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The women’s pole vault has one of the most unusual record histories of any athletics event, because its earliest marks were produced long before the discipline was formally recognised at international level. Unlike the traditional jumps, women’s pole vault developed only sporadically in its first decades, with isolated performances appearing mainly in the United States and later in a handful of European competitions. These early marks belong to a fragmented pre-history of the event rather than to a continuous competitive tradition, and for that reason the progression before official recognition must be read as a sequence of scattered best performances rather than as a fully established world-record event.

The roots of the women’s pole vault are particularly linked to American college and school sport in the 1910s, when athletes at institutions such as Vassar, Winthrop and New Haven Normal School produced surprisingly ambitious clearances for the period. Yet the event then remained largely marginal for many decades, without the stable international structure, technical continuity or championship presence that would have allowed a normal record progression to develop. As a result, the historical list contains long interruptions and isolated jumps rather than the steady evolution seen in the women’s high jump or long jump.

Only in the late twentieth century did the women’s pole vault begin to emerge as a modern international event. Its official recognition by the IAAF came late, with the event being introduced to the World Record list in 1994, when the best performance under world-record conditions at the end of that year became the inaugural official mark. By then, however, the event had already entered a period of rapid technical and competitive growth, and its pre-federation and pre-recognition history had become an important statistical bridge between the improvised early vaults of the 1910s and the fully professional discipline that would soon transform women’s jumping events.

Pole Vault women 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
5.06	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	28/8/2009	Zürich	Weltklasse Zurich, Golden League Meeting
5.05	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	18/8/2008	Beijing	The XXIX Olympic Games
5.04	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	29/7/2008	Monte Carlo	Herculis, IAAF Super Grand Prix
5.03	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	11/7/2008	Roma	Golden Gala, IAAF Golden League
5.01	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	12/8/2005	Helsinki	IAAF World Championships
4.96	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	22/7/2005	London	Norwich Union London Grand Prix
5.00	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	22/7/2005	London	Norwich Union London Grand Prix
4.95	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	16/7/2005	Madrid	Madrid 2005
4.93	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	5/7/2005	Lausanne	Athletissima 2005
4.92	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	3/9/2004	Bruxelles	Memorial Van Damme
4.91	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	24/8/2004	Athina	The XXVIII Olympic Games
4.90	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	30/7/2004	London	Norwich Union London Grand Prix
4.89	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	25/7/2004	Birmingham	Norwich Union International GBR-USA-COM-EUR
4.88	Svetlana Feofanova	RUS	4/7/2004	Irakleio	Tsiklitiria Super Grand Prix Meeting
4.87	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	27/6/2004	Gateshead	Norwich Union British Grand Prix
4.86i	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	6/3/2004	Budapest	IAAF World Indoor Championships
4.85i	Svetlana Feofanova	RUS	22/2/2004	Athina	Athina 2004 Indoor
4.83i	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	15/2/2004	Donetsk	Pole Vault Stars Indoor
4.82	Yelena Isinbayeva	RUS	13/7/2003	Gateshead	Norwich Union Super League
4.71	Stacy Dragila	USA	9/6/2001	Stanford	Palo Alto Pregrine Systems US Open
4.81	Stacy Dragila	USA	9/6/2001	Stanford	Palo Alto Pregrine Systems US Open
4.70	Stacy Dragila	USA	27/4/2001	Pocatello	ISU Springfest
4.66i	Stacy Dragila	USA	17/2/2001	Pocatello	Adidas Golden Spike Invitational Indoor
4.70i	Stacy Dragila	USA	17/2/2001	Pocatello	Adidas Golden Spike Invitational Indoor
4.64i	Svetlana Feofanova	RUS	11/2/2001	Dortmund	Sparkassen Indoor Meeting
4.63i	Stacy Dragila	USA	2/2/2001	New York	Millrose Games Indoor
4.63	Stacy Dragila	USA	23/7/2000	Sacramento	USA Olympic Trials and National Championships
4.62i	Stacy Dragila	USA	3/3/2000	Atlanta	USA Indoor Championships
4.60	Stacy Dragila	USA	21/8/1999	Sevilla	IAAF World Championships
4.60	Emma George	AUS	20/2/1999	Sydney	Optus Grand Prix
4.59	Emma George	AUS	21/3/1998	Brisbane	Optus Grand Prix
4.58	Emma George	AUS	14/3/1998	Melbourne	National Championships
4.57	Emma George	AUS	21/2/1998	North Shore City	Auckland Adidas Robin Tait Classic
4.55	Emma George	AUS	20/2/1997	Melbourne	NEC Classic '97
4.50	Emma George	AUS	8/2/1997	Melbourne	Victorian State Championships
4.45	Emma George	AUS	14/7/1996	Sapporo	Chuchei Nambu Memorial
4.42	Emma George	AUS	29/6/1996	Reims	Reims International
4.30	Emma George	AUS	28/1/1996	Perth	National Meeting
4.41	Emma George	AUS	28/1/1996	Perth	International Meeting
4.28	Emma George	AUS	17/12/1995	Perth	National Meeting
4.25	Emma George	AUS	30/11/1995	Melbourne	National Meeting
4.22	Daniela Bártová	CZE	11/9/1995	Salgótarján	International Meeting
4.21	Daniela Bártová	CZE	22/8/1995	Linz	IAAF GP Meeting
4.20	Daniela Bártová	CZE	18/8/1995	Köln	IAAF GP Meeting, Weltklasse in Köln
4.18	Andrea Müller	GER	5/8/1995	Zittau	National Meeting
4.17	Daniela Bártová	CZE	15/7/1995	Gisingen	Meeting
4.16	Daniela Bártová	CZE	14/7/1995	Feldkirch	Meeting
4.15	Daniela Bártová	CZE	6/7/1995	Ostrava	Czech Championships
4.14	Daniela Bártová	CZE	2/7/1995	Gateshead	The BUPA Games, IAAF Grand Prix
4.13	Daniela Bártová	CZE	24/6/1995	Wesel	Meeting
4.12	Daniela Bártová	CZE	18/6/1995	Duisburg	IAAF Grand Prix II
4.10	Daniela Bártová	CZE	21/5/1995	Ljubljana	International Meeting
4.08	Caiyun Sun	CHN	18/5/1995	Taiyuan	Chinese Championships
4.08	Guiqing Zhong	CHN	18/5/1995	Taiyuan	Chinese Championships
4.05	Caiyun Sun	CHN	21/5/1992	Nanjing	Chinese Championships

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