Welcome to the Tech Race.
When you're looking at a bar and jumping over it,
2% could be this much higher, and that could be
the difference between making the Olympics or not.
(CARBON FIBRE POLE VAULT)
Technology has enabled athletes to vault over six metres.
Carbon fibre is a constantly evolving material
that becomes lighter and stronger every day -
a long history started centuries ago
with the use of bamboo fibres.
(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
(CHAMPAIGN)
In Champaign, Chicago, one of the most renowned
pole vault manufacturers produces 12,000
carbon-fibre poles a year.
They are one of the world's oldest and largest
manufacturers, and have been around since 1918.
That mental side of the sport can be overlooked
but you must have confidence in your equipment,
because without that technology and equipment
being available and being able to trust in it,
no athlete can be entirely successful.
Jeff Hartwig reached the top with a carbon-fibre pole.
In 2000, Hartwig beat his own 6m record.
Back in the 1940s and 1950s,
when pole vaulters were subject to using bamboo and steel,
they only jumped 4.5 metres or so.
When fibreglass came in,
we saw the pole vault go above five metres
and now, eventually, above six metres.
The most advanced technology that we use
is the carbon-fibre pole.
What we do is we take some S-glass out
and we exchange it for carbon fibre.
It's more responsive,
so, for advanced athletes,
it gives more energy return and the poles are lighter,
meaning the vaulters can run faster,
therefore putting more energy into the system.
When you use the carbon-fibre poles,
you have to be more aggressive.
You have to strike the ground fast,
jump up quickly, and not delay swinging up.
If you delay, it will take off without you.
You go through ten different poles
in one training session.
(FLY AWAY)
Thiago Braz da Silva achieved an Olympic record during
the Olympic Games in Rio 2016,
reaching a height of 6.03 metres,
beating silver medallist, world record holder of
6.16 metres on an indoor court, Renaud Lavillenie.
(ALL COMPETITORS HAVE THREE ATTEMPTS PER HEIGHT)
Pole vault has been an Olympic discipline
since the first modern Games in 1896.
In the past, poles were used to overcome natural obstacles
using wood or bamboo.
The main development came from advancements in material
due to a transition from bamboo to fibreglass
and then carbon fibre, resulting in poles weighing 2kg
compared to the bamboo poles of more than 10kg.
It started out originally for people to jump over canals -
it was a horizontal event that someone made into a sport
to decide how high they could jump,
and through the years we've seen everything from
poles made of wood, to bamboo to steel...
You couldn't bend metal so they were almost
doing like the ancient Greeks - just catapulting themselves.
If you pick up the poles used back in the 1980s,
they're really heavy to carry.
At Gill Athletics,
our engineers have developed formulas
that control how the pole is made
and make the poles consistent,
so we have the best materials along with the best design,
and those two things combined make for the best poles.
Any manufacturer in the world is constantly tinkering
with some of these new materials.
The possibilities are endless because the rules allow for
a vaulting pole to be made of any material,
of any length, but it has to be one piece.
A terminology I use is called "coaching the pole" as well.
The pole can complement or hinder a vaulter's goals.
Does the pole make a difference? Absolutely.
I think pole vaulters have a relationship
between them and the pole.
It's kind of like a marriage, I think.