The women's

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

took place between August 16 and 18 at the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary ...

. The qualifying standards were 4.45 m (A standard) and 4.30 m (B standard). The final was won by 25 cm by

Yelena Isinbayeva Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva ( rus, Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева, p=jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 200 ...

, who set a new world record height of 5.05 meters for the discipline. As of 2023, this winning margin remains unmatched. During the finals, one of the poles which Brazilian

Fabiana Murer Fabiana de Almeida Murer (born 16 March 1981) is a retired Brazilian pole vaulter. She holds the South American record in the event with an indoor best of 4.82 m and an outdoor best of 4.87 m, making her the fourth highest vaulter eve ...

would use disappeared, causing her to spend 10–15 minutes trying to get it back. The lost time and having to use another pole led her to bad results. Murer complained about the organization, and would only return to China 7 years later at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

, this time winning a silver medal.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows: The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Results

Qualifying round

Qualifying performance: 4.60 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final. WR – World Record / =SB – Equal Season Best / PB – Personal Best / SB – Season Best

Final

The final was held on August 18. WR – World Record / =SB – Equal Season Best / PB – Personal Best / SB – Season Best

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's pole vault Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pole vault at the Olympics 2008 in women's athletics Women's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics