NEW 60-64 WORLD RECORD FOR JOHN ALTENDORF

[vaultwest]

CONGRATULATIONS TO JOHN

It was my great pleasure to be competing at the Portland Masters track meet this past Saturday where I watched Master set a new World Record with a 3.91m - 12'10" vault bettering the old world record of 3.90m -
12' 9 3/4" by 1 CM.

It was an OK day warm but the wind was quite variable going from tailwind to crosswind to headwinds so one had to wait for a good wind or hope to be lucky enough to get a good wind while you were up.


John opened up around 12' then first set the American Record by jumping 3.84m - 12' 6 1/4" bettering the previous record of 3.83m - 12' 6 3/4" by 1 cm. As I remember it john opened up on a 14' 145 at his opening height and cleared on his first then at the American Record he stayed on that pole and blew through. So he went up to his 14' 150# and missed his second attempt at the record. He hesitated just a little and was a little bit under going from a 7 stride approach. So John did a very gutsy thing and since he felt like he needed a little more velocity moved his step back to an 8 stride approach for his third attempt and he cleared the record height easily.

Then at the World Record Height if I am remembering this correctly John just came down and cleared it easily with room to spare on his first attempt.

John then took three good attempts at 4.00m - 13' 1 1/2" and all three were close but John just couldn't quite leave the bar up.

It was great fun to watch John vault so well especially knowing how hard he has worked for this and how many injuries he has had to overcome to get to this point.

Well done John
Vault On

PS. Not sure but I bet Master's new Avitar is him clearing his new World Record. COOL

[master]

Thanks vaultwest, you remember the events of the day very well. And yes, the new avatar is a frame from the video you took of the record jump.

It is a great pleasure to enter my 400th post on Pole Vault Power. I use this to confirm my recent 3.91m jump that bettered the 35 year old world record for men 60-64 held by Herbert Schmidt of Germany, set Oct 14, 1971. Although it is a pending record until ratified by the governing bodies, I trust this will occur.

I dedicate this effort to my high school coach Mr. Al Miller of The Dalles, Oregon. He first approached me in 1962 to try out for track and specifically the pole vault. Because I didn’t learn very quickly, Al stayed and worked with me after practices. Without his encouragement, I would never have vaulted.

I re-established contact with Al a few years ago at the State HS track meet. Since then we have written and I have visited him at his home and he looked me up at Reno pole vault summit. He was there to watch his grandson compete.

In early March of this year, Al suffered an aneurism that almost took his life. He has been recovering, but very slowly. He has to re-learn how to do all the basic things we do automatically, including walking. For a man that was an active runner all his life, this must be extremely difficult. Although I have “toldâ€Â

[DBH027]

Congratulations John....nice work!

I hope to see you at the Hayward Classic later this month.

Dan

[Robert schmitt]

congratulations, very inspirationional!!

[Bubba PV]

Congrats John!! As the video you sent me shows, you're looking at 4m+ VERY soon! Great job! Bubba

[ladyvolspvcoach]

Congratulation, John! Great job!!!

[nambi]

It should be noted that John broke the oldest masters world record, set in 1971.

Amazing! Great jumping, John.

[CrossBarHOpper]

Congrat!!!! i hope to still be able to jump as a master

[rainbowgirl28]

Congratulations!!

[master]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. My jumping has happened as the result of so many fine athletes and coaches that have been willing to share their knowledge and love of this sport. I hope this can continue for many years. Thanks Becca for this forum where I first met many of these great people.

- master

[Bubba PV]

Apparently, your screen name, "Master", now reflects more than your age! LOL!! See you in Charlotte Buddy! Bubba

[2-15-46]

I would like to see the jumps if you have them on video...bb1946@yahoo.com

Bob