Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. Athletes start with a qualifying round. Jumping in turn, each athlete attempts to achieve the qualifying height. If they fail at three jumps in a row, they are eliminated. After a successful jump, they receive three more attempts to achieve the next height. Once all jumps have been completed, all athletes who have achieved the qualifying height go through to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieve the qualifying standard, the best 12 athletes go through. Cleared heights reset for the final, which followed the same format until all athletes fail three consecutive jumps.[2]

All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2)

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Sergey Bubka (UKR)	6.14 m	Sestrière, Italy	31 July 1994
Olympic record	Jean Galfione (FRA)	5.92 m	Atlanta, United States	2 August 1996

The following records were established during the competition:

Date	Event	Name	Nationality	Result	Record
27 August	Final	Timothy Mack	United States	5.95 m	OR

With a first attempt clearance at 5.85m, Giuseppe Gibilisco went into 5.90m with the lead. Tim Mack and Toby Stevenson were the only others to clear 5.85m, both on their second attempt, but Stevenson had the advantage because Mack had an earlier miss. But the medals were not settled because Igor Pavlov saved one attempt for 5.90m. Stevenson and Mack both made it on their first attempt, while Pavlov missed to be eliminated and Gibilisco missed his first. With nothing to be gained, Gibilisco passed to 5.95 m (19 ft 6 ¹⁄₄ in). The only way to unseat Stevenson was a clearance, but nobody could negotiate 5.95 in their first two attempts, leaving Gibilisco with bronze. On his final attempt, Mack slithered over a personal best for the second time in the competition. It was also a new Olympic record. Stevenson put on his helmet to take one last attempt but the bar dragged off, giving Mack the gold.

• Official Olympic Report