Track & Field: The Wayward Pole

From little technicalities, great frustrations grow. Look at Bob Seagren, the handsome young (20) University of Southern California sophomore and pole vaulter extraordinary. As extraordinary, that is, as a technicality in the rules will permit him to be. Seagren does hold the world indoor record of 17 ft. 2 in. But he has equaled and beaten that mark in competition this winter—and neither of those leaps will ever be noted in the record book. Last month, Bob soared 17 ft. 2 in.; two weeks ago, he went 17 ft. 31 in. —clearing the crossbar with a good 6 in. to spare. Both jumps were nullified by Section 20(e) of A.A.U. Track and Field Rule No. 42, which specifies that a vault “shall be a failure if a competitor clears the bar, but having relinquished his holdon the pole, the latter passes underneath the bar.”

Nobody seems to know exactly who thought up Section 20(e)—and nobody knows exactly why. “The whole idea in pole vaulting is to get over the bar and not knock it off,” says Dan Ferris, former national secretary of the A.A.U. “If that’s what the vaulter does, the jump should count.” Seagren naturally agrees. At Los Angeles, he says, “right after I let goof the pole, I could see it was going to fall forward. As I came down I tried to kick it back. I actually touched it with my foot, but I couldn’t stop it.”

Such contortions, of course, might not be necessary if Bob Seagren could remember to flick the pole back with his thumb at the moment of release—as does Competitor John Fennel. “But that’s instinctive with me,” admits Pennel. “I just do it automatically. Bob hasn’t been vaulting as long as I have.” The fiber-glass pole apparently is not a factor in Seagren’s troubles, but one problem may be the stickum with which Bob, like most vaulters, coats his hands to help him grip the pole better on his approach. Still, Seagren insists that the main issue is Section 20(e) itself, which seems to be aimed only at the best vaulters. To clear 17 ft. with a 16-ft. pole, he explains, a jumper must push himself almost straight up at the moment of release. “It’s no trouble nudging the pole back at lower height. But at 17 ft. you don’t have any natural leverage.” As Seagren sees it, there are only two solutions: 1) get the rule changed, or 2) get lucky.