Gaining a competitive edge

✍ Scribed by Claire Davis

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 103 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1369-7021
• DOI: 10.1016/s1369-7021(06)71802-8

✦ Synopsis

Materials developments and engineering technology have long been known to have a major impact on sporting performance. In pole vaulting, the International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) rules state that, "the pole may be of any material or combination of materials and of any length or diameter, but the basic surface must be smooth". The sport has seen a huge change in the materials used for the pole, and in the world records achieved. When pole vaulting first started, rigid solid wood poles were used. Then in the early 1900s, lightweight bamboo poles were introduced along with a 'box' to receive the pole. In 1957, an Al pole was used by Bob Gutowski to set the world record height of 4.78 m; later that year, Don Bragg used a steel pole to increase the record to 4.80 m. Glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composite (GFRP) poles were then introduced, leading to a step change in performance. GFRP poles are flexible, allowing a different athletic style (feet first, vertically upside down approach) and a more energy-efficient vault. Sergei Bubka set the current men's world record of 6.14 m using a GFRP pole. An issue associated with this performance enhancement is safety, as athletes are 'falling' from greater heights and the GFRP poles can occasionally break during a vault.