By this competition, Sergey Bubka (gold medalist in 1988 for the Soviet Union, finalist in 1992 for the Unified Team, and now competing for Ukraine) had already pushed the world record to its current state and was the overwhelming favorite to win.

To add further injury, his brother Vasiliy Bubka was one of seven athletes unable to clear a height in qualifying.

"[2] Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Saint Lucia, and Ukraine each made their men's pole vaulting debut.

If fewer than 12 cleared that height, the top 12 (including ties, after applying the countback rules) advanced.

The three medalists (Jean Galfione, Igor Trandenkov, and Andrei Tivontchik) all cleared 5.92 metres, breaking the Olympic record.