Men's pole vault world record progression

3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)

Francis Temple

United Kingdom

Woolwich

October 6, 1849

1

3 .mw- .mw- .mw- 10 ft 6+1⁄4 in)

Robert Mitchell

London

June 19, 1868

1

3.225 m (10 ft 6+3⁄4 in)

Edwin Woodburn

Newton

August 31, 1872

1

Lancaster

June 2, 1873

2

William Kelsey

Sheffield

July 7, 1873

1

John Wigfull

1

Edwin Woodburn

London

March 30, 1874

3

John Wigfull

Sheffield

July 5, 1875

2

3.38 m (11 ft 1 in)

A. Hammond

Bury St.Edmunds

March 30, 1876

1

Edwin Woodburn

Ulverston

July 21, 1876

4

3.42 m (11 ft 2+1⁄2 in)

Thomas Ray

September 19, 1879

1

3.43 m (11 ft 3 in)

Birmingham

July 16, 1881

2

3.455 m (11 ft 4 in)

Bradford

August 12, 1882

3

Nottingham

June 16, 1883

4

3.465 m (11 ft 4+1⁄4 in)

Preston

August 18, 1883

5

3.48 m (11 ft 5 in)

Grasmere

August 20, 1885

6

3.485 m (11 ft 5 in)

Whitehaven

August 13, 1886

7

3.505 m (11 ft 5+3⁄4 in)

Grasmere

August 18, 1887

8

3.52 m (11 ft 6+1⁄2 in)

Whitehaven

August 19, 1887

9

3.53 m (11 ft 6+3⁄4 in)

Ernest Stones

Southport

June 2, 1888

1

3.555 m (11 ft 7+3⁄4 in)

Thomas Ray

Barrow

September 22, 1888

10

3.57 m (11 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

Ernest Stones

Grasmere

August 23, 1889

2

3.58 m (11 ft 8+3⁄4 in)

Richard Dickenson

Kidderminster

July 4, 1891

1

3.62 m (11 ft 10+1⁄2 in)

Raymond Clapp

United States

Chicago

June 16, 1898

1

3.69 m (12 ft 1+1⁄4 in)

Norman Dole

Berkeley

April 23, 1904

1

3.69 m (12 ft 1+1⁄4 in)

Fernand Gonder

France

Paris

June 26, 1904

1

3.74 m (12 ft 3 in)

Gradignan

June 4, 1905

2

3.78 m (12 ft 4+3⁄4 in)

Leroy Samse

United States

Chicago

June 2, 1906

1

3.79 m (12 ft 5 in)

Walter Dray

New Haven

May 18, 1907

1

3.82 m (12 ft 6+1⁄4 in)

Philadelphia

April 25, 1908

2

3.855 m (12 ft 7+3⁄4 in)

Alfred Gilbert

June 6, 1908

1

3.86 m (12 ft 7+3⁄4 in)

New Haven

June 12, 1908

2

3.90 m (12 ft 9+1⁄2 in)

Walter Dray

Danbury

June 13, 1908

3

3.91 m (12 ft 9+3⁄4 in)

Leland Scott

United States

Berkeley

April 30, 1910

1

3.93 m (12 ft 10+1⁄2 in)

Boulder

May 27, 1910

2

3.985 m (13 ft 3⁄4 in)

Robert Gardner

Philadelphia

June 1, 1912

1

4.02 m (13 ft 2+1⁄4 in)

Marc Wright

Cambridge, U.S.

June 8, 1912

1

4.09 m (13 ft 5 in)

Frank Foss

United States

Antwerp, Belgium

August 20, 1920

1

4.12 m (13 ft 6 in)

Charles Hoff

Norway

Copenhagen, Denmark

September 22, 1922

1

4.21 m (13 ft 9+1⁄2 in)

July 22, 1923

2

4.23 m (13 ft 10+1⁄2 in)

Oslo, Norway

August 13, 1925

3

4.25 m (13 ft 11+1⁄4 in)

Turku, Finland

September 27, 1925

4

4.27 m (14 ft 0 in)

Sabin Carr

United States

Philadelphia, U.S.

May 28, 1927

1

4.30 m (14 ft 1+1⁄4 in)

Lee Barnes

Fresno, U.S.

April 28, 1928

1

4.37 m (14 ft 4 in)

William Graber

Palo Alto, U.S.

July 16, 1932

1

4.39 m (14 ft 4+3⁄4 in)

Keith Brown

Boston, U.S.

June 1, 1935

1

4.43 m (14 ft 6+1⁄4 in)

George Varoff

Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.

