Bubka Sets World Pole Vault Record


OSAKA, Japan (UPI) — Soviet pole vaulter Sergey Bubka set an indoor world record of 19 feet, 9½ inches Saturday in the Yomiuri Chitose International Indoor Track and Field Meet.

Bubka topped his own previous record of 18-3¼ and surpassed an unofficial record of 19-9 set Feb. 4 by Soviet Radion Gataoulline.

Bubka, who won the gold medal in the Summer Olympics with a 19-4¼ vault, needed two tries to clear 19-0½ and then decided to raise the bar to his record-setting mark.

He missed twice before clearing the bar and setting the record.

Bubka then raised the bar to 20-0¼ in hopes of breaking his outdoor record of 19-10¾ but failed to clear it.

American triple jumper Willie Banks won the triple jump with a 53-2¼ leap.

Americans swept the men’s and women’s 60-meter dashes as Joe Deloach won in 6.60 seconds and Evelyn Ashford in 7.27 seconds.