Mondo vs Bubka

Mondo would beat Bubka 4 out of 5 times.

Bubka would be faster, younger, and more technical in the modern era, but still fall short.

SPEED:

There's a lot of inconsistency in the reports of Bubka's speed, most pin him at about 10.0 m/s at takeoff.

Mondo is cited at 10.2 m/s. Part of this is his straight-up sprint speed, but the real reason he achieves this speed is because he's more efficient running with the pole. He's been cited as having only a 2% difference in sprint speed from running without a pole to running with a pole, compared to 6% with Sam Kendricks and 10% or more with other vaulters.

Modern spikes, track surfaces, and training techniques will make a slight difference for Bubka. His new takeoff speed will likely be 10.1 - 10.2 m/s. Slight edge to Mondo, but this one's close.

Both athletes are around 183 cm tall. Mondo's Wikipedia states 180 cm, but he appears taller in person.

TECHNIQUE:
Bubka's technical model is older and employs a "giant swing" as in gymnastics with a narrow grip. This allows him to invert quickly and rocket off the top of the pole, but wastes energy that could have been contributing towards pole bend.
See this post: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1067669108295131/

Now, part of Mondo's advantage is he started vaulting later in the timeline and could learn from previous vaulter. Would Bubka adapt his technique to a more modern model? Certainly. But would his technical efficiency match that of Mondo's? The kid is a kinesthetic genius whose technique has remained consistent for the last decade. At best, they would be equal. More realistically, Mondo has a slight edge.

With Bubka's previous PR of 6.15m being achieved at the age of 30, he could have jumped higher at a younger age. Some claim he could have jumped up to 6.40, but I find it unlikely. Pole vaulters peak late with the average age at the Olympics being 27. He'd probably get at most 5 cm higher if he went for his maximum in his prime.

Mondo is close to being maxed out on his personal best. He scraped the bar bad on his 6.30m clearance, and he's been getting that same 6.30 - 6.35m height on his vaults for several years now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_FnI0kCX7w

I see Bubka equaling Mondo at best, but more realistically coming 5-10 cm short of him due to slight decreases in speed and technique. Bubka would see a 2-5 cm improvement from being in his prime and a 5-10 cm improvement from superior technology and training. That brings his new PR to 6.22 - 6.30m.

CONSISTENCY

Comparing the World Athletics profiles of the two, Bubka's most impressive season was 1991 with 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, and 17/26 meets over 5.90m. This is really the only season that compares to Mondo's profile year after year. Even 2023, Mondo's 'down year' due to slight hamstring and hip impingements, shows 13/18 meets over 6 meters. A large part of why Bubka's 6.15m came so late in his career is due to incessant injuries destabilizing his training regimen. Meanwhile, Mondo never gets seriously injured. It really is amazing how Mondo is able to show up in prime condition meet after meet and season after season.

In high-level track and field, someone with a PR 5-10 cm higher but better consistency beats the other competitor 8 /10 times or more. There's only one way the inferior vaulter wins: they jump a great meet, and the superior vaulter falters. But there's three ways they can lose: they jump bad and the other vaulter jumps great, they jump good and the other vaulter jumps good, or they jump bad and the other vaulter jumps bad. By this very nature, Bubka loses at least 75% of the time.

Mondo is way more likely to jump 6.10m meet after meet, and this is the real reason he wins head-to-head.

SUMMARY:

Bubka would jump higher in the modern era due to better training, technology, and going for a personal best in his prime.

His new PR would be in the range of 6.22 - 6.30m. I predict he would be close to 6.25m, since his speed and technique would be slightly worse than Mondo's.

He could break a WR during this era, but Mondo would beat him head-to-head the majority of the time, mostly due to the large disparity in consistency between the two.

5 Stages of Vault History

There are 5 distinct stages of vault history defined by technical revolution, technological advancement, and paradigm-shifting individuals. Let’s take a journey through the pole vault world record archives and uncover the changes that made the sport what it is today.

