Pole Vault, Men

The greatest pole vaulter between 1936 and 1948 was Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam, who was the first man to clear 15 feet. He is usually considered one of the greatest pole vaulters ever, along with Sergey Bubka and Mondo Duplantis. When he retired, he had 43 jumps over 15 feet, and nobody else had yet cleared that barrier. He never got to compete in the Olympics, although his world records would last until 1957.

Favored in this event was Richmond “Boo” Morcom, who had won the AAU in 1945, 1947, and 1948, and the Olympic Trials in 1948. He had tied for the 1948 AAU with Bob Richards, who also made the US Team. The third US vaulter was Guinn Smith, who had tied at the Olympic Trials with Morcom on height, losing on the countback.

In London, Morcom competed on an injured ankle and placed only sixth. The final was contested in the rain, as many events in London were in 1948. Only Smith, Richards, and Finland’s Erkki Kataja were successful at 4.20 (13-9¼) – Smith and Kataja clear, with Richards missing once. Kataja led after that height as he had no misses, but Smith made 4.30 (14-1¼) on his third attempt to keep the American pole vault gold medal streak intact – they had won all the gold medals in this event, except for the 1906 Intercalated Olympics.