6.40 Model

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Pole Vault Manifesto
Future world record holders
Be aware

It has happened already. The 6.40 (21 ft.) horizon for men and 5.50 (18 ft.) horizon for women are open.

When Scott Huffman told me in 1997 that after observing Ockert Britz’s performance in Europe he was convinced that Ockert will set a WR that year. By the way, Ockert is one of the noted pillars of modern pole vaulting. I told Scott that in order for Ockert to set WR he would need to drastically amend his vaulting model or start running at 10.2 m/s at the take-off point. We actually bet on it. However, I would like the uncollected winnings of the bet to go towards our good memories and our friendship.

When Tim Lobinger, by the way another noted pillar of modern pole vaulting, first vaulted 6m setting German National Record, Bubka created a controversy by saying that 6m mark was a historic achievement for the previous decade.

Bubka and Petrov opened the new horizon in modern pole vaulting, however like most pioneers, without the full realization of their remarkable achievement.

The 6.40 Model so far has produced 6.15, however most experts at the time agreed that 6.30 and even 6.40 was a real possibility. It is possible, that Bubka’s comment regarding Tim Lobinger’s achievement was a result of his awareness of possibilities and past expectations realized by Bubka 10 years earlier. Unfortunately, Bubka did not pursue aggressive record setting beyond early 90s, perhaps due to his preoccupation with PR and business projects. But even at 36 years of age, far away from his top physical performance he showed potential of the new model by a stellar win of his 6th in a row World Title in Athens 1997.

The current 6.05 Model has consistently produced 5.90 and on special occasions 6.00-6.05.

It is absolutely surprising, that the 6.40 Model is a complete mystery for the vaulters despite of its debut in the mid 80s of the past century, more than 20 years ago.

We observed in the mid 80s all vaulters slowly change to a vertical pole carry “introduced” by Bubka. In the late 80s early 90s we observed several vaulters switching to “Free Take off” (Tarasov, Gataulin, Trandenkov followed by many). In the late 90s we have attempted to switch to the 6.40 Model with Lawrence Johnson, however due to different obstacles it was only partially successful. In 2004 the current Olympic Champion Tim Mack and Silver Medal Winner Toby Stevenson both showed glimpses of the 6.40 Model, however no one since Bubka completely realized or took full advantage of the 6.40 Model.

Understanding of the 6.40 Model requires some unconventional thinking, where conventional views are questioned, analyzed dismissed or reassessed.

Click here to read the rest of this manifesto and discussion.