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Before the establishment of the IAAF and the official ratification system, the men’s pole vault World Record progression reflected both the rapid development of athletics and continuous innovations in equipment. Early vaulters competed with solid wooden poles made from ash, oak, hickory or spruce, relying almost entirely on strength and climbing ability rather than pole flexibility. Performances improved steadily from the first recorded marks of the 1840s to heights approaching 4.00 metres by the beginning of the twentieth century, as competition standards and technical knowledge advanced.

The late pre-IAAF period also marked the beginning of the modern pole vault. The introduction of bamboo poles around the turn of the century transformed the event by providing greater flexibility and efficiency during take-off. American vaulters dominated this era, with Leland Scott, Walter Dray and Robert Gardner pushing the World Best beyond 3.90 metres before Marc Wright became the first officially recognised IAAF World Record holder with 4.02 metres in 1912. The transition from rigid wooden poles to bamboo laid the foundations for the remarkable technical evolution that would eventually lead to the fiberglass and carbon-fibre era.

Pole Vault Men World Record Progression – Data Table

From 1998 ownwards, records set indoors could count as absolute World Records if equal, or better than, the ratified outdoor record

Performance	Athlete	Country	Date	Location	Competition	Notes
6.31i	Armand Duplantis	SWE	12/3/2026	Uppsala	Mondo Classic
6.30	Armand Duplantis	SWE	19/9/2025	Tolyo	World Championships
6.29	Armand Duplantis	SWE	12/8/2025	Budapest	Gyulai Istvan Memorial
6.28	Armand Duplantis	SWE	15/7/2025	Stockholm	BAUHAUS-Galan
6.27i	Armand Duplantis	SWE	28/2/2025	Clermont-Ferrand	All Star Perche by SCC
6.26	Armand Duplantis	SWE	25/8/2024	Corzow	Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial
6.25	Armand Duplantis	SWE	5/8/2024	Paris	The XXXII Olympic Games
6.24	Armand Duplantis	SWE	20/4/2024	Xiamen	Diamond League final and Prefontaine Classic
6.23	Armand Duplantis	SWE	17/9/2023	Eugene	Prefontaine Classic
6.22i	Armand Duplantis	SWE	25/2/2023	Clermont-Ferrand	All Star Perche
6.21	Armand Duplantis	SWE	24/7/2022	Eugene	World Championships
6.20i	Armand Duplantis	SWE	20/3/2022	Beograd	World Indoor Championships
6.19i	Armand Duplantis	SWE	7/3/2022	Beograd	indoor Meeting
6.18	Armand Duplantis	SWE	15/2/2020	Glasgow	Muller Indoor Grand Prix
6.17i	Armand Duplantis	SWE	8/2/2020	Toruń‎‎	ORLEN Copernicus Cup
6.16i	Renaud Lavillenie	FRA	15/2/2014	Donetsk	Pole Vault Stars
6.14	Sergey Bubka	UKR	31/7/1994	Sestriere	International Meeting	Indoor records: 6.14 - Lievin 13/2/1993 6.15 - Donetsk 21/2/1993 could not count as outdoor records, under rules in force at the time.
6.13	Sergey Bubka	EUN/UKR	19/9/1992	Tokyo	International Meeting
6.12	Sergey Bubka	EUN/UKR	30/8/1992	Padova	International Meeting
6.11	Sergey Bubka	EUN/UKR	13/6/1992	Dijon	International Meeting
6.10	Sergey Bubka	URS	5/8/1991	Malmö	International Meeting
6.09	Sergey Bubka	URS	8/7/1991	Formia	International Meeting
6.08	Sergey Bubka	URS	9/6/1991	Moskva	Znamenskiy Brothers Memorial	Indoor records: 6.08 - Volgograd 9/2/1991 6.10 - San Sebastian 15/3/1991 6.11 - Donetsk 19/3/1991 6.12 - Grenoble 23/3/1991 could not count as outdoor records, under rules in force at the time.
6.07	Sergey Bubka	URS	6/5/1991	Shizuoka	International Meeting
6.06	Sergey Bubka	URS	10/7/1988	Nice	NIKAIA, GP Meeting
6.05	Sergey Bubka	URS	9/6/1988	Bratislava	Pravda-Televizia- Slovnaft Meeting
6.03	Sergey Bubka	URS	23/6/1987	Praha	Rosicky Memorial, IAAF GP
6.01	Sergey Bubka	URS	8/7/1986	Moskva	Goodwill Games
6.00	Sergey Bubka	URS	13/7/1985	Paris	Paris Meeting BNP