Stage 1: The Dark Days

1848 - 1942

The time before the invention of the all-mighty fiberglass.
Vaulters would jump on solid wooden poles. Bamboo became favored, and aluminum after it, but the stiff-pole era vaulters could never hold high enough on the pole.

Stage 2: The Awakening

1957 - 1983

The first revolution in the sport occurred when stiff poles were traded out for fiberglass. Now, the vaulter could bend the pole and store a greater amount of potential energy after takeoff. Technique was beginning to coalesce into ____

Stage 3: Dominion

1984 - 1994

This is where the infamous reign of Sergey Bubka resides on the time scale. Bubka’s coach, Vitaly Petrov, radicalized the sport by ____

Stage 5: The End of Fiberglass

2014 - 2025

Enter the G.O.A.T.
Mondo Duplantis.
Enough said.

Safe to say that no one will have the same combination of speed, strength, body frame, gymnastics ability, experience and dedication as Mondo Duplantis and his parents Greg and Helena.

The next world record holder will not jump on fiberglass poles. What will he jump on?

A couple candidates:

Carbon fiber:

Pro — lighter than fiberglass

Con — certain brands are more likely to break

How High Could the Fastest Man Jump?

================= (A-ROLL)

How would you build the best pole vaulter possible? You’d probably take what makes the best great and combine them to make something… perfect.

Now, I want you to think of an elite pole vaulter. What attributes do they have that made them successful?

And what happens if we take those attributes and turn them up to the max?
Just how high could a human vault?

(B-ROLL)(Mondo Duplantis footage at the olympics with announcers talking about his attributes)

Witness: Mondo Duplantis, the Olympic Champion. What makes him so special?

He’s not the tallest in the field.He’s not the strongest in the weight room.

And at the first glance of the lineup, several other athletes appear to outmuscle him. (Lineup, show Guttormsen, Nilsen, Lisek, big muscular vaulters)

How does Duplantis outperform bigger, stronger athletes? (A-ROLL)

The answer: Mondo is fast. Really fast. So what happens if the fastest man in the world had the best pole vault technique? Just how high would he jump?

================= end intro Body: Whiteboard Start with physics equations showing KE relationship with velocity, explain why the horizontal impulse forces the linear relationship seen in the study.

Now this is the equation you’ve probably seen.
Vaulter runs with some velocity V.

Kinetic energy of this run is then converted into potential energy as the pole bends.
This potential energy is converted into kinetic energy as the vaulter releases the pole and shoots upwards.

(Speed up the unnecessary part)

You’ll have some efficiency factor 1 here and some efficiency factor 2 here.
Now, when you solve this energy conversion, you get h = beta * v^2

If you’re curious, beta = efficiency factor 1 efficiency factor 2 / 2 g
This is not so important what is important is that height is proportional to velocity squared

Now what this is saying is that for a small increase in velocity, a large increase in height will occur.

Most people stop here and say they’ve explained the pole vault.

But this isn’t what actually happens.

When you plant the pole, this dot represents your grip and this line the pole.
You plant with some angle theta. It bends in here, and then it’s released… By the time you move it to

vertical, the angle will be 90 degrees.
There is work required, it takes energy to move the pole from theta to 90 degrees. If you don’t

move the pole to 90 degrees, you will land in the box or be shot out back onto the runway.
So work required to move the pole to vertical equals force times distance.

And force is mass times acceleration which is vfinal - vinitial over tfinal - tinitial

In a succesful vault, the vfinal equals 0 as theta equals 90 degrees, placing you right over the bar,

and tinitial will be taken at the start of the plant, which will be 0.
Therefore, we can rewrite force as -vt

And work as -vtd, where v is the initial velocity, t is the time from the plant to the completion of the jump, and d is the
distance that the pole moves.
The negative sign makes sense here, because it takes work from outside the system to move the pole to vertical.

Now, let’s think about what happens when you run at a higher velocity and increase your grip accordingly.

