| Date | 5 – 7 September 1960 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stadio Olimpico, Roma |
| Participants | 29 from 20 countries |
Don Bragg was the favorite. He had been world-ranked in the top three since 1955, was ranked #1 in 1959, and broke the world record at the US Olympic Trials in July 1960. The competition seemed endless, taking over six hours. Four vaulters survived 4.55 (14-11) – Bragg, American Ron Morris, 1954/58 European Champion Eeles Landström, and surprising Puerto Rican Rolando Cruz, who had been 1959 Pan-American Games bronze medalist behind champion Bragg. Only Bragg and Morris cleared 4.60 (15-1), and Bragg led with a first-attempt clearance, Morris missing once. Both tried 4.70 (15-5), with Bragg going over on his first try. Morris missed three times and the gold and silver medals were decided. Landström won the bronze as he had cleared 4.55 (14-11) on his first attempt, Cruz on his second. Bragg’s dream was to play Tarzan in the movies. After his vaulting victories he usually punctuated them with a Tarzan yell. Bragg never quite achieved his dream, though he came close. He was chosen for one role and the shooting had begun on Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar but the filming was stopped because of legal problems. Bragg never appeared in the movies in any role. One highly considered vaulter who did not get to compete was the Soviet Vladimir Bulatov, ranked 5th in the world in 1959 and 6th in 1958, but he had to withdraw after breaking his ankle on his first warm-up vault in qualifying.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 431 | Don Bragg |  USA | 4.40 (3) | 4.70 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 433 | Ron Morris | USA | 4.30 (11) | 4.60 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 506 | Eeles Landström |  FIN | 4.40 (=4) | 4.55 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 251 | Rolando Cruz |  PUR | 4.40 (=8) | 4.55 (4) | |||
| 5 | 299 | Günter Malcher |  GER | 4.40 (=4) | 4.50 (5) | |||
| =6 | 507 | Matti Sutinen | FIN | 4.40 (=1) | 4.50 (=6) | |||
| =6 | 582 | Igor Petrenko |  URS | 4.40 (=8) | 4.50 (=6) | |||
| 8 | 156 | Rudolf Tomášek |  TCH | 4.40 (6) | 4.50 (8) | |||
| 9 | 320 | Leon Lukman |  YUG | 4.40 (7) | 4.40 (9) | |||
| 10 | 164 | Hristo Hristov |  BUL | 4.40 (=1) | 4.40 (10) | |||
| 11 | 165 | Dimitar Hlebarov | BUL | 4.30 (=12) | 4.30 (11) | |||
| 12 | 538 | Andrzej Krzesiński |  POL | 4.30 (=12) | 4.30 (12) | |||
| 13 | 580 | Jānis Krasovskis | URS | 4.40 (10) | 4.30 (13) | |||
| =14 r1/2 | 298 | Peter Laufer | GER | 4.20 (=14) | – | |||
| =14 r1/2 | 300 | Manfred Preußger | GER | 4.20 (=14) | – | |||
| =14 r1/2 | 369 | Valbjörn Þorláksson |  ISL | 4.20 (=14) | – | |||
| =14 r1/2 | 321 | Roman Lešek | YUG | 4.20 (=14) | – | |||
| =18 r1/2 | 485 | Victor Sillon |  FRA | 4.20 (=18) | – | |||
| =18 r1/2 | 337 | Georgios Roumpanis |  GRE | 4.20 (=18) | – | |||
| =18 r1/2 | 537 | Janusz Gronowski | POL | 4.20 (=18) | – | |||
| =18 r1/2 | 432 | Dave Clark | USA | 4.20 (=18) | – | |||
| 22 r1/2 | 384 | Noriaki Yasuda |  JPN | 4.20 (22) | – | |||
| =23 r1/2 | 243 | Raymond Van Dijck |  BEL | 4.00 (=23) | – | |||
| =23 r1/2 | 245 | Bjørn Andersen |  DEN | 4.00 (=23) | – | |||
| =23 r1/2 | 228 | Gérard Barras |  SUI | 4.00 (=23) | – | |||
| 26 r1/2 | 124 | Allah Ditta |  PAK | 4.00 (26) | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 28 | Mohamed Al-Shahwani |  IRQ | – ( | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 53 | Owen Okundaye |  NGR | – ( | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 669 | Orhan Altan |  TUR | – ( | – | |||
| 93 | Günther Gratzer |  AUT | – ( | – | ||||
| 581 | Vladimir Bulatov | URS | – ( | – |
| Date | 5 September 1960 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 12 and ties and all those clearing 4.40 metres advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Best Height Cleared | Misses at Best Height Cleared | Total Misses thru Best Height Cleared | Total Attempts thru Best Height Cleared | Attempts at 3.80 m | Attempts at 4.00 m | Attempts at 4.20 m | Attempts at 4.30 m | Attempts at 4.40 m | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 5 | Hristo Hristov | BUL | 4.40 | 0 | 0 | 4 | - | o | o | o | o | ||
| =1 | 21 | Matti Sutinen | FIN | 4.40 | 0 | 0 | 4 | - | o | o | o | o | ||
| 3 | 14 | Don Bragg | USA | 4.40 | 0 | 1 | 4 | - | - | o | xo | o | ||
| =4 | 18 | Eeles Landström | FIN | 4.40 | 0 | 1 | 5 | - | o | o | xo | o | ||
