Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's pole vault

The women's pole vault competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between 16–19 August.

Women's pole vault at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	16–19 August 2016
Competitors	38 from 24 nations
Winning height	4.85 m
Medalists
Katerina Stefanidi  Griechenland Sandi Morris  Vereinigte Staaten Eliza McCartney  Neuseeland

Summary

It took a clean round to 4.55 m to qualify. Holly Bradshaw, Lisa Ryzih, Jennifer Suhr, Eliza McCartney, Yarisley Silva and Martina Strutz already had misses and had to jump 4.60. All but Strutz did it on their first attempt. Ekaterini Stefanidi had passed the lower heights and took her only attempt at 4.60, which was successful to qualify.

In the final, 4.60 proved to be the end of the line as both returning Olympic medalists from 2012, Suhr and Silva topped out. They left tied with one miss each. 2012 bronze medalist Yelena Isinbayeva did not return because Russia's athletics team was suspended from international competition for state-sponsored doping. Isinbayeva later announced her retirement. Six women were able to clear 4.70, McCartney and Stefanidi were tied with the lead, each without a miss. Stefanidi missed her first attempt at 4.80, so when McCartney remained perfect, she took the lead. Stefanidi, Sandi Morris and Alana Boyd all cleared on their second attempt. After missing her first attempt at 4.80, Nicole Büchler saved her two remaining attempts for 4.85 (she missed both). Stefanidi took the lead with a second attempt clearance of 4.85 m (15 ft 10+3⁄4 in). Morris followed with a clearance of her own. When McCartney and Boyd were unable to clear the bar, Morris was guaranteed silver. Neither were able to clear 4.90 m (16 ft 3⁄4 in), though on Morris' last attempt, knowing it was all or nothing for the gold medal, it looked like she was well over the bar, her thigh just catching the bar on the way down to dislodge it. 19-year-old McCartney equaled her National Record, set in March 2016.

The medals were presented by Irena Szewińska and Svein Arne Hansen.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In qualification, each athlete had three attempts at each height and is eliminated if she failed to clear any height. Athletes who successfully jumped the qualifying height moved on the final. If fewer than 12 reached that height, the best 12 moved on. Cleared heights were reset for the final, which followed the same three-attempts-per-height format until all athletes reach a height they can not jump.

Zeitplan

All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)

Date	Zeit	Round
Tuesday, 16 August 2016	09:45	Qualifications
Friday, 19 August 2016	20:30	Finals

Records

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

World record	Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)	5.06 m	Zürich, Switzerland	28 August 2009
Olympic record	Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)	5.05 m	Beijing, China	18 August 2008
2016 World leading	Sandi Morris (USA)	4.93 m	Houston, USA	23 July 2016

The following national record was established during the competition:

Land	Athlete	Round	Height	Notes
Neuseeland	Eliza McCartney (NZL)	Final	4.80 m	=

Results

Key

• o = Height cleared
• x = Height failed
• – = Height passed
• r  = Retired
• SB = Season's best
• PB = Personal best
• NR = National record
• AR = Area record
• OR = Olympic record
• WR = World record
• WL = World lead
• NM = No mark
• DNS = Did not start
• DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying round

Qualification rule: Qualifying performance 4.60 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

Rank	Group	Name	Nationality	4.15	4.30	4.45	4.55	4.60	Result	Notes
1	A	Katerina Stefanidi	Griechenland	-	-	-	-	o	4.60	Q
2	A	Holly Bradshaw	Great Britain	-	-	o	xo	o	4.60	Q
	A	Lisa Ryzih	Deutschland	-	-	-	xo	o	4.60	Q
	B	Jennifer Suhr	Vereinigte Staaten	-	-	-	xo	o	4.60	Q
5	A	Eliza McCartney	Neuseeland	-	-	xxo	xo	o	4.60	Q
	B	Yarisley Silva	Cuba	-	-	xo	xxo	o	4.60	Q
7	B	Martina Strutz	Deutschland	-	o	xo	o	xo	4.60	Q
8	A	Kelsie Ahbe	Kanada	-	o	o	o	-	4.55	q
	A	Alana Boyd	Australien	-	-	o	o	-	4.55	q
	B	Nicole Büchler	Schweiz	-	-	o	o	-	4.55	q
	A	Sandi Morris	Vereinigte Staaten	-	-	o	o	-	4.55	q
	B	Tina Šutej	Slowenien	o	o	o	o	-	4.55	q
13	B	Minna Nikkanen	Finnland	-	o	xo	o	xxx	4.55
14	B	Angelica Bengtsson	Schweden	o	o	o	xo	xxx	4.55
	A	Maryna Kylypko	Ukraine	o	o	o	xo	xxx	4.55
16	B	Li Ling	China	-	o	xo	xo	xxx	4.55
17	A	Michaela Meijer	Schweden	-	o	o	xxx		4.45
	B	Alysha Newman	Kanada	-	o	o	xxx		4.45
19	A	Jiřina Ptáčníková	Tschechische Republik	-	o	xo	xxx		4.45
	A	Lexi Weeks	Vereinigte Staaten	-	o	xo	xxx		4.45
21	B	Sonia Malavisi	Italien	o	o	xxo	xxx		4.45
	B	Annika Roloff	Deutschland	-	o	xxo	xxx		4.45
23	A	Angelica Moser	Schweiz	xo	xxo	xxo	xxx		4.45
24	B	Romana Maláčová	Tschechische Republik	o	o	xxx			4.30
	A	Wilma Murto	Finnland	-	o	xxx			4.30
	B	Marta Onofre	Portugal	o	o	xxx			4.30
27	B	Tori Pena	Irland	o	xo	xxx			4.30
28	A	Vanessa Boslak	Frankreich	o	xxo	xxx			4.30
29	A	Joana Costa	Brasilien	o	xxx				4.15
	B	Annika Newell	Kanada	o	xxx				4.15
	B	Diamara Planell	Puerto Rico	o	xxx				4.15
	A	Femke Pluim	Niederlande	o	xxx				4.15
	A	Maria Leonor Tavares	Portugal	o	xxx				4.15
34	B	Iryna Yakaltsevich	Weißrussland	xxo	xxx				4.15
	B	Fabiana Murer	Brasilien	-	-	-	xxx		NM
	A	Ren Mengqian	China	xxx					NM
	B	Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou	Griechenland						DNS
	A	Robeilys Peinado	Venezuela						DNS

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	4.35	4.50	4.60	4.70	4.80	4.85	4.90	Result	Notes
	Katerina Stefanidi	Griechenland	-	-	o	o	xo	xo	xxx	4.85
	Sandi Morris	Vereinigte Staaten	-	o	o	xo	xo	xo	xxx	4.85
	Eliza McCartney	Neuseeland	-	o	o	o	o	xxx		4.80	=NR
4	Alana Boyd	Australien	-	o	o	xxo	xo	xxx		4.80
5	Holly Bradshaw	Great Britain	-	o	xo	o	xxx			4.70	SB
6	Nicole Büchler	Schweiz	-	o	xxo	o	x–	xx		4.70
7	Jennifer Suhr	Vereinigte Staaten	-	-	xo	xxx				4.60
	Yarisley Silva	Cuba	-	o	xo	xxx				4.60
9	Martina Strutz	Deutschland	o	o	xxo	xxx				4.60
10	Lisa Ryzih	Deutschland	-	o	-	xxx				4.50
11	Tina Šutej	Slowenien	o	xo	xxx					4.50
12	Kelsie Ahbe	Kanada	xxo	xxo	xxx					4.50