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Pole Vault
Statistically this event is quite similar to the High Jump in as much as the performance levels for the last decade have remained unchanged. The amplitude of the variations is little bit larger here but there has never been any real trend and over the period it all averages out the same. If one e.g. compares 2007 with 1999 (another pre-Olympic year) the number of 5.80+ jumpers is 17 vs 17, the number of 5.70+ jumpers 29 vs 38 and the top-100 cut-off is 5.45 vs 5.46.
Despite the fact that the first ever 6m-vault was made by a 21-years old Sergey Bubka as far back as in 1985 it remains an almost illusive barrier. In the 22 years that have passed since that first, only thirteen more have managed it and only six of them more than once. Since the new millennium started only one international championship title has seen a 6.00+ performance (Dmitri Markov 6.05 in Edmonton 2001) and the three most recent World Championships outdoors have been won with 5.80-5.90 and the three most recent World Indoor Championships all with 5.80!
Obviously that destroys the old sport psychologist theory that once someone breaks through a "mental barrier" that proof of its possibility leads to hoards of others to emulate the feat. 6m is apparently not just a mental barrier but very much a physical reality that few are truly capable of mastering.
That you have to go all the way down to position No 14 on the 2007 World list to find a vaulter under the age of 25 seems to indicate that it takes time to the learn the trade – or that the influx of new talent from the junior ranks has been rather sparse in recent years. In any case there is no indication for a rise in standards being imminent.
In Germany, one of the real top nations in Pole Vaulting, five of their top-6 in this year were born in the 1970's, i.e. in or very close to their 30's. Also in the US the experienced are dominating: The average age for their 14 vaulters clearing 5.60 or better in 2007 was 29.6 years. So the future appears much more promising for former powerhouse Russia with four of their five 5.70+ vaulters being between 20 and 22 years old.