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Pole Vault
Stade de France
Event	Medal


Tokyo Olympics men’s pole vault gold medallist Armand Duplantis (SWE)


Pole 
Inner layer 
Wound fibreglass builds resistance to twisting

Middle layer
Carbon-fibre webbing

Outer layer
High-strength carbon fibre provides high-bending stiffness


UP AND OVER

Run-up: Vaulter accelerates down 40-45m runway, achieving maximum speed at take-off

Kinetic energy
Elastic energy stored as pole bends is released at top of flight path, projecting athlete over 4.5m bar


Olympic record	Thiago Braz (BRA) 	Rio de Janeiro 2016	6.03m
		Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)	Beijing 2008		5.05m

World record	Armand Duplantis (SWE) 	Xiamen 2024		6.24m
		Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)	Zurich 2009		5.06m
		

Sources: IOC, IAAF 
Pictures: Getty Images
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