strongest country with vaulters...

[newPVer]

who does everyone say the strongest vaulting country, men and women, is in the world.

The US isnt bad but then there's Russia, Australia, anyones thoughts on this?

[roger/over]

Does the question mean which country has the most good vaulters? Which country has the highest vaulters? Which country has the best combination of top male and female vaulters?

Clearly, the answer is going to depend on which, if any, of these questions is asked. Here, though, are some data that may help with a few questions of the sort. They are taken from Mirko Jalava’s 2006 world outdoor deep lists at <www.tilastopaja.net>, which show 670 men’s seasonal bests above 5.00 meters and 752 women’s seasonal bests above 3.60 meters.

In the men’s list, USA had the greatest number of vaulters (22) in the top 100, with Brad Walker ranking #1 at 6.00 meters. Germany had the next greatest number (14) in the top 100, with Tim Lobinger ranking #4 at 5.90 meters.

The top five countries, in number of vaulters in the world top 100 were:

United States (22)
#1 Brad Walker 6.00
#8 Toby Stevenson 5.82
#11 Russ Buller 5.80

Germany (14)
#4 Tim Lobinger 5.90
#5 Danny Ecker 5.86
#6 Björn Otto 5.85

Russia (8)
#39 Sergey Kucheryanu 5.65
#44 Dmitriy Starodubtsev 5.61
#48 Yevgeniy Lubjanenko 5.60

France (6)
#9 Romaine Mesnil 5.81
#38 Vincent Favretto 5.65
#42 Damiel Dossevi 5.62

Ukraine (5)
#21 Vladyslav Revenko 5.75
#29 Maksym Mazuryk 5.70
#30 Denys Yurchenko 5.70

It’s immediately obvious that number in the top 100 isn’t a very complete answer to which country has the best vaulters, when it’s noted that Australia doesn’t make the top five of the men’s compilation. It’s a little hard to justify ranking Russia, with top vaulters at #39,44,48 above Australia, with vaulters at #2,3,28.

Australia (4)
#2 Steve Hooker 5.96
#3 Paul Burgess 5.92
#28 Dmitri Markov 5.70

Similar stats for women in the top 100 for the 2006 outdoor season, with Poland and France tying for fifth place in numbers of top-100 athletes:

United States (18)
#6 Jenn Stuczynski 4.66
#12 Chelsea Johnson 4.60
#14 Lacy Janson 4.58

Germany (12)
#9 Nastja Ryjikh 4.63
#11 Yvonne Buschbaum 4.62
#16 Silke Spiegelburg 4.56

Russia (8)
#1 Yelena Isinbayeva 4.91
#5 Svetlana Feofanova 4.70
#8 Tatyana Polnova 4.65

Australia (7)
#10 Kym Howe 4.62
#15 Tatiana Grigorieva 4.58
#42 Alana Boyd 4.40

Poland (6)
#2 Monika Pyrek 4.75
France (6)
#4 Vanessa Boslak 4.70

Again, it’s difficult to see that this would be an acceptable way of answering the question of “best country for vaulting,â€Â

[VTechVaulter]

and if your looking at it from the perspective of a country able to produce vaulters, you have to consider the relative sizes of the countries. the US has such a big population compared to most.

[VaultLove]

China has a huge population

and if your looking at it from the perspective of a country able to produce vaulters, you have to consider the relative sizes of the countries. the US has such a big population compared to most.

[VTechVaulter]

compared to most.

im not saying size is the end all be all. but if you have a million people pole vaulting, its much more likely that you will have many good jumpers compared to a country with only say a thousand.

[txpolevaulter_k25]

compared to most.

im not saying size is the end all be all. but if you have a million people pole vaulting, its much more likely that you will have many good jumpers compared to a country with only say a thousand.

you make a good point, any way who is a good pole vaulter from china? just wondering because i've never heard of one

[andrej]

They have a lot of great under 20 years old vaulters. Not sure what happens to them after that age though..

[VaultLove]

really, if you've manage to read this board, I'm sure you must have just skipped over the name, Gao Shuying? She's maybe never heard of you either . She was the winner at Mt Sac and recently Modesto.

compared to most.

you make a good point, any way who is a good pole vaulter from china? just wondering because i've never heard of one

[txpolevaulter_k25]

o sorry and i bet she has never heard of me lol