The women's pole vault competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 16–19 August.

Summary It took a clean round to 4.55 m to qualify. Holly Bradshaw, Lisa Ryzih, Jennifer Suhr, Eliza McCartney, Yarisley Silva and Martina Strutz already had misses and had to jump 4.60. All but Strutz did it on their first attempt. Ekaterini Stefanidi had passed the lower heights and took her only attempt at 4.60, which was successful to qualify.

In the final, 4.60 proved to be the end of the line as both returning Olympic medalists from 2012, Suhr and Silva topped out. They left tied with one miss each. 2012 bronze medalist Yelena Isinbayeva did not return because Russia's athletics team was suspended from international competition for state-sponsored doping. Isinbayeva later announced her retirement. Six women were able to clear 4.70, McCartney and Stefanidi were tied with the lead, each without a miss. Stefanidi missed her first attempt at 4.80, so when McCartney remained perfect, she took the lead. Stefanidi, Sandi Morris and Alana Boyd all cleared on their second attempt. After missing her first attempt at 4.80, Nicole Büchler saved her two remaining attempts for 4.85 (she missed both). Stefanidi took the lead with a second attempt clearance of . Morris followed with a clearance of her own. When McCartney and Boyd were unable to clear the bar, Morris was guaranteed silver. Neither were able to clear , though on Morris' last attempt, knowing it was all or nothing for the gold medal, it looked like she was well over the bar, her thigh just catching the bar on the way down to dislodge it. 19-year-old McCartney equaled her National Record, set in March 2016.

The medals were presented by Irena Szewińska and Svein Arne Hansen.

Competition format The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In qualification, each athlete had three attempts at each height and is eliminated if she failed to clear any height. Athletes who successfully jumped the qualifying height moved on the final. If fewer than 12 reached that height, the best 12 moved on. Cleared heights were reset for the final, which followed the same three-attempts-per-height format until all athletes reach a height they can not jump.

Schedule All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3) Date Time RoundTuesday, 16 August 2016 09:45QualificationsFriday, 19 August 2016 20:30Finals

Records , the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record5.06 mZürich, Switzerland28 August 2009Olympic record5.05 mBeijing, China18 August 20082016 World leading4.93 mHouston, USA23 July 2016

The following national record was established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Height Notes New Zealand Final 4.80 m =

Results

Qualifying round Qualification rule: Qualifying performance 4.60 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final. RankGroupNameNationality4.154.304.454.554.60ResultNotes1AKaterina Stefanidi – – – –o4.602AHolly Bradshaw – –oxoo4.60ALisa Ryzih – – –xoo4.60BJennifer Suhr – – –xoo4.605AEliza McCartney – –xxoxoo4.60BYarisley Silva – –xoxxoo4.607BMartina Strutz –oxooxo4.608AKelsie Ahbe –ooo –4.55AAlana Boyd – –oo –4.55BNicole Büchler – –oo –4.55ASandi Morris – –oo –4.55BTina Šutejoooo –4.5513BMinna Nikkanen –oxooxxx4.5514BAngelica Bengtssonoooxoxxx4.55AMaryna Kylypkooooxoxxx4.5516BLi Ling –oxoxoxxx4.5517AMichaela Meijer –ooxxx4.45BAlysha Newman –ooxxx4.4519AJiřina Ptáčníková –oxoxxx4.45ALexi Weeks –oxoxxx4.4521BSonia Malavisiooxxoxxx4.45BAnnika Roloff –oxxoxxx4.4523AAngelica Moserxoxxoxxoxxx4.4524BRomana Maláčováooxxx4.30AWilma Murto –oxxx4.30BMarta Onofreooxxx4.3027BTori Penaoxoxxx4.3028AVanessa Boslakoxxoxxx4.3029AJoana Costaoxxx4.15BAnnika Newelloxxx4.15BDiamara Planelloxxx4.15AFemke Pluimoxxx4.15AMaria Leonor Tavaresoxxx4.1534BIryna Yakaltsevichxxoxxx4.15BFabiana Murer – – –xxxARen MengqianxxxBNikoleta KyriakopoulouARobeilys Peinado

Final Rank Name Nationality 4.354.504.604.704.804.854.90Result Notes Katerina Stefanidi – – o o xo xo xxx 4.85 Sandi Morris – o o xo xo xo xxx 4.85 Eliza McCartney – o o o o xxx 4.80 = 4 Alana Boyd – o o xxo xo xxx 4.80 5 Holly Bradshaw – o xo o xxx 4.70 6 Nicole Büchler – o xxo o x– xx 4.70 7 Jennifer Suhr – – xo xxx 4.60 Yarisley Silva – o xo xxx 4.60 9 Martina Strutz o o xxo xxx 4.60 10 Lisa Ryzih – o – xxx 4.50 11 Tina Šutej o xo xxx 4.50 12 Kelsie Ahbe xxo xxo xxx 4.50

References