| =4 | 2 | Günter Malcher | GER | 4.40 | 0 | 1 | 5 | - | o | xo | o | o | ||
| 6 | 17 | Rudolf Tomášek | TCH | 4.40 | 0 | 1 | 6 | o | xo | o | o | o | ||
| 7 | 10 | Leon Lukman | YUG | 4.40 | 0 | 2 | 6 | - | o | xxo | o | o | ||
| =8 | 7 | Rolando Cruz | PUR | 4.40 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | o | o | o | xxo | ||
| =8 | 22 | Igor Petrenko | URS | 4.40 | 2 | 2 | 6 | - | o | o | o | xxo | ||
| 10 | 24 | Jānis Krasovskis | URS | 4.40 | 2 | 3 | 6 | - | - | o | xo | xxo | ||
| 11 | 19 | Ron Morris | USA | 4.30 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | - | o | o | xxx | ||
| =12 | 27 | Dimitar Hlebarov | BUL | 4.30 | 0 | 0 | 3 | - | o | o | o | xxx | ||
| =12 | 23 | Andrzej Krzesiński | POL | 4.30 | 0 | 0 | 3 | - | o | o | o | xxx | ||
| =14 | 26 | Peter Laufer | GER | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | o | o | - | xxx | ||
| =14 | 28 | Manfred Preußger | GER | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | o | o | - | xxx | ||
| =14 | 31 | Valbjörn Þorláksson | ISL | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | o | o | xxx | – | ||
| =14 | 1 | Roman Lešek | YUG | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | o | o | xxx | – | ||
| =18 | 20 | Victor Sillon | FRA | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | o | o | o | xxx | – | ||
| =18 | 13 | Georgios Roumpanis | GRE | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | o | o | o | xxx | – | ||
| =18 | 29 | Janusz Gronowski | POL | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | o | o | o | xxx | – | ||
| =18 | 15 | Dave Clark | USA | 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | o | o | o | xxx | – | ||
| 22 | 30 | Noriaki Yasuda | JPN | 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 4 | - | xxo | o | xxx | – | ||
| =23 | 9 | Raymond Van Dijck | BEL | 4.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | o | xxx | – | – | ||
| =23 | 4 | Bjørn Andersen | DEN | 4.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | o | xxx | – | – | ||
| =23 | 6 | Gérard Barras | SUI | 4.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | o | xxx | – | – | ||
| 26 | 11 | Allah Ditta | PAK | 4.00 | 0 | 1 | 3 | xo | o | xxx | – | – | ||
| 12 | Mohamed Al-Shahwani | IRQ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 3 | Owen Okundaye | NGR | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 8 | Orhan Altan | TUR | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 25 | Günther Gratzer | AUT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 16 | Vladimir Bulatov | URS | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Date | 7 September 1960 — 13:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Best Height Cleared | Misses at Best Height Cleared | Total Misses thru Best Height Cleared | Total Attempts thru Best Height Cleared | Attempts at 4.00 m | Attempts at 4.20 m | Attempts at 4.30 m | Attempts at 4.40 m | Attempts at 4.50 m | Attempts at 4.55 m | Attempts at 4.60 m | Attempts at 4.70 m | Attempts at 4.82 m | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Don Bragg | USA | 4.70 | 0 | 1 | 7 | - | - | o | xo | o | o | o | o | xxx | ||
| 2 | 8 | Ron Morris | USA | 4.60 | 1 | 2 | 7 | - | - | o | o | xo | o | xo | xxx | – | ||
| 3 | 7 | Eeles Landström | FIN | 4.55 | 0 | 2 | 6 | - | o | - | xo | xo | o | xxx | – | – | ||
| 4 | 3 | Rolando Cruz | PUR | 4.55 | 1 | 1 | 7 | o | o | o | o | o | xo | xxx | – | – | ||
| 5 | 1 | Günter Malcher | GER | 4.50 | 0 | 0 | 4 | - | o | o | o | o | xxx | – | – | – | ||
| =6 | 9 | Matti Sutinen | FIN | 4.50 | 0 | 2 | 5 | - | o | - | xxo | o | xxx | – | – | – | ||
| =6 | 10 | Igor Petrenko | URS | 4.50 | 0 | 2 | 5 | - | o | - | xxo | o | xxx | – | – | – | ||
| 8 | 6 | Rudolf Tomášek | TCH | 4.50 | 0 | 2 | 7 | o | o | o | xxo | o | xxx | – | – | – | ||
| 9 | 4 | Leon Lukman | YUG | 4.40 | 0 | 0 | 4 | o | o | o | o | xxx | – | – | – | – | ||
| 10 | 2 | Hristo Hristov | BUL | 4.40 | 0 | 1 | 4 | - | xo | o | o | xxx | – | – | – | – | ||
| 11 | 13 | Dimitar Hlebarov | BUL | 4.30 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | o | o | xxx | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 12 | 11 | Andrzej Krzesiński | POL | 4.30 | 0 | 0 | 3 | o | o | o | xxx | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 13 | 12 | Jānis Krasovskis | URS | 4.30 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | xo | xxx | – | – | – | – | – |