The distance from your grip to the box increases, and therefore the distance that the pole has to travel to get to

vertical increases.
The work, -vtd, becomes more negative, and thus takes energy away from your jump proportional to velocity.
Now, you might ask why don’t you just stay at the same grip and increase pole stiffness?
And this is absolutely right. When you have an athlete go up a pole, you increase
pole stiffness before you raise grip. But this only works once.
When you increase stiffness too much without raising grip, you change the

flight path of the vault.
You need the vault to follow this flight path in order to make a vertical bar.

Lowering grip increases the speed of the pole. We call this ‘rolling over’.
If the pole rolls over too fast, you either miss your swing or your flight path
becomes like so. And remember, we want to clear a vertical bar, so excessive

horizontal distance does us no favors.
Yes, you can maintain more energy in the pole by raising stiffness not grip,

But at a certain point, you have to raise grip in order to maintain the proper flight path.

Okay, let’s take what we’ve learned and write a final equation.
Kinetic energy(height) = Kinetic energy(run) + Work(vertical)

= Bv^2 - vtd

Now there’s still more factors in this equation, so if you’re interested in learning more, I’ll link the study in the description.
But from this equation here, we can see that there are retardant factors proportional to velocity that balance out the
quadratic nature of the energy equation, leaving us with a linear relationship.

height is directly proportional to velocity

Calculate Usain Bolt’s vault performance using c calculated from Mondo’s stats and m from the study. Return 6.61m prediction. According to a 2012 study, pole vault performance has a linear relationship with run-up velocity.


Start here:

(whiteboard scripting)

KE = 1/2 * m * v^2

PE = m * g * h = KE *F

h = 1/2 * v^2 * F / g
From this equation, height is proportional to the square of velocity.
But we know this is not true, due to this study.

Height is really linearly proportional to velocity.

The math is simple: more speed, more kinetic energy

Alright so let’s answer this question: if the fastest man in the history of the world had perfect pole vault technique

7 Levels of Pole Vault

5 minute read

This is your journey as a pole vaulter from noob to GOAT. You’ll learn what challenges you will face at different levels of experience and how to overcome them. Your jump will change a lot, so remain open-minded and coachable throughout the process. And, as my fond gymnastics coach tells me,

DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!!!

every level of pole vault, explained.

(Black screen, rolling to the left)

Level 1: noob

(Black screen, roll left to right, pause briefly before displaying noob)

The bottom of the food chain.

(Rotten tomates)

It looks like this is the first time you’ve picked up a pole… and that’s because it probably is.

(Kid in a baseball cap looking around)

You are in this category if you’re a high schooler barely making any bars. That’s 7 - 12 feet for men, 6 - 9 feet for women

(A-roll footage

But … this is where everyone starts.

Even the best.

(Mondo jumping as a little kid)

You’ve got novelty to keep you interested, use this as a catalyst to develop a love and passion for the sport.

Your jumps are absolutely brutal to watch.

(Nick dude dying)

You might be pulling off the ground like crazy, jumping off the wrong leg, or worse.

But once you get the hang of it, you’ll find that it starts being… kind of fun.
(A-roll footage)

At this level, you’re going to be making your bars on stiff poles.

(Stiff pole legends… Warmerdam)

And that’s a good thing, because you’re going to be a lot more successful doing it this way.

Begin by gripping with one hand up from your maximum standing reach, typically 6-8 feet for a one-left run.

(Getting my measurement with my tripod)

(edit… no pole lol)

Your grip is where you hold on the pole. This will move incrementally higher as you get better at the event.

Your run is how many steps you take before you jump. In your first run, you are going to take one right foot step followed by one left foot step for a total of 2 steps.

(Other dude doing drills)

‘Grip’ can also refer to the distance between your top hand and bottom hand. You’ll begin with your left hand an elbow’s width away from your top hand. As you progress, your grip will become narrower and your run will move back to 4,6, and 8 steps.

(Pro runner, draw some arrows showing what grip is)

(Steve Hooker)

The ‘plant’ is when you place the tip of the pole into the metal box. Do this while standing, then take 2 big steps backward. Record where your tips of your feet are. This is your 2 step run.

(Slow motion Thiago Braz planting, freeze!)

