The men's pole vault was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.

[1] This event was heavily protested by the United States team, as it was held on a Sunday and three of the top American vaulters had been told that they could vault on the following day and have the results count.

The two that did compete were not regularly vaulters—Baxter had just finished winning the high jump when the pole vault began and decided to join the competition.

The American team was heavily favored, though the ruling that the Sunday competition would be final eliminated top competitors Charles Dvorak, Dan Horton, and Bascom Johnson, who were unaware of the ruling and expected to compete the following day.

[4][5] They were both hosted by the French Olympic officials, by request of the American athletes who did not compete on Sunday thinking their later marks would count for medals.