Word: poled
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Brien smashed it to bits last week in Talence, France. The old record, 8,847 points scored by Daley Thompson of Great Britain, had long been considered a Mount Everest of track and field. For Dan, who unexpectedly sat out the Barcelona Games after failing to qualify in the pole vault, the 44-point margin of victory had the sweet taste of comeback: "This may not have been the Olympics, but I'm really happy." Next March, indomitable Dan goes for the heptathlon record...
Maybe engineers and designers should get Olympic medals. In the pole vault, heights jumped 30% with the switch from bamboo to fiber-glass and carbon- composite poles. Tracks have been resurfaced to give runners more bounce and speed, and pools have been designed to dampen wave action that buffets swimmers. Some athletes fear their events could become contests of equipment and facilities, but as any coach would admit, it still takes a great swimmer to bring out the best in a great pool...
Although O'Brien will not be down on the track, he intends to send a pointed message to his rivals, Johnson included. Just before the Olympic decathlon, O'Brien will compete in a meet in Stockholm. The idea O'Brien has involves clearing his opening height in the pole vault. That done, he plans to put up a score that no competitor could top at the Olympics. If Dan sets a new world record, it will still be a small consolation. Dan can settle nothing in Barcelona. Dave can grab the gold...
...past eight years, Sergei Bubka's grip on the pole vault has been so unrelenting that every competition he enters becomes not a question of who will win but how high Bubka will soar...
...gold, taking 23 of the 25 meets he entered last year, and arcing 20 ft. or better four times. With his speed (10.2 sec. in the 100 m) and dazzling strength (his wedge-shaped upper body resembles a gymnast's), the 176-lb. Bubka is able to use a pole designed for someone weighing 44 lbs. more, allowing him extra spring. Sponsors reportedly give him as much as $25,000 to make an appearance, while Nike pays every time he sets a new world record. And at 28, the star grazer is probably still rising toward the peak...