July 4, 1936

1

4.54 m (14 ft 10+1⁄2 in)

Bill Sefton

Los Angeles, U.S.

May 29, 1937

1

Earle Meadows

1

4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)

Cornelius Warmerdam

Fresno, U.S.

June 29, 1940

1

4.72 m (15 ft 5+3⁄4 in)

Compton, U.S.

June 26, 1941

2

4.77 m (15 ft 7+3⁄4 in)

Modesto, U.S.

May 23, 1942

3

4.78 m (15 ft 8 in)

Robert Gutowski

Palo Alto, U.S.

April 27, 1957

1

4.80 m (15 ft 8+3⁄4 in)

Don Bragg

United States

July 2, 1960

1

4.83 m (15 ft 10 in)

George Davies

United States

Boulder, U.S.

May 20, 1961

1

4.89 m (16 ft 1⁄2 in)

John Uelses

Santa Barbara, U.S.

March 31, 1962

1

4.93 m (16 ft 2 in)

Dave Tork

Walnut, U.S.

April 28, 1962

1

4.94 m (16 ft 2+1⁄4 in)

Pentti Nikula

Finland

Kauhava, Finland

June 22, 1962

1

5.00 m (16 ft 4+3⁄4 in)

Brian Sternberg

United States

Philadelphia, U.S.

April 27, 1963

1

5.08 m (16 ft 8 in)

Compton, U.S.

June 7, 1963

2

5.13 m (16 ft 9+3⁄4 in)

John Pennel

London, England

August 5, 1963

1

5.20 m (17 ft 1⁄2 in)

Coral Gables, U.S.

August 24, 1963

2

5.23 m (17 ft 1+3⁄4 in)

Fred Hansen

San Diego, U.S.

June 13, 1964

1

5.28 m (17 ft 3+3⁄4 in)

Los Angeles, U.S.

July 25, 1964

2

5.32 m (17 ft 5+1⁄4 in)

Bob Seagren

Fresno, U.S.

May 14, 1966

1

5.34 m (17 ft 6 in)

John Pennel

Los Angeles, U.S.

July 23, 1966

3

5.36 m (17 ft 7 in)

Bob Seagren

San Diego, U.S.

June 10, 1967

2

5.38 m (17 ft 7+3⁄4 in)

Paul Wilson

Bakersfield, U.S.

June 23, 1967

1

5.41 m (17 ft 8+3⁄4 in) A

Bob Seagren

Echo Summit, U.S.

September 12, 1968

3

5.44 m (17 ft 10 in)

John Pennel

Sacramento, U.S.

June 21, 1969

4

5.45 m (17 ft 10+1⁄2 in)

Wolfgang Nordwig

East Germany

Berlin, Germany

June 17, 1970

1

5.46 m (17 ft 10+3⁄4 in)

Turin, Italy

September 3, 1970

2

5.49 m (18 ft 0 in)

Christos Papanikolaou

Greece

Athens, Greece

October 24, 1970

1

5.51 m (18 ft 3⁄4 in)

Kjell Isaksson

Sweden

Austin, U.S.

April 8, 1972

1

5.54 m (18 ft 2 in)

Los Angeles, U.S.

April 15, 1972

2

5.55 m (18 ft 2+1⁄2 in)

Helsingborg, Sweden

June 12, 1972

3

5.63 m (18 ft 5+1⁄2 in)

Bob Seagren

United States

Eugene, U.S.

July 2, 1972

4

5.65 m (18 ft 6+1⁄4 in)

David Roberts

Gainesville, U.S.

March 28, 1975

1

5.67 m (18 ft 7 in)

Earl Bell

Wichita, U.S.

May 29, 1976

1

5.70 m (18 ft 8+1⁄4 in)

David Roberts

Eugene, U.S.

June 22, 1976

2

5.72 m (18 ft 9 in)

Władysław Kozakiewicz

Poland

Milan, Italy

May 11, 1980

1

5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄4 in)

Thierry Vigneron

France

Paris, France

June 1, 1980

1

5.75 m (18 ft 10+1⁄4 in)

Lille, France

June 29, 1980

2

5.77 m (18 ft 11 in)

Philippe Houvion

Paris, France

July 17, 1980

1

5.78 m (18 ft 11+1⁄2 in)

Władysław Kozakiewicz

Poland

Moscow, Soviet Union

July 30, 1980

2

5.80 m (19 ft 1⁄4 in)

Thierry Vigneron

France

Mâcon, France

June 20, 1981

3

5.81 m (19 ft 1⁄2 in)