5.91	Thierry Vigneron	FRA	31/8/1984	Roma	Golden Gala
5.94	Sergey Bubka	URS	31/8/1984	Roma	Golden Gala
5.90	Sergey Bubka	URS	13/7/1984	London	Peugeot-Talbot Games
5.88	Sergey Bubka	URS	2/6/1984	Paris	International Meeting
5.85	Sergey Bubka	URS	26/5/1984	Bratislava	Pravda-Televizia-Slovnaft Meeting
5.83	Thierry Vigneron	FRA	1/9/1983	Roma	Golden Gala
5.81	Pierre Quinon	FRA	28/8/1983	Köln‎‎	ASV Sportfest der Weltklase
5.81	Vladimir Polyakov	URS	26/6/1981	Tbilisi	URS-GDR International Match
5.80	Thierry Vigneron	FRA	20/6/1981	Mâcon	Jumpers International Match
5.78	W?adys?aw Kozakiewicz	POL	30/7/1980	Moskva	The XXII Olympic Games
5.77	Philippe Houvion	FRA	17/7/1980	Paris	International Meeting
5.75	Thierry Vigneron	FRA	29/6/1980	Lille	French Championships
5.75	Thierry Vigneron	FRA	1/6/1980	Paris	Colombes National Meeting
5.72	Władysław Kozakiewicz	POL	11/5/1980	Milano	Pasqua dell'Athleta
5.70	Dave Roberts	USA	22/6/1976	Eugene	US Olympic Trials
5.67	Earl Bell	USA	29/5/1976	Wichita	USTFF Championships
5.65	Dave Roberts	USA	28/3/1975	Gainesville	Florida Relays
5.63	Bob Seagren	USA	2/7/1972	Eugene	US Olympic Trials
5.55	Kjell Isaksson	SWE	12/6/1972	Helsingborg	Texas Relays
5.54	Kjell Isaksson	SWE	15/4/1972	Los Angeles	Meet Of Champions
5.51	Kjell Isaksson	SWE	8/4/1972	Austin	Texas Relays
5.49	Christos Papanikolaou	GRE	24/10/1970	Piraeus	Athina - Beograd City Match
5.46	Wolfgang Nordwig	GDR	3/9/1970	Torino	Universiade
5.45	Wolfgang Nordwig	GDR	17/6/1970	Berlin (Ost)	Berlin Olympic Day
5.44	John Pennel	USA	21/6/1969	Sacramento	Sacramento Invitational
5.41	Bob Seagren	USA	12/9/1968	Echo Summit	US Olympic Trials
5.38	Paul Wilson	USA	23/6/1967	Bakersfield	AAU Championships
5.36	Bob Seagren	USA	10/6/1967	San Diego	San Diego Invitatinal
5.34	John Pennel	USA	23/7/1966	Los Angeles	LA Times International Games
5.32	Bob Seagren	USA	14/5/1966	Fresno	West Coast Relays
5.28	Fred Hansen	USA	25/7/1964	Los Angeles	USA-URS Int. Match
5.23	Fred Hansen	USA	13/6/1964	San Diego	San Diego Invitational
5.20	John Pennel	USA	24/8/1963	Coral Gables	AAU Championships
5.13	John Pennel	USA	5/8/1963	London	GBR-USA Int. Match
5.08	Brian Sternberg	USA	7/6/1963	Compton	International Meeting
5.00	Brian Sternberg	USA	27/4/1963	Philadelphia	Penn Relays
4.94	Pentti Nikula	FIN	22/6/1962	Kauhava	Kauhava Johannis Games
4.93	Dave Tork	USA	28/4/1962	Walnut	Mt.SAC Relays
4.89	John Uelses	USA	31/3/1962	Santa Barbara	Easter Relays
4.83	George Davies	USA	20/5/1961	Boulder	Big 8 Championships
4.80	Don Bragg	USA	2/7/1960	Palo Alto	US Olympic Trials
4.78	Bob Gutovski	USA	27/4/1957	Palo Alto	Occidental-Stanford Dual Meet
4.77	Cornelius Warmerdam	USA	23/5/1942	Modesto	California Relays
4.72	Cornelius Warmerdam	USA	6/6/1941	Compton	International Meeting
4.60	Cornelius Warmerdam	USA	29/6/1940	Fresno	AAU Championships
4.54	William (Bill) Sefton	USA	29/5/1937	Los Angeles	Pacific Coast Conferenve Championships
4.54	Earle Meadows	USA	29/5/1937	Los Angeles	Pacific Coast Conferenve Championships
4.43	George Varoff	USA	4/7/1936	Princeton	AAU Championships
4.39	Keith Brown	USA	1/6/1935	Cambridge MA	IC4A Championships
4.37	William (Bill) Graber	USA	16/7/1932	Stanford	US Olympic Trials
4.30	Lee Barnes	USA	28/4/1928	Fresno	West Coast Relays
4.27	Sabin Carr	USA	28/5/1927	Philadelphia	IC4A Championships
4.25	Charles Hoff	NOR	27/9/1925	Turku	International Meeting
4.23	Charles Hoff	NOR	13/8/1925	Oslo	International Meeting
4.21	Charles Hoff	NOR	22/7/1923	København	International Meeting
4.12	Charles Hoff	NOR	3/9/1922	København	DEN-SWE-NOR Int. Match
4.09	Frank Foss	USA	20/8/1920	Antwerp	The VII Olympic Games
4.02	Marc Wright	USA	8/6/1912	Cambridge MA	Eastern Olympic Trials

See also: [Men’s High Jump WR Progression][Women’s Pole Vault WR Progression]