WCH Tokyo 25 facts and figures: women's pole vault

Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists

2023: =1 Nina Kennedy (AUS) / =1Katie Moon (USA) – 4.90m, 3 Wilma Murto (FIN) – 4.80m
2022: 1 Katie Nageotte (USA) – 4.85m, 2 Sandi Morris (USA) – 4.85m, 3 Nina Kennedy (AUS) – 4.80m
2019: 1 Anzhelika Sidorova (ANA/RUS) – 4.95m, 2 Sandi Morris (USA) – 4.90m, 3 Katerina Stefanídi (GRE) – 4.85m

Last two sets of Olympic medallists

Highest winning vaults in World Athletics Championships history

5.01m – Yelena Isinbaeva (RUS), 2005
4.95m – Anzhelika Sidorova (ANA/RUS), 2019
4.91m – Ekaterini Stefanídi (GRE), 2017

Lowest winning vault in World Athletics Championships history

4.60m – Stacy Dragila (USA), 1999

Best marks on Japanese soil

4.90m 1 Katie Moon (USA) - Tokyo (Olympics) 05.08.2021
4.85m 2 Anzhelika Sidorova (ANA/RUS) - Tokyo (Olympics) 05.08.2021
4.85m 3 Holly Bradshaw (GBR) - Tokyo (Olympics) 05.08.2021

Best marks on Asian soil

5.05m 1 Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) - Beijing (Olympics) 18.08.2008
4.95m 1 Anzhelika Sidorova (ANA/RUS) - Doha (World Championships) 29.09.2019
4.90m 1 Yarisley Silva (CUB) - Beijing (World Championships) 26.08.2015

Biggest winning margins

0.41m – 2005: Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) – 5.01m, Monika Pyrek (POL) – 4.60m
0.16m – 2017: Katerina Stefanídi (GRE) – 4.91m, Sandi Morris (USA) – 4.75m
0.10m – 2009: Anna Rogowska (POL) – 4.75m, Monika Pyrek (POL) / Chelsea Johnson (USA) – 4.65m
0.10m – 2023: Katie Moon (USA) / Nina Kennedy (AUS) – 4.90m, Wilma Murto (FIN) – 4.80m

​​Smallest winning margins

0.00m – 2001: Stacy Dragila (USA) – 4.75m, Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) – 4.75m
0.00m – 2022: Katie Nageotte (USA) – 4.85m, Sandi Morris (USA) – 4.85m

Best mark by round

Qualifying – 4.65m (12 athletes)
Final – 5.01m – Yelena Isinbaeva (RUS), 2005

Multiple winners

1999/01 - Stacy Dragila (USA)
2005/07/13 - Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)
2023/23 - Katie Moon (USA)

Winners by country

5 - Russia (inc. ANA)
4 - United States
1 - Poland
1 - Brazil
1 - Cuba
1 - Greece
1 - Australia

Five historic facts

• Stacy Dragila (USA) became the inaugural world champion in 1999 with a winning clearance of 4.60m…five centimetres lower than the qualifying height in 2023
• There was a shared gold medal for the first and only time in World Championships history in 2023 when Katie Moon (USA) and Nina Kennedy (AUS) agreed to share the title rather than continue to a jump-off 
• Katie Moon became the oldest world champion in the event in 2023, winning gold in Budapest at 32y/71d
• Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) remains the only vaulter to have cleared 5.00m at the World Championships with a world record of 5.01m in Helsinki in 2005
• Four of the last five world pole vault finals have been won with a vault of 4.90m or higher 

Potential storylines

• Can Katie Moon (USA) become the first pole vaulter to win three successive world titles in the women’s pole vault? Isinbayeva has won three titles albeit non-consecutively in 2005, 2007 and 2013 
• Can the United States win multiple medals in the women's pole vault for just the second time? American vaulters occupy four of the top five spots on the entry-list
• Can Molly Caudery (GBR) become the first Brit to win a medal in either the men’s or women’s pole vault in World Championships history?
• Can Angelica Moser (SUI) become the first Swiss to win a medal in either the men’s or women’s pole vault in World Championships history?