Austrian woman becomes oldest to clear 4 meters in the pole vault

As recently as 1992, a jump of 4.05 meters (13-3 1/2) in the women’s vault was a world record. Now it’s commonplace for collegians. But 4-meter clearances are still the Holy Grail of masters track, and this month a 40-year-old Austrian became the oldest to jump that. She did it several times, according to the Eurovets: “Within 14 days the Austrian pole vaulter Doris Auer (LCC Wien) set again a new world record in pole vault in her age group W40. The first time Doris Auer jumped over 4m in Wien during a pole vault festival, now she improved her own world from 4.03 to 4.04 (13-3) during the national championships in Wels.” Yowza! Time to recalibrate expectations. On the Age-Graded Tables, a 4.04 at 40 corresponds to an open (20-30) mark of 4.79 (15-8 1/2).

Sydney Olympian Doris during a recent record-setting vault in Austria.

According to her IAAF bio, Doris has a PR of 4.40 (14-5 1/4) outdoors and 4.44 (14-6 3/4) indoors. She was ninth in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Doris turned 40 in May. Welcome to masters, champ!

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June 27, 2011

One Response

  1. John Altendorf - June 27, 2011

    Congratulations Doris. That is very impressive. Very nice form in the photo.

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