Comparison of the men's and the women's pole vault at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify differences between elite male and female pole vaulters in terms of their mechanical energy and angular momentum. The vaulter's total mechanical energy and angular momentum were calculated from the three-dimensional kinematic data of the pole vault finals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The development of total, kinetic and potential energy showed similar characteristics for men and women. The initial energy of the vault, the energy at maximum pole bend position and the final energy were significantly higher for male athletes (P <0.05), while the energy gain produced by the athletes during the vault showed no significant differences (male vaulters 5.88 +/- 1.02 J.kg(-1), female vaulters 5.74 +/- 1.63 J.kg(-1)). Time-related parameters relating to pole bending and recoiling also showed no significant differences (P <0.05). In contrast to the male vaulters, the female vaulters did not show a free upward flight phase. The angular momentum was significantly higher for the female vaulters during the initial pole bend and during the bar clearance (P <0.05). We conclude that the pole vaulting technique of female elite athletes is not a projection of the technique of male elite vaulters at a lower jump height, but rather a different way of jumping and interacting with the elastic pole. The current technique of elite female pole vaulters still has potential for further improvement.

Biomechanical Pole Vault Patterns Were Associated With a Higher Proportion of Injuries

“…Nevertheless, we would like to discuss some assumptions regarding these preliminary results in order to provide some perspectives for future researches since the present insignificant results are in agreement with some previous findings. Indeed, Although we reported some differences in pole vault biomechanical parameters between sex, in agreement with previous study (Schade et al, 2004;Cassirame et al, 2017), and age categories, it seems that these latter parameters did not influence the proportion of history of injuries, as shown in the parameters revealed as significant in the regression models.…”

“…To date, no study investigated the association between the occurrence of injuries related to pole vault practice and the athletes' characteristics and technical way to vault. Literature (Angulo-Kinzler et al, 1994;Schade et al, 2004) and our own observations during last 10 years of athlete's follow-up highlighted large variabilities in inter-individual characteristics and pole vault mechanical parameters (take-off speed, grip height, pole stiffness, stride regulation, take-off position, . .…”

“…Pole vault trial is generally described by 4 successive phases: (1) run-up, (2) pole planting and take-off, (3) pole bending, and (4) pole straightening and bar clearance (Figure 1) (Frère et al, 2010). During those phases, the athlete could benefit from the elastic properties of the vaulting pole to gain in mechanical energy and achieve a high performance (Schade et al, 2004). Considering the level of energy transferred from horizontal speed of vaulter to the pole during pole planting, take-off, and pole bending phases (Ekevad and Lundberg, 1997;Frère et al, 2010;Linthorne and Weetman, 2012;Schade and Arampatzis, 2012), we can imagine that such musculoskeletal tensions/constraints can be associated with an increased risk of (specific) injuries, which increase with the accumulation of trials.…”

Influence of pole plant time on the performance of a special jump and plant exercise in the pole vault

“…This is smaller than the energy decrease in other athletic jumps (Arampatzis et al, 1999b;Arampatzis and Brüggemann, 1999;Brüggemann and Arampatzis, 1999), but hints at the importance of this phase. The overall energy gain of a complete vault is only about twice as large as this energy decrease during the jump and plant complex Schade et al, 2004), which additionally shows the importance of the jump and plant complex for pole vault performance. Even though a general influence of the pole plant timing on the energy level of the vaulter/pole system during the jump and plant complex could not be proven and changes in the timing in a range of 22% of contact time were only worth about 2 cm in potential centre-of-mass height it can be assumed, that the movement behaviour of the pole plant during take-off, which lasts 125 ms approximately, influences the initial conditions for the following approximately 1000 ms of free pole phase and with this its performance.…”

Reproducibility of energy parameters in the pole vault

“…With the introduction of the elastic pole in the early 1960s, effecting a change in energetic aspects (Dillmann and Nelson, 1968;Linthorne, 2000), the pole vault became a wide field of biomechanical interest, especially as an example of the interaction between a biological system and an elastic mechanical implement (Hay, 1967;Hubbard, 1980;Lundberg, 1995, 1997;Arampatzis et al, 1997Arampatzis et al, , 1999Arampatzis et al, , 2004Linthorne, 2000;Schade et al, 2000Schade et al, , 2004. The importance of the energy exchange between athlete and pole to explain the maximum centre of mass height and for improving jump performance is generally accepted (e.g.…”