Bubka Raises Mark With Vault of 19-11 1/2

Sergei Bubka of the Soviet Union broke his world indoor pole vault record on Sunday, clearing 19 feet 11 1/2 inches at the Soviet winter track championships in Volgograd.

Bubka, who lives in the Ukrainian coal mining city of Donetsk, set the previous record of 19-10 1/4 on March 17, 1990.

Soviet race-walker Franz K. Minchanin also set a world record on the first day of the winter championships, covering 5,000 meters in 18 minutes 23.88 seconds.

Minchanin’s time broke the previous record of 18:27.10, set by Mikhail Shchennikov of the Soviet Union at Budapest, Hungary, on March 5, 1989.

Volgograd is an industrial center along the Volga River, about 460 miles southeast of Moscow.