Pole Vault Stars was an annual indoor

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

ing competition which was typically held in February at the

Druzhba Palace of Sports Druzhba Arena () was an indoor arena in Donetsk, Ukraine, Donetsk, Ukraine. It was built to develop hockey in the region. It was destroyed in May 2014 during the War in Donbas. History Druzhba was built in 1975 as Druzhba Palace of Sports (), ...

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The meeting was founded in 1990 by

Sergey Bubka Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (; ''Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka''; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by '' Track & Field News ...

, the pole vault

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder who grew up in the city. Bubka brought an end to his distinguished career with a ceremony at the competition in 2001.

History

The meeting traces its history back to 1990, when Bubka set a world indoor record mark of 6.05 m. He went on to set two further world indoor records at the meet, clearing 6.11 m at the second edition in 1991 and then setting a world indoor record of 6.15 m in 1993. After standing for almost 21 years, in 2014

Renaud Lavillenie Renaud Lavillenie ( or ; born 18 September 1986) is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to ...

improved upon Bubka's record at Pole Vault Stars.

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n athlete

Yelena Isinbayeva Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva ( rus, Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева, p=jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 200 ...

continued the event's record breaking traditions with two world record performances upon her first appearance in 2004. She set a new world record at the meet every year from 2004 to 2009. The Russian broke the women's indoor record twice at the 2009 meeting.

Zepter International Zepter International is a Swiss consumer goods enterprise, which produces, sells and distributes consumer goods through direct sales and through stores. Zepter's products are manufactured in several Zepter factories based in Germany, Italy, Switze ...

was a long-time title sponsor of the event. The meeting's current commercial partner,

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

, has been the title sponsor since 2011.Isinbayeva and Lavillenie improve their World season leads in Donetsk

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

(2011-02-12). Retrieved on 2011-02-12. Days after the 2014 event, where Lavillenie set the new world record, the city of Donetsk became the epicenter of what became the

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. The continued situation has cancelled subsequent events. The 2015 event, moved from Donetsk to Kyiv, was cancelled at the last moment. Subsequently, in 2016 Lavillenie cooperated with Bubka to launch a new successor tournament to Pole Vault Stars called All Star Perche which takes place in France.

Past winners

Key:

References

External links

Sergey Bubka official website

from

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (EAA, more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for Sport of athletics, athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. E ...

{{European Athletics Indoor Permit Meetings Athletics competitions in Ukraine Recurring sporting events established in 1990 Annual indoor track and field meetings Pole vault Sport in Donetsk 1990 establishments in Ukraine