Editing Track and field (section)

====Pole vault====
{{Main|Pole vault}}
[[File:Pole vault9.jpg|thumb|[[Anna Giordano Bruno]] releases the pole after clearing the bar in [[pole vault]]]]
In terms of sport, the use of poles for vaulting distances was recorded in [[Fierljeppen]] contests in the [[Frisia]]n area of Europe, and vaulting for height was seen at [[gymnastics]] competitions in Germany in the 1770s.<ref name=IAAFPV>[http://www.iaaf.org/community/athletics/trackfield/newsid=9454.html Pole Vault – Introduction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100809105428/http://www.iaaf.org/community/athletics/trackfield/newsid=9454.html |date=9 August 2010 }}. [[IAAF]]. Retrieved on 10 May 2010.</ref> One of the earliest recorded pole vault competitions was in [[Cumbria]], England in 1843.<ref>Turnbull, Simon (13 June 2009). [https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/kate-dennison-it-helps-being-a-little-bit-crazy-1704055.html Kate Dennison: 'It helps being a little bit crazy'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701020351/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/kate-dennison-it-helps-being-a-little-bit-crazy-1704055.html |date=1 July 2017 }}. ''[[The Independent]]''. Retrieved on 10 May 2010.</ref> The basic rules and technique of the event originated in the United States. The rules required that athletes do not move their hands along the pole and athletes began clearing the bar with their feet first and twisting so that the stomach faces the bar. [[Bamboo]] poles were introduced in the 20th century and a metal box in the runway for planting the pole became standard. Landing mattresses were introduced in the mid-20th century to protect the athletes who were clearing increasingly greater heights.<ref name=IAAFPV />

The modern event sees athletes run down a strip of track, plant the pole in the metal box, and vault over the horizontal bar before letting go of the pole and falling backwards onto the landing mattress.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Mike |url=http://trackandfield.about.com/od/polevault/p/Intropolevault.htm |title=Introduction to the Pole Vault |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107003010/http://trackandfield.about.com/od/polevault/p/Intropolevault.htm |archive-date=7 January 2010 |url-status=usurped |website=About |access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref> While earlier versions used wooden, metal or bamboo, modern poles are generally made from artificial materials such as [[fibreglass]] or [[carbon fibre]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Mike |url=http://trackandfield.about.com/od/polevault/ss/illuspolevault_2.htm |title=An Illustrated History of Pole Vault |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106034246/http://trackandfield.about.com/od/polevault/ss/illuspolevault_2.htm |archive-date=6 January 2010 |url-status=usurped |website=About |access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref> The pole vault has been an Olympic event since 1896 for men, but it was over 100 years later that the first women's world championship competition was held at the [[1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships]]. The first women's Olympic pole vaulting competition occurred in 2000.<ref name=IAAFPV />