THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 12 : Pole Vault : Bubka Wins the Gold at 19-4, but Chooses Not to Try at 20 Feet

Sergei Bubka, the world record-holder, outlasted numerous victory ceremonies and his own teammates Wednesday to win the gold medal in the pole vault. For a while, though, it was scary when he missed his first two attempts at 19 feet 4 inches and, because his last clearance was 18-8, nearly fell out of the medal race.

Bubka then had the bar set at 20-0, laughing as he pulled off his warmups. He had tried to clear this height before but it was just a run-through, coming after he set his latest record earlier this year in Czechoslovakia.

At the time, he dismissed the failied attempt as “Everything in its own time.”

A crowd remained by the pole vault pit to see if the time had come. Bubka flexed a bit, let the time-clock count down 2 minutes and returned his pole. His time had not come and as he carried his gear away, there were scattered boos. And then cheers.

It was over.

The other medals were taken by his Soviet teammates Radion Gataullin, who last cleared 19-2, and Grigoriy Yegorov, who took the bronze by making 19-0.

The three battled into the late afternoon, often interrupted by medal ceremonies that required that a red carpet be run over their runway. And Gataullin made the wait a little longer by attempting 19-6.

Bubka, who holds the record at 19-10 1/2, gave the crowd its first little buzz when he missed his first attempt. By then the field had been reduced to eight, the only U.S. pole vaulter among them being Earl Bell, the 1984 co-bronze medal winner.

But Bubka made his second attempt easily, despite brushing the bar on his way down, join his Soviet teammates at that height. Bell, 33, who had cleared a personal best of 19-3 earlier this year, did not remain in their company for long.

With the bar set at 18-10, and the Soviets all passing, Bell failed in his three tries, the last the most agonizing. His knee appeared to drag the bar as he was coming down and he joined countrymen Kory Tarpenning and Billy Olson on the sideline. Both of them had dropped out at 18-6 1/2, the meet’s great leveler.

Soon the field was down to the Soviet team. Frenchman Thierry Vigneron, who had tied Bell in the 1984 Games, went under the bar on his first attempt and limped off the field and out of the competition. And countryman Phillipe Collet also failed to clear 18-10.

In the intra-squad meet that remained, both Bubka and Gataullin passed at 19-0. Yegorov made that height on his first attempt, thus establishing an Olympic record that would be advanced through the day, and the bar was raised 2 more inches.

Gataullin then missed his first try. He was alone at this height, though, and was immediately returned to the runway. On his second try, he kicked the bar off. On his third, taking the maximum time between attempts, he cleared it. Now he had the Olympic record.

The bar went to 19-4, and Bubka and Yegorov rejoined the competition while Gataullin passed. Bubka had not jumped since the bar had been at 18-6 1/2. On his first try, Bubka created some tension by knocking the bar off. Yegorov made a half-hearted attempt and missed. Bubka tried again and went well under the bar. Then Yegorov. This was quarter-hearted. He just jumped onto the mat.

Bubka then stormed down the runway, cleared it, and crashed to the mat, holding his arms up in victory.