Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

Men's pole vault at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Dates	July 31 (qualifying) August 2 (final)
Medalists
Guinn Smith United States   Erkki Kataja Finland   Bob Richards United States

Video on YouTube Official Video
Pole Vault competition starts @ 26:10

Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
80 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
Road events
Marathon		men
10 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
Decathlon		men

The men's pole vault event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 31 and August 2. During the final, a rainstorm came in during the jumps at 4.10. All the jumpers at 4.20 and higher had to deal with wet conditions on the runway and with their poles. The final was won by American Guinn Smith. Erkki Kataja had held the lead with a perfect set of jumps until Smith's last attempt clearance of 4.30.

Records

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

World record	Cornelius Warmerdam (USA)	4.77 m	Modesto, United States	23 May 1942
Olympic record	Earle Meadows (USA)	4.35 m	Berlin, Germany	5 August 1936

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Results

Qualifying round

Qual. rule: qualification standard 4.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank	Name	Nationality	Result	Notes
1	Guinn Smith	United States	4.00	Q
1	Erkki Kataja	Finland	4.00	Q
1	Bob Richards	United States	4.00	Q
1	Erling Kaas	Norway	4.00	Q
1	Ragnar Lundberg	Sweden	4.00	Q
1	Boo Morcom	United States	4.00	Q
1	Hugo Göllors	Finland	4.00	Q
1	Joe Barbosa	Puerto Rico	4.00	Q
1	José Vicente	Puerto Rico	4.00	Q
1	Victor Sillon	France	4.00	Q
1	Allan Lindberg	Sweden	4.00	Q
13	Georges Breitman	France	3.90
14	Theodosios Balafas	Greece	3.80
14	Torfi Bryngeirsson	Iceland	3.80
16	Luis Ganoza	Peru	3.70
17	Charles Bouvet	France	3.60
17	Richard Webster	Great Britain	3.60
17	Jaime Piqueras	Peru	3.60

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	3.95	4.10	4.20	4.30	4.40	Result	Notes
01 !	Guinn Smith	United States	xo	xo	o	xxo	xpp	4.30
02 !	Erkki Kataja	Finland	o	o	o	xxx		4.20
03 !	Bob Richards	United States	o	xo	xo	xxx		4.20
4	Erling Kaas	Norway	o	o	xxx			4.10
5	Ragnar Lundberg	Sweden	o	xxo	xxx			4.10
6	Boo Morcom	United States	o	pass	xxx			3.95
7	Hugo Göllors	Sweden	xo					3.95
7	Valto Olenius	Finland	xo					3.95
9	José Barbosa	Puerto Rico	xxo					3.95
9	José Vicente	Puerto Rico	xxo					3.95
9	Victor Sillon	France	xxo					3.95
12	Allan Lindberg	Sweden	xxx					3.80

External links

• 1948 Summer Olympics results: Men's pole vault, from http://www.sports-reference.com/; retrieved 2010-07-11.
• Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 5 September 2016.