Dates 14 and 16 October | ||
 | ||
Venue Estadio Olímpico Universitario | ||
The men's pole vault was one of four men's jumping events on the athletics program at the 1968 Summer Olympics. The competition had two rounds, qualifying and a final, which were held on 14 and 16 October respectively at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City.
Contents
Bob Seagren, who had set a world record of 5.41 m (17 ft 8 3⁄4 in) a month earlier, won the gold medal for the United States. The medallists, Seagren, Claus Schiprowski, and Wolfgang Nordwig, all finished the competition with the same height (5.40 m (17 ft 8 1⁄2 in)) and the trio shared in breaking Fred Hansen's Olympic record of 5.10 m (16 ft 8 3⁄4 in) set at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Both Seagren and Schiprowski cleared the winning height on their second attempt and were separated by Schiprowski having two misses earlier in the competition, while Seagren only had one. Nordwig entered the final height, tied with Seagren with only one miss earlier in the competition, but Nordwig took three attempts to clear the winning height. Of the top five competitors, only Schiprowski would not hold the World record at some point in time. Tenth place Kjell Isaksson would also hold the world record.
Competition format
The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In both rounds, each athlete had three attempts at each height and was eliminated from the competition if he failed to clear that height. Athletes could choose to pass onto the next height, although any failed attempts were carried over into that height. The heights increased in increments of five centimetres. Athletes who successfully jumped the qualifying height 4.90 m (16 ft 0 3⁄4 in) progressed to the final round. In the event that fewer than twelve athletes cleared that height, the best twelve athletes (including those tied with athletes in the top twelve) would progress to the next round.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new Olympic record was set during this competition:
Qualifying
Key: OR = Olympic record; o = clear ; – = pass; x = fail; r = retired
Final
Key: OR = Olympic record; o = clear ; – = pass; x = fail; r = retired