PoleVaultPower.com

To see the vault of Brian Hancock's pole break at the St Charles Street vault see the following video clip. Might note that the pole broke a 2nd time when it came out of the box and hit Brian on the back of the head. He was not hurt too bad - just a few staples and he was ready to vault again http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... pole+vault

Any video of the competition?

I know that feeling. Its like "Hey I've got a good jump going ...........Oh Crap!"

Now begins the investigation of who spiked the pole!?!?!?

After looking at the film clip it probably was either a spike mark or a collision with a set of standards that did that pole in. We are VERY carefull with our poles - when they are not in use they are ALWAYS inside the pvc tube. We NEVER lay them down on the ground. I'd have to probably guess Brian kicked the pole on an invert - that combined with the 100 degree temp - and the GOOD competition which got him pumped up were all contribution factors to this poles demise. !st pole break in 7 years of vaulting - speaks well of the quality of workmanship in Gill Athletics vaulting poles.

As a side note, did anybody look at the other video links? There are two great ones. One from 1936 and one from 1960. '36 the guy lands in sand and '60 into sawdust. Also check out how those guys could get up on those old poles. Great look into the past of our sport. Later.......Mike

Is this in real time? i am curious because nobody seems to be reacting to the pole breaking in the video until more than 10 seconds after it happened. nobody walks over to see if he is ok, nobody jumps when the pole breaks, it is interesting to me that the entire audience has a reaction like this happens all the time.

Don't worry we were reacting to the situation. I am his father and I was near the start of his runnup shooting photos - There were several people heading to help him we were just out of the cameras view - Brian wasn't hurt too bad just had to get a few staples - He was more mad at his dad for making him pull out of the competition - By the next afternoon he was back on the runnway at home vaulting, per doctor's permission. Thanks for the concern though.

I hate to talk about crashes, but they are a part of the sport, and there is a degree of technique to them. It helped me a lot to learn how to handle myself when a disaster happened. These are a few of the things I learned.

The longer things seem to take to happen the safer you are. When everything seems to happen in slow motion you are probably alright. When you are in the pit or on the ground before you know it you are probably hurt.

It is a good idea to lie still for a minute and progressively tense each major muscle group before you try to get up. This will tell you if anything is broken or dislocated before you attempt to move. Don’t let anyone try to help you up till you are ready.

If you are close to someone when they crash your job is to get to them as soon as possible and make them lie still till the trainers get there. Don't let them up till the professionals have had a chance to check things out.

Fiberglass splinters are very difficult to pull out. Very sharp pointed tweezers, about a gallon of hydrogen peroxide, and some serious time will usually get the job done.

There is a lot more on this subject, but these are the ones that apply to breaking a pole.

Jake broke a pole at Gill Athletics Vaulting competition this past weekend. Largest pole he'd ever been on. The run way was pretty fast, it was hot, he was jacked up. Sometimes poles break. Sorry about Brian's staples. The weird thing was that Jake's pole break, broke his wrist watch. It wasn't from the impact, (the pole didn't hit it), but from the vibration. It spidered the inside of the watch.

SNS

if the watch broke, i bet his hands were feeling it for a while.

good to know that he is alright. kinda cool to get it on video tho.

usually when a pole breaks into more than 2 pieces, it was not from a ding or scratch. Essx had a good post about pole breaks earlier this year.

http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/vie ... php?t=7937

1. If it was in 2 pieces it could have been damaged in freight

2. If in 2 pieces it might have been dinged by a standard or hit the crossbar depending on where it broke. We have even seen breaks 34" up from the butt, which is due to the pole not being caught and it hits the front portion of the box as it fell back to the runway.
Breaks down 1 to 2 feet are those that hit the crossbar. Breaks below the bottom hand are a result of the pole striking the standard.

3. If in 3-4-5-6 pieces the pole was over stressed and you have more potential to jump higher as you needed a stronger pole. Taking short runs on the pole and it bent with short run loads should tell you that you need a stiffer pole to make a full run.

4. If in 4-6 pieces you where holding too high for your ability to jump.( if you hold higher than you jump you are putting forces on the pole and loading it as you sit on it. (If you lower your grip you can lift your hips better to clear the bar over your handgrip.)