Record Athlete Nation Venue Date # 4.02 m (13 ft 2 ​ ⁄ in) Marc Wright United States Cambridge, U.S. June 8, 1912 4.09 m (13 ft 5 in) Frank Foss United States Antwerp, Belgium August 20, 1920 4.12 m (13 ft 6 in) Charles Hoff Norway Copenhagen, Denmark September 22, 1922 4.21 m (13 ft 9 ​ ⁄ in) Charles Hoff Norway Copenhagen, Denmark July 22, 1923 4.23 m (13 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Charles Hoff Norway Oslo, Norway August 13, 1925 4.25 m (13 ft 11 ​ ⁄ in) Charles Hoff Norway Turku, Finland September 27, 1925 4.27 m (14 ft 0 in) Sabin Carr United States Philadelphia, U.S. May 27, 1927 4.30 m (14 ft 1 ​ ⁄ in) Lee Barnes United States Fresno, U.S. April 28, 1928 4.37 m (14 ft 4 in) William Graber United States Palo Alto, U.S. July 16, 1932 4.39 m (14 ft 4 ​ ⁄ in) Keith Brown United States Boston, U.S. June 1, 1935 4.43 m (14 ft 6 ​ ⁄ in) George Varoff United States Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. July 4, 1936 4.54 m (14 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Bill Sefton United States Los Angeles, U.S. May 29, 1937 4.54 m (14 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Earle Meadows United States Los Angeles, U.S. May 29, 1937 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) Cornelius Warmerdam United States Fresno, U.S. June 29, 1940 4.72 m (15 ft 5 ​ ⁄ in) Cornelius Warmerdam United States Compton, U.S. June 26, 1941 4.77 m (15 ft 7 ​ ⁄ in) Cornelius Warmerdam United States Modesto, U.S. May 23, 1942 4.78 m (15 ft 8 in) Robert Gutowski United States Palo Alto, U.S. April 27, 1957 4.80 m (15 ft 8 ​ ⁄ in) Don Bragg United States Palo Alto, U.S. July 2, 1960 4.83 m (15 ft 10 in) George Davies United States Boulder, U.S. May 20, 1961 4.89 m (16 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) John Uelses United States Santa Barbara, U.S. March 31, 1962 4.93 m (16 ft 2 in) Dave Tork United States Walnut, U.S. April 28, 1962 4.94 m (16 ft 2 ​ ⁄ in) Pentti Nikula Finland Kauhava, Finland June 22, 1962 5.00 m (16 ft 4 ​ ⁄ in) Brian Sternberg United States Philadelphia, U.S. April 27, 1963 5.08 m (16 ft 8 in) Brian Sternberg United States Compton, U.S. June 7, 1963 5.13 m (16 ft 9 ​ ⁄ in) John Pennel United States London, England August 5, 1963 5.20 m (17 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) John Pennel United States Coral Gables, U.S. August 24, 1963 5.23 m (17 ft 1 ​ ⁄ in) Fred Hansen United States San Diego, U.S. June 13, 1964 5.28 m (17 ft 3 ​ ⁄ in) Fred Hansen United States Los Angeles, U.S. July 25, 1964 5.32 m (17 ft 5 ​ ⁄ in) Bob Seagren United States Fresno, U.S. May 14, 1966 5.34 m (17 ft 6 in) John Pennel United States Los Angeles, U.S. July 23, 1966 5.36 m (17 ft 7 in) Bob Seagren United States San Diego, U.S. June 10, 1967 5.38 m (17 ft 7 ​ ⁄ in) Paul Wilson United States Bakersfield, U.S. June 23, 1967 5.41 m (17 ft 8 ​ ⁄ in) A Bob Seagren United States Echo Summit, U.S. September 12, 1968 5.44 m (17 ft 10 in) John Pennel United States Sacramento, U.S. June 21, 1969 5.45 m (17 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Wolfgang Nordwig East Germany Berlin, Germany June 17, 1970 5.46 m (17 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Wolfgang Nordwig East Germany Turin, Italy September 3, 1970 5.49 m (18 ft 0 in) Christos Papanikolaou Greece Athens, Greece October 24, 1970 5.51 m (18 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) Kjell Isaksson Sweden Austin, U.S. April 8, 1972 5.54 m (18 ft 2 in) Kjell Isaksson Sweden Los Angeles, U.S. April 15, 1972 5.55 m (18 ft 2 ​ ⁄ in) Kjell Isaksson Sweden Helsingborg, Sweden June 12, 1972 5.63 m (18 ft 5 ​ ⁄ in) Bob Seagren United States Eugene, U.S. July 2, 1972 5.65 m (18 ft 6 ​ ⁄ in) David Roberts United States Gainesville, U.S. March 28, 1975 5.67 m (18 ft 7 in) Earl Bell United States Wichita, U.S. May 29, 1976 5.70 m (18 ft 8 ​ ⁄ in) David Roberts United States Eugene, U.S. June 22, 1976 5.72 m (18 ft 9 in) Władysław Kozakiewicz Poland Milan, Italy May 11, 1980 5.75 m (18 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Thierry Vigneron France Paris, France June 1, 1980 5.75 m (18 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Thierry Vigneron France Lille, France June 29, 1980 5.77 m (18 ft 11 in) Philippe Houvion France Paris, France July 17, 1980 5.78 m (18 ft 11 ​ ⁄ in) Władysław Kozakiewicz Poland Moscow, Soviet Union July 30, 1980 5.80 m (19 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) Thierry Vigneron France Mâcon, France June 20, 1981 5.81 m (19 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) Vladimir Polyakov Soviet Union Tbilisi, Soviet Union June 26, 1981 5.82 m (19 ft 1 in) Pierre Quinon France Cologne, Germany August 28, 1983 5.83 m (19 ft 1 ​ ⁄ in) Thierry Vigneron France Rome, Italy September 1, 1983 5.85 m (19 ft 2 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Bratislava, Czechoslovakia May 26, 1984 5.88 m (19 ft 3 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Paris, France June 2, 1984 5.90 m (19 ft 4 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union London, England July 13, 1984 5.91 m (19 ft 4 ​ ⁄ in) Thierry Vigneron France Rome, Italy August 31, 1984 5 5.94 m (19 ft 5 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Rome, Italy August 31, 1984 6.00 m (19 ft 8 in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Paris, France July 13, 1985 5 6.01 m (19 ft 8 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Moscow, Soviet Union June 8, 1986 6 6.03 m (19 ft 9 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Prague, Czechoslovakia June 23, 1987 7 6.05 m (19 ft 10 in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Bratislava, Czechoslovakia June 9, 1988 8 6.06 m (19 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Nice, France July 10, 1988 9 6.07 m (19 ft 10 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Shizuoka, Japan May 6, 1991 10 6.08 m (19 ft 11 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Moscow, Soviet Union June 9, 1991 11 6.09 m (19 ft 11 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Formia, Italy July 8, 1991 12 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in) Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Malmö, Sweden August 5, 1991 13 6.11 m (20 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Ukraine Dijon, France June 13, 1992 14 6.12 m (20 ft 0 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Ukraine Padua, Italy August 30, 1992 15 6.13 m (20 ft 1 ​ ⁄ in) Sergey Bubka Ukraine Tokyo, Japan September 19, 1992 16 6.14 m (20 ft 1 ​ ⁄ in) A Sergey Bubka Ukraine Sestriere, Italy July 31, 1994 17 6.16 m (20 ft 2 ​ ⁄ in) i Renaud Lavillenie France Donetsk, Ukraine February 15, 2014
what is the world record for the highest pole vault
6.16 m (20 ft 2 ​ ⁄ in)