Why does speed decide vault height more than technique? The physics behind Duplantis' record and what it means for training.
"Should I build more strength or just get faster?" At elite level, the answer is clearer than many expect: get faster. An analysis of world-class approaches shows that approach speed explains around 67% of the differences in vault height — no other single factor comes close.
The reason lies in the physics of kinetic energy: it grows with the square of speed, not linearly. A vaulter running in at 8.5 instead of 8.0 meters per second carries not just 6% more speed, but roughly 13% more usable energy into the plant — a gap no swing-up technique, however refined, can fully make up on its own.
How fast "fast" actually is at world-class level shows in the numbers: elite men run over 9.5 meters per second in the final approach strides