Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

The men's pole vault field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 1 & 2.[1] Controversy arose when the new Cata-Pole, used by defending champion American Bob Seagren and Sweden's Kjell Isaksson, was declared to be illegal, by the IAAF, on 25 July. The pole was banned based on the fact that the pole contained carbon fibers; after an East German-led protest revealed that it contained no carbon fibers, the ban was lifted on 27 August. Three days later the IAAF reversed itself again, reinstating the ban. The poles were then confiscated from the athletes. Seagren and Isaksson believed this gave other athletes, like the eventual gold medalist, Wolfgang Nordwig, an unfair advantage. Seagren and Isaksson were given substitute poles which they had never used before to jump with. Isaksson, who had lost the world record to Seagren only 2 months earlier, didn't clear a height in the qualifying round and was eliminated. After Seagren’s last vault he was so incensed by the way IAAF officials handled the event, he took the pole he had been forced to vault with and handed it back to IAAF President Adriaan Paulen.[1]

Men's pole vault at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	September 1 & 2
Competitors	21 from 12 nations
Winning time	5.50 OR
Medalists
Wolfgang Nordwig  East Germany Bob Seagren  United States Jan Johnson  United States

Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men	women
5000 m	men
10,000 m	men
100 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men
3000 m steeplechase	men
4×100 m relay	men	women
4×400 m relay	men	women
Road events
Marathon	men
20 km walk	men
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Javelin throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men
Combined events
Pentathlon		women
Decathlon	men

This was the first Olympics where the pole vault had not been won by an American. Prior to 1972, USA had won 16 straight. Since 1972 USA has only won the men's pole vault twice, equalling the record of Poland and components of the USSR. France has won three times since 1984.