Report26 Mar 1998


Emma George adds seven centimetres to pole vault record

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Emma George of Australia (© Getty Images)

We have seen the women's indoor pole vault record inching its way up inexorably since the start of the current indoor season.

It was almost getting to the point where a meeting without a new pole vault mark would have been no meeting at all. Now, Australia's Emma George has gone one better - a full seven centimetres - with the determination to keep the record hers for some time to come.

Her last record mark of 4.47 was set in Adelaide on 7 March, and bettered the following day by American Stacy Dragila and Daniela Bartova in a meeting in Sindelfingen, Germany, when both athletes cleared 4.48.

"I definitely feel much more confident that it will stay up for longer than the one I set last month" George said after clearing the new record height. "I was happy to jump 50 and to jump 55 was even better". She had, in fact, set a new mark of 4.50, before having the bar raised to 4.55, which she subsequently also cleared.

There may still be some way to go before the progression in this event slows. In a recent interview with the IAAF during the IAAF Zepter Masterclass in Monaco, Sergey Bubka, who has reigned virtually undisputed over the men's pole vault for nearly 15 years, said that he saw no reason why women vaulters should not be able to achieve a height of 5 metres or more within one or two years.

Emma George, who is a Continental Area Patron for the IAAF's Year of Women in Athletics initiative, will no doubt have her sights set on being the first to break that barrier.

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