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| Event type

Pole Vault, Men

Date21 – 22 July 1952
StatusOlympic
LocationHelsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Participants28 from 18 countries

There were 19 qualifiers which led to a five-hour final. Bob Richards, bronze medalist from 1948, was the favorite, having won the 1949-51 AAU and tieing in 1952 with Don Laz, also present in Helsinki. They were the class of the Olympic final, having no misses thru 4.40 (14-5¼) and then were the only two vaulters to clear 4.50 (14-9), both on their second attempts. The competition was thus tied to that point, but Richards made 4.55 (14-11) on his third try to win the gold medal. The best European was Sweden’s Ragnar Lundberg, 1950 European Champion, and he won the bronze medal. He and Soviet Pyotr Denisenko tied at 4.40 (14-5¼), both clearing on the first attempt, and had the same number of misses, but Lundberg had taken one less jump, which was the third tie-breaking rule in this era.

PosNrAthleteNOCQualifying RoundFinal Round
11025Bob RichardsUSA4.00 (=6)4.55 (1)GoldOR
21024Don LazUSA4.00 (=6)4.50 (2)SilverOR
3702Ragnar LundbergSWE4.00 (=1)4.40 (3)BronzeOR
4451Pyotr DenisenkoURS4.00 (=1)4.40 (4)OR
5809Valto OleniusFIN4.00 (13)4.30 (5)
6315Bunkichi SawadaJPN4.00 (18)4.20 (6)
7454Vladimir BrazhnikURS4.00 (15)4.20 (7)
8455Viktor KnyazevURS4.00 (14)4.20 (8)
91026George MattosUSA4.00 (=6)4.20 (9)
10811Erkki KatajaFIN4.00 (=1)4.10 (10)
=11952Tamás HomonnayHUN4.00 (=1)4.10 (=11)
=11701Lennart LindSWE4.00 (=6)4.10 (=11)
13335Milan MilakovYUG4.00 (19)4.10 (13)
=14382Rigas EfstathiadisGRE4.00 (=11)3.95 (=14)
=14161Torfi BryngeirssonISL4.00 (=16)3.95 (=14)
16517Erling KaasNOR4.00 (=11)3.80 (16)
17381Theodosios BalafasGRE4.00 (=16)3.80 (17)
=18810Jukka PiironenFIN4.00 (=1)3.80 (=18)
=18660Zeno DragomirROU4.00 (=6)3.80 (=18)
20 r1/2862Walter HofstetterSUI3.90 (20)
21 r1/2358Ron MillerCAN3.90 (21)
=22 r1/2206Geoff ElliottGBR3.80 (=22)
=22 r1/2205Tim AndersonGBR3.80 (=22)
=22 r1/2577Zenon WażnyPOL3.80 (=22)
25 r1/263Hélcio da SilvaBRA3.60 (25)
26 r1/296Gamal El-SherbiniEGY3.60 (26)
AC r1/2383Georgios RoumpanisGRE– (NH)
AC r1/2549José VicentePUR– (NH)
DNS410Jorge AguileraMEX– (DNS)
DNS281Franz FritzAUT– (DNS)
DNS630Georges BreitmanFRA– (DNS)
DNS578Edward AdamczykPOL– (DNS)

Qualifying Round (21 July 1952 — 15:00)

All those clearing 4.00 metres advanced to the final.

PosAthleteNOCHeightMissesTotal MissesTotal Attempts3.60 m3.80 m3.90 m4.00 m
=1Pyotr DenisenkoURS4.00002-o-oQ
=1Tamás HomonnayHUN4.00002-o-oQ
=1Erkki KatajaFIN4.00002-o-oQ
=1Ragnar LundbergSWE4.00002-o-oQ
=1Jukka PiironenFIN4.00002-o-oQ
=6Zeno DragomirROU4.00003-oooQ
=6Don LazUSA4.00003-oooQ
=6Lennart LindSWE4.00003oo-oQ
=6George MattosUSA4.00003-oooQ
=6Bob RichardsUSA4.00003-oooQ
=11Rigas EfstathiadisGRE4.00015ooxooQ
=11Erling KaasNOR4.00015xooooQ
13Valto OleniusFIN4.00112---xoQ
14Viktor KnyazevURS4.00113-o-xoQ
15Vladimir BrazhnikURS4.00114oo-xoQ
=16Theodosios BalafasGRE4.00115oooxoQ
=16Torfi BryngeirssonISL4.00115oooxoQ
18Bunkichi SawadaJPN4.00125-oxoxoQ
19Milan MilakovYUG4.00225oo-xxoQ
20Walter HofstetterSUI3.90014oxooxxx
21Ron MillerCAN3.90113-oxoxxx
=22Tim AndersonGBR3.80002oo-xxx
=22Geoff ElliottGBR3.80002oo-xxx
=22Zenon WażnyPOL3.80002ooxxx
25Hélcio da SilvaBRA3.60001oxxx
26Gamal El-SherbiniEGY3.60223xxoxxx
NHGeorgios RoumpanisGRE
NHJosé VicentePUR
DNSJorge AguileraMEX
DNSFranz FritzAUT
DNSGeorges BreitmanFRA
DNSEdward AdamczykPOL

Final Round (22 July 1952 — 15:00)

PosAthleteNOCHeightMissesTotal MissesTotal Attempts3.60 m3.80 m3.95 m4.10 m4.20 m4.30 m4.40 m4.50 m4.55 m4.60 m
1Bob RichardsUSA4.552310--oooooxoxxoxxxOR
2Don LazUSA4.50117--oooooxoxxxOR
3Ragnar LundbergSWE4.40015--o-oxooxxxOR
4Pyotr DenisenkoURS4.40016--ooxoooxxxOR
5Valto OleniusFIN4.30125---oxoxoxxx
6Bunkichi SawadaJPN4.20026-oxxoooxxx
7Vladimir BrazhnikURS4.20115-oooxoxxx
8Viktor KnyazevURS4.20126-ooxoxoxxx
9George MattosUSA4.20236--oxoxxoxxx
10Erkki KatajaFIN4.10002--ooxxx
=11Tamás HomonnayHUN4.10003-oooxxx
=11Lennart LindSWE4.10003-oooxxx
13Milan MilakovYUG4.10014-oxooxxx
=14Torfi BryngeirssonISL3.95002-ooxxx
=14Rigas EfstathiadisGRE3.95002-ooxxx
16Erling KaasNOR3.80001-oxxx
17Theodosios BalafasGRE3.80002ooxxx
=18Jukka PiironenFIN3.80112-xoxxx
=18Zeno DragomirROU3.80112-xoxxx