Vladimir Polyakov

Soviet Union

Tbilisi, Soviet Union

June 26, 1981

1

5.82 m (19 ft 1 in)

Pierre Quinon

France

Cologne, Germany

August 28, 1983

1

5.83 m (19 ft 1+1⁄2 in)

Thierry Vigneron

Rome, Italy

September 1, 1983

4

5.85 m (19 ft 2+1⁄4 in)

Sergey Bubka

Soviet Union

Bratislava, Czechoslovakia

May 26, 1984

1

5.88 m (19 ft 3+1⁄4 in)

Paris, France

June 2, 1984

2

5.90 m (19 ft 4+1⁄4 in)

London, England

July 13, 1984

3

5.91 m (19 ft 4+1⁄2 in)

Thierry Vigneron

France

Rome, Italy

August 31, 1984

5

5.94 m (19 ft 5+3⁄4 in)

Sergey Bubka

Soviet Union

4

6.00 m (19 ft 8 in)

Paris, France

July 13, 1985

5

6.01 m (19 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

Moscow, Soviet Union

July 8, 1986

6

6.03 m (19 ft 9+1⁄4 in)

Prague, Czechoslovakia

June 23, 1987

7

6.05 m (19 ft 10 in)

Bratislava, Czechoslovakia

June 9, 1988

8

6.06 m (19 ft 10+1⁄2 in)

Nice, France

July 10, 1988

9

6.07 m (19 ft 10+3⁄4 in)

Shizuoka, Japan

May 6, 1991

10

6.08 m (19 ft 11+1⁄4 in)

Moscow, Soviet Union

June 9, 1991

11

6.09 m (19 ft 11+3⁄4 in)

Formia, Italy

July 8, 1991

12

6.10 m (20 ft 0 in)

Malmö, Sweden

August 5, 1991

13

6.11 m (20 ft 1⁄2 in)

Ukraine

Dijon, France

June 13, 1992

14

6.12 m (20 ft 3⁄4 in)

Padua, Italy

August 30, 1992

15

6.13 m (20 ft 1+1⁄4 in)

Tokyo, Japan

September 19, 1992

16

6.14 m (20 ft 1+1⁄2 in) A

Sestriere, Italy

July 31, 1994

17

6.16 m (20 ft 2+1⁄2 in) i

Renaud Lavillenie

France

Donetsk, Ukraine

February 15, 2014

1

6.17 m (20 ft 2+3⁄4 in) i

Armand Duplantis

Sweden

Toruń, Poland

February 8, 2020

1

6.18 m (20 ft 3+1⁄4 in) i

Glasgow, UK

February 15, 2020

2

6.19 m (20 ft 3+1⁄2 in) i

Belgrade, Serbia

March 7, 2022

3

6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) i

March 20, 2022

4

6.21 m (20 ft 4+1⁄4 in)

Eugene, U.S.

July 24, 2022

5

6.22 m (20 ft 4+3⁄4 in) i

Clermont-Ferrand, France

February 25, 2023

6

6.23 m (20 ft 5+1⁄4 in)

Eugene, U.S.

September 17, 2023

7

6.24 m (20 ft 5+1⁄2 in)

Xiamen, China

April 20, 2024

8

6.25 m (20 ft 6 in)

Paris, France

August 5, 2024

9

6.26 m (20 ft 6+1⁄4 in)

Chorzów, Poland

August 25, 2024

10

6.27 m (20 ft 6+3⁄4 in) i

Clermont-Ferrand, France

February 28, 2025

11

6.28 m (20 ft 7 in)

Stockholm, Sweden

June 15, 2025

12

6.29 m (20 ft 7+1⁄2 in)

Budapest, Hungary

August 12, 2025

13

6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)

Tokyo, Japan

September 15, 2025

14

Notes:.mw- }.mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- The numbered occurrence of the athlete breaking the world record, in other words "#7" would indicate the 7th time the athlete broke the world record. "From 2000, IAAF Rule 260.18s (formerly 260.6.a) was amended to say world records (as opposed to indoor world records) can be set in a facility 'with or without a roof.' So far, only one event - the women's pole vault - has been affected by this change, which was not applied retrospectively." Sergey Bubka set an indoor record of 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in) on February 21, 1993, in excess of the outdoor record, before this rule came into effect. Lavillenie's indoor world record was set after the rule came into effect, and thus since it exceeded Bubka's 6.14 m (20 ft 1+1⁄2 in) set outdoors, it also became the outright world record, the first indoor mark to do so in this event.