Fellow Americans Frank Nelson and Marc Wright tied for second and were both awarded silver; normally, this would have constituted a medal sweep.

This put both Canada and Sweden on the podium for the second consecutive Games and awarded the United States a total of four medals in the 1912 pole vault.

The returning vaulters from the 1908 Games were sixth-place finishers Georgios Banikas of Greece and Sam Bellah of the United States.

The United States made its fifth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Key Halpenny was forced to retire from the competition after he broke two ribs while clearing 3.80 metres and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.