2019 World Athletics Championships – Women's pole vault explained

Event:Women's pole vault
Competition:2019 World Championships
Venue:Khalifa International Stadium
Dates:27 September (qualification)
29 September (final)
Competitors:32
Nations:22
Win Label:Winning height
Win Value:4.95
Gold:Anzhelika Sidorova
Goldnoc:ANA
Silver:Sandi Morris
Silvernoc:USA
Bronze:Katerina Stefanidi
Bronzenoc:GRE
Prev:2017
Next:2022

The women's pole vault at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 27 to 29 September 2019.[1]

Summary

During qualifications, 17 women made it to the final by clearing 4.60 m. In the final, they started at 4.50 m but jumped next to 4.70 m, taking the field down to a dozen, nine still with clean rounds. At 4.80 m, six were over, but only Anzhelika Sidorova and Sandi Morris were still clean. At 4.85 m, defending and Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi missed once, while Morris and Sidorova remained clean. Angelica Bengtsson, Alysha Newman, and Holly Bradshaw could not get over the bar. Bradshaw saved one attempt for 4.90 m but missed, and then Stefanidi missed. When Morris and Sidorova cleared on their first attempts, Stefanidi saved her two remaining attempts for 4.95 m. At this height, only three women had ever cleared, one of them Morris, who had done it four times. Through the first two rounds of attempts, nobody cleared, eliminating Stefanidi with the bronze. On her final attempt, Morris missed. Then, Sidorova cleared. The tie was broken, and Sidorova became only the fourth woman in history to clear 4.95 m.

Morris congratulated her opponent after the winning vault, an act which earned her a place on the shortlist for the International Fair Play Award that year.[2]

The final is noted as one of the best finals in the history of the World Championships. Six women cleared 4.80 m, a record for the event. Prior to 2019, the maximum number of women who cleared 4.80 m in a World Championship final was three, in 2013 and 2015. In fact, the winning height of 4.95 m would have won all previous World Championships except for 2005 when Yelena Isinbayeva won with a then-world record of 5.01 m.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows:[3]

Record Athlete Date Location
World5.06Yelena Isinbayeva Russian FederationZürich, Switzerland
Championship5.01Yelena Isinbayeva Russian Federation12 Aug 2005Helsinki, Finland
World leading4.91Jennifer Suhr United States30 Mar 2019 Austin, United States
African4.42Elmarie Gerryts12 Jun 2000Wesel, Germany
Asian4.72Li Ling18 May 2019Shanghai, China
NACAC5.02 Jennifer Suhr United States2 Mar 2013Albuquerque, United States
South American4.87Fabiana Murer Brazil3 Jul 2016São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
European5.06Yelena Isinbayeva Russian Federation28 Aug 2009Zürich, Switzerland
Oceanian4.94Eliza McCartney New Zealand17 Jul 2018Jockgrim, Germany

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:[4]

DateTimeRound
27 September 17:30 Qualification
29 September 20:01 Final

Results

Qualification

Qualification: 4.60 m (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q).[5] [6]

Rank Group Name Nationality 4.20 4.35 4.50 4.55 4.60 Mark Notes
1 A o 4.60
B o o 4.60
A o o 4.60
A o o o 4.60
B o 4.60
A o 4.60
A o o o 4.60
8 A xo o 4.60
B o xo o 4.60
10 A o xxo o 4.60
11 A o o o o xo 4.60
B o o o o xo 4.60
B xo 4.60
14 A o xo xo 4.60
15 B o xxo 4.60
16 B o xo xxo 4.60
17 B o o o xxo xxo 4.60
18 B o xo xo xxx 4.55
19 B o o xxx 4.50
20 A o xo o xxx 4.50
21 A o o xxo xxx 4.50
22 B o o xxx 4.35
A o o xxx 4.35
A o o xxx 4.35
25 A xo o xxx 4.35
B xo o xxx 4.35
27 B o xo xxx 4.35
28 B xo xo xxx 4.35
29 A o xxo xxx 4.35
B o xxo xxx 4.35
31 A o xxx 4.20
B xxx

Final

The final was started on 29 September at 20:01.[7]

Rank Name Nationality 4.50 4.70 4.80 4.85 4.90 4.95 Mark Notes
o o o o o xxo 4.95 ,
o o o o o xxx 4.90
o o xo xo x- xx 4.85
4o o xo xx- x 4.80
5xo o xo xxx 4.80
6o xxo xxo xxx 4.80 =
7 o o xxx 4.70
o o xxx 4.70 =
o xxx 4.70
o o xx- x 4.70 =
11xxo o xxx 4.70
12o xo xxx 4.70
13 o xxx 4.50
o x- xx 4.50
o xxx 4.50
o xxx 4.50
17xo xxx 4.50

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Start list.
  2. https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/cifp-fair-play-award-2019 Shortlist announced for International Fair Play Award
  3. Web site: Pole Vault Women – Records . IAAF. 26 September 2019.
  4. Web site: Pole Vault Women − Timetable. IAAF. 26 September 2019.
  5. Web site: Women's pole vault − Qualification − Results. IAAF. 27 September 2019. 6 October 2019.
  6. Web site: Women's pole vault − Qualification − Summary. IAAF. 27 September 2019. 6 October 2019.
  7. Web site: Final results.