Büchler	Switzerland	xxo	O	xxo	xxx		4.30
12	Thórey Edda Elisdóttir	Iceland	-	O	xxx			4.15
13	Zhou Yang	People's Republic of China	xo	O	xxx			4.15
14th	Krisztina Molnár	Hungary	xxo	O	xxx			4.15
15th	Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou	Greece	-	xxo	xxx			4.15
16	Anna Fitídou	Cyprus	xxo	xxx				4.00
ogV	Kateřina Baďurová	Czech Republic	xxx						without height
	Erica Bartolina	United States	-	-	xxx

final

August 18, 2008, 7:20 pm

Twelve athletes had qualified for the final, one of them via the qualification level and eleven others via their placements. Three Russian women, two German, two US-American and Polish women and one each from Brazil, China and France were represented.

The clear favorite was the Russian Jelena Issinbajewa. She had already broken her own world record twice in the Olympic season . She was the only female pole vaulter to have jumped more than five meters and since 2004 she had won all major championships. She was the 2004 Olympic champion , the 2005 and 2007 world champion, and the 2006 European champion . The first contenders for the other medals were her compatriot Svetlana Feofanova as Olympic runner-up in 2004, World Cup third in 2007 and European Championship fourth in 2006, Monika Pyrek from Poland as Olympic gold medalist in 2004, Vice World Champion in 2005, Vice European Champion in 2006 and World Cup fourth in 2007 as well as the two Czechs Kateřina Baďurová as vice world champion in 2007 and Pavla Hamáčková as third in the 2005 World Cup .

With a jump height of 4.70 m, seven athletes were still in the competition. For Isinbayeva, that was their entry level. So far, Pyrek and the American Jennifer Stuczynski had not failed but had missed 4.65 m. Feofanova and the third Russian in the final Yulia Golubchikova each had a miss on their account. The two Germans Carolin Hingst and Silke Spiegelburg were burdened with two (Hingst) and three (Spiegelburg) failed attempts. Issinbajewa, Stuczynski and Golubtschikowa took 4.70 m with their first jumps, Pyrek needed two attempts, while Feofanowa skipped this height. The two Germans failed three times each and were eliminated. Carolin Hingst finished sixth, Silke Spiegelburg finished seventh.

Now there were five centimeters more to master with each new jump height. Isinbayeva skipped and only got back on at 4.85 m. Feofanowa took 4.75 m as the only participant in the first attempt and thus took the lead in the meantime. Stuczynski and Golubtschikowa made it with their second jumps each. Monika Pyrek failed three times and was fifth. The following 4.80 m was too high for the two Russians who were still competing alongside Isinbayeva. The American, on the other hand, skipped the new required height the first time. Julija Golubtschikowa finished fourth with her new personal best of 4.75 m. Svetlana Feofanowa won the bronze medal with a jump of 4.75 m.

In the duel for gold, Issinbayeva initially mastered 4.85 m, while Stuczynski skipped this height. That was the other way around at 4.90 m, only the American tried at this height, Issinbayeva left out. Now the decision was made, because Jennifer Stuczynski tore three times and won the silver medal with a jump of 4.80 m. For Jelena Isinbayeva, who now had gold, the competition was far from over. She jumped 4.95 m on the third attempt, thus breaking her own Olympic record by four centimeters. But she wanted even more and then set the new world record height of 5.05 m. With her third jump, she finally mastered this challenge and easily lived up to her role as a favorite.

Yelena Isinbayeva became the second time Olympic champion after their success in 2004 in Athens .

Note: The heights in the table below are given in meters (m).

space	Surname	nation	4.30	4.45	4.55	4.65	4.70	4.75	4.80	4.85	4.90	4.95	5.00	5.05	Bottom line	annotation
1	Elena Isinbayeva	Russia	-	-	-	-	O	-	-	O	-	xxo	-	xxo	5.05	WR
2	Jennifer Stuczynski	United States	-	-	O	-	O	xo	O	-	xxx				4.80
3	Svetlana Feofanova	Russia	-	O	O	xo	-	O	xxx						4.75
4th	Yulia Golubchikova	Russia	-	O	O	xo	O	xo	xxx						4.75	PB
5	Monika Pyrek	Poland	-	O	O	O	xo	xxx							4.70
6th	Carolin Hingst	Germany	O	O	O	xxo	xxx								4.65
7th	Silke Spiegelburg	Germany	O	xo	O	xxo	xxx								4.65
8th	April Steiner Bennett	United States	O	O	O	xxx									4.55
9	Vanessa Boslak	France	O	O	xo	xxx									4.55
10	Fabiana Murer	Brazil	-	O	-	xxx									4.45
	Anna Rogowska	Poland	-	O	xxx
12	Gao Shuying	People's Republic of China	O	xxo	xxx										4.45

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  Olympic champion Jelena Isinbayeva, Russia

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  Silver medalist Jennifer Stuczynski from the United States

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  Bronze medal for the Russian Swetlana Feofanowa

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  Monika Pyrek from Poland is fifth in the Olympic final

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  Sixth place for Carolin Hingst from Germany

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  The German Silke Spiegelburg is Olympic seventh

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  Vanessa Boslak from France ranks ninth

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  The Polish Anna Rogowska achieved a shared tenth place

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  The Brazilian Fabiana Murer ranks tenth together with Anna Rogowska

Web links

• SportsReference Pole Vault Women , accessed June 29, 2018
• Results on the IAAF website , accessed June 29, 2018
• Official Report of the XXVIIIth Olympiad, Results Athletics , English / French (PDF, 3054 KB), accessed on June 29, 2018

Video

• Athletics - Women's Pole Vault Final - Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games , published August 18, 2008 on youtube.com, accessed June 29, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Campeonato CAC de Atletismo 2008 on athlecac.org, accessed on June 8, 2018
2. ↑ Campeonato Sudamericano de Atletismo 2007 on athlecac.org, accessed on June 8, 2018
3. ↑ 17th Asian Athletics Championship 2007 ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at athleticsasia.org (PDF, 417 KB), accessed June 8, 2018 
4. ↑ Oceania Area Championships - 25/06/2008 to 28/06/2008 on athletics-oceania.com (PDF, 130 KB), accessed on June 8, 2018
5. ↑ IAAF World Records, Women's Pole Vault , accessed on June 28, 2018