[2] The event was won by Bob Richards of the United States, the nation's 12th consecutive victory in the men's pole vault.

In the final both remained clean to 4.40m, just ahead of Ragnar Lundberg and Petro Denysenko, who each had one miss earlier.

While modern rules would make that a tie, in that era, the third tiebreaker was the number of attempts, which gave Lundberg the bronze medal.

They remained tied to their final attempt at 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) when Laz missed and Richards cleared it to take his first gold medal.

He would go on to defend the championship four years later, jumping 1 cm higher and went on to Wheaties box fame.

The United States made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every Olympic men's pole vault to that point.

Bob Richards, Don Laz, Ragnar Lundberg, and Petro Denysenko all cleared 4.40 metres to break the Olympic record.