The 6 metres club
The so-called "6 metres club", which consists of pole vaulters who have reached at least 6 metres, represents the elite in world pole vaulting. In 1985 Sergey Bubka became the first pole vaulter to clear 6 metres; he also holds the current outdoor world record at 6.14 metres, set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere (Italy).
All of the current "6 metres club" members are men. 4 of them are from the USA and from present-day Russia, 3 from Australia, 2 from Germany and one each from the South Africa and France.
The greatest pole vaulter of them all, the legendary Sergey Bubka, has set world records aplenty both for the former Soviet Union and his current nation, Ukraine (he broke the world record 35 times!), as well as winning one Olympic gold and 6 times in succession the IAAF World Championship.
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Name of athlete
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Nation
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Outdoors
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Indoors
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Year first
cleared 6 metres |
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6.14 m
|
6.15 m
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1985
|
||
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6.00 m
|
6.06 m
|
2008
|
||
|
6.05 m
|
6.00 m
|
1997
|
||
|
6.05 m
|
|
1998
|
||
|
6.04 m
|
|
2006
|
||
|
6.03 m
|
|
1995
|
||
|
6.03 m
|
6.02 m
|
1998
|
||
|
6.01 m
|
|
1996
|
||
|
6.01 m
|
|
2004
|
||
|
6.01 m
|
|
2008
|
||
|
6.00 m
|
6.02 m
|
1989
|
||
|
6.00 m
|
|
1997
|
||
|
6.00 m
|
|
2004
|
||
|
6.00 m
|
|
2005
|
||
|
|
6.00 m
|
1999
|
||
|
|
6.00 m
|
2001
|
POLE VAULTING LADIES
The only woman to vault over 5 metres is the current world record holder, Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia. She reached that height in 2005 and has in total broken the women's world-record, indoor and outdoor, 26 times, culminating in her current world record of 5.05 metres obtained in 2008 at the Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
Isinbayeva has been the world’s best pole vaulter since 2003, hitting the season’s best measure in each of those consecutive eight years. Other notable performers have been the American Stacy Dragila (personal best of 4,83m in 2004) ), the Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medal winner, and the Russian Svetlana Feofanova (personal best of 4,88m in 2004), IAAF world champion in Paris 2003.
