Russia's Maksim Tarasov became the seventh man to win multiple pole vault medals, and the second to do so under two different flags, adding a bronze to his 1992 gold (for the Unified Team).

Australia's two Russian−born vaulters Viktor Chistiakov and Dmitriy Markov were perfect before their adopted home crowd to that point, along with American Lawrence Johnson.

With an earlier miss at 5.50m, Nick Hysong was in fourth place, but his first attempt clearance leapfrogged him into the lead, when the rest of the field failed to match him.

1992 champion Maksim Tarasov entered the height tied for fifth with Okkert Brits with three earlier misses, while Michael Stolle had already taken seven attempts to get over his first three bars.

1992 gold medalist Maksim Tarasov (then of the Unified Team, now of Russia) also returned, and was the reigning world champion—the first man other than Sergey Bubka to win that title.

Bubka, of Ukraine, was the favorite (especially in the absence of 2004 leader Jeff Hartwig, who had failed to make the United States team); Bubka had been the best pole vaulter in the world since the early 1980s but had managed only one Olympic medal, gold in 1988 (missing 1984 due to boycott, failing to clear a height in the 1992 final, and 1996 due to injury).

Each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had jumped 5.60 metres or higher during the qualification period.