Pole Vault: The original single group format was scrapped and two simultaneous pits were used to minimize the time the athletes had to stay in the sun. At 11:15 am officials turned the pits around since the wind was blowing strongly from the north, By 12:30 the winds had died, then abruptly reversed and athletes faced strong headwinds. Some days, even when you want to be ‘athlete friendly,’ it just does not work out. The well intentioned decision resulted in a pair of no heights (Harlan and Giovannoni). On average the vaulters were 2 to 3 bars below par. This made the 5.00m/16-4¾ opener clearance by Hardee all the more impressive. Eaton, nursing a sore hamstring, took one attempt, easily cleared 4.60m/15-1, then sat out the event in the South pit. Horn equaled his PR with a strong 5.00m/16-4 ¾ clearance. In Group #2 (lower seeds) Harlan broke a pole on his opener at 4.50m/14-9 and promptly nh’d. Dakotah Keys and Wes Bray both notched 4.70m/15-5. Nixon, using brand new poles, made only a single bar (4.30m/14-1¼) and his chance for the Moscow 8200 “A” standard was in jeopardy. In 80 minutes there were 88 attempts and only 26 of which were successful, a very low rate. Disappointing results. more