(Me taking 2 big steps backwards)

Focus on a nice tall takeoff at the plant, keeping pressure with your top hand all the way through the vault, and shooting your feet as high as you can as you extend your body and clear the bar.

(Warmerdam again)

The bars are low enough that you don’t need to worry about consistency. You can jump in a different way every single time and still clear 7 feet. Just concentrate on moving the pole to vertical, and then get your body over the bar no matter what it takes.

(A-roll footage)

Focus on straight pole technique with strong upright posture at takeoff and full extension through your top hand.

(Warmerdam, etc. again)

If you’re at this level, you need to jump as much as possible. Do drills every day, record yourself, reflect on what is working and what is not. Review your videos and notes before you go to sleep each night.

(Team hoot swingups)

You can vault every day if you want because your jumps are going to be very low-intensity.

Level 2: vaulter 

(Black screen, type + pause on vaulter)

At this level, your jump still looks pretty rough. You’re either still straight-poling or you’re bending it very slightly. Still, you’re making respectable bars and you’ve earned the right to call yourself a pole vaulter.

(A-roll footage)

These are your high school state qualifiers.

(State high school meet footage)

That’s 12’6 to 14’6 for men and 9’6 to 12’6 for women

Start focusing on strength and speed training at this stage. If you’ve made it this far, you know you have talent in the event. Once your technique is finalized, further gains will  be made by how strong and fast you are. 

Start pushing the run back to 10, 12, and 14 steps. You’ll start seeing gains from faster approach speeds. 

(Men clearing 14’ ish)

Now is the time to master your straight pole technique. As you run faster and from farther out, you will naturally begin to bend the pole. This only adds more power to your vault; it’s no reason to start changing it. For now, focus on maintaining your technique while bringing more speed into a stronger plant.

(A-roll footage)

You’re going to see some inconsistency in this stage as you’re figuring out how to pole vault. Still, there’s a lot of ways you can make that bar, and if you survive, you’ll get it done.

(Pole vault fail… my leg getting cut open.)

Level 3: little fish

(Black screen, type)

And now, you really know how to vault. You are the captain of your local meets as a little fish is the captain of its little pond.

(A-roll footage)

You are eligible to be: A high school state champion. An NCAA athlete. A Division 1 walk-on.

(Commitment posts highlight reel)

This is: 15 - 17 foot men and 13 - 14 foot women

You’re confident with holding the pole and running at high speeds with it. You’re starting to add power into the pole by elastically re-extending your left arm. Consistency is improving as you begin to understand the event.

(Cody getting over 17 feet)

(As needed, as many cracked out high school kids)

(Me breaking the state record)

Your technique is great, and you’re winning meets. You may even be a state champion in a smaller state. You have unlocked potential, though, and to achieve it, you need to focus on speed. Keep moving your run back to 12, 14, and 16 steps.

(More high schoolers)

Now is the time to make a radical change to your technique. Widen your grip so your bottom hand is more than an elbow’s length from your top hand. Instead of letting the bottom arm stay out of the way, drive it aggressively upwards during the takeoff. Remain elastic and upright through the plant, then re-extend and try to snap your pole in half with violent inertia. The resulting bend will launch you to previously unfathomable heights.

(Professional vaulters)

You need to be running a lot in this stage, which is tough because you also have to be vaulting a lot. Be careful of overdoing it and injuring yourself; it’s very common here! Avoid overtraining by reducing the number of repetitions you take in practice, and by prioritizing high effort and high quality.

(A-roll footage)

Level 4: big fish

(black screen, type)

Now you’ve entered the first level where you actually know what you’re doing. You’re a big fish dominating local meets, and you’re competitive at the bigger ones too. The jump to this level is made by refining your technique and getting faster. Way faster.

(A-roll footage)

In this level, you’ll find: Division 1 recruits, Olympic hopefuls, and European national team members

(Media day highlight reel, Natty team presentations walkouts, Eerik Haamer)

This is: 17’6 - 18’6 men and 14 feet to 15 feet women

At this stage, drills don’t do much for you anymore. Your most effective practice schedule is to jump from a full approach as much as possible. Your run is at 14, 16, or 18 steps. You’ve made your big technical leap and now you are reaping the rewards.

If you reach this level fast enough, you can do some serious damage in Junior Olympics and college.

But being consistent here is challenging. You have to be very precise and free of distraction. There’s a big difference between being a high school athlete and being a college athlete, and for a lot of people it’s a painful transition.

Keep calm, stay humble, and chive on, because the dreaded plateau comes for us all. You’ve got four short years in college to break into the next level.

Level 5: Leviathan

(Text across screen)

NCAA Champions, world class vaulters, and post-collegiate sufferers

(Kyle Rademeyer winning, Simen, NCAA winners)

If you are American, this is the worst level to be in.

You’re good enough to make the Olympics, but not good enough to make money so you’re in this agonizing state. 

(Give money i IS poor)

You need REAL talent to make it to this stage on top of hard work. The vast majority of vaulters will never make it here. 

(A roll footage)

These are 18’8 - 19’5 men and 15’2 - 15’10 women

(Trevor stephenson vaulting)

Characteristic of this stage is an increase in consistency. You’ve been jumping at your full approach for years. A certain level of confidence in this event is only reached with over a decade of experience.

(A roll footage)

Level 6: Pro

(Text across black)

Olympic Champions, All-time Greats

Sam Kendricks, Sergey Bubka, Emmanouil Karalis | Sandi Morris, Yelena Isinbaeva

(Short videos of each mentioned athlete)

19’6 - 20’ men and 16’ - 16’6 women

This is the golden level, where everyone wants to be at. This level is characterized by consistent Olympic and World championship appearances. You are the face of your country in the event.

(Sam Kendricks, Kendricks, and Kendricks)

Experience is no longer a factor here. Your success is characterized by pure talent and dedication.

(A-roll footage)

You don’t win meets by much. In fact, you only jump 2 - 6 inches higher than the competition because you’re pushing up against the ceiling of what the human body is capable of. But you do jump higher. Every time.

(Renaud Lavillenie winning the 2012 Olympics)

You are a natural in the event. You almost never finish a meet with less than 8 inches off your personal best. Your consistency is unmatched by the plebian vaulters in the previous levels.

(Scroll through Kendricks results)

Your travel is paid for by sponsors, you get invited to pole vault meets free of charge, you have the keys to the kingdom.

(Lavillenie walks around, casual shots)

On the men’s side, you would be the Olympic Champion in any other era. Since you last name is Karalis, you may go down as the most unlucky athlete in history, because you were born the same year as the sole occupant of the last level.

(Karalis casual shots)

Level 7: Him.

(Text across black)

This level is reserved for the Greatest Of All Time.

(Text on black)

(Voice modulation)

Mondo is in a complete class of his own.

(Mondo walking casual)

20’6+ is unfathomable.

I can’t even begin to explain how much harder it is to gain 2 inches on the competition at this level, let alone 8.

(Clearing some easy bar)

Yes, he is the fastest vaulter ever.

(Black screen flash)

Yes, he has the best technique.

(Black screen flash)

But what I find most impressive is his consistency.

(Black screen flash, underline consistency)

Mondo does not miss. Ever.

He has a certain kind of kinesthetic genius which enables him to imitate the technique of any vaulter

(mondo young)

since the age of eight.

(black text on screen)

His infallible body control and air sense, combined with two full decades of vault experience, and packaged in a prime 26 year-old male, means that 20’ becomes a regular occurance. Nobody else in the world can clear that bar. Not even on their best day.

(Karalis casual, betrubt)

For the very first time in history of the world, the pole vault champion is unbeatable.

There is no equivalent on the women’s side.

(Mondo, fading into black)

OUTRO:

no outro, fade into black

(A-roll footage)

Vertical Theory

I’m making a new YouTube channel named Vertical Theory. This channel will serve the purpose of educating young vaulters on the best educational online platform. The first video will be the 7 levels of pole vault. I’m going to have fun with it, I will push out a high-quality video every week. The first video is coming out January 18th, 2026. This is my passion project, where I’ll dedicate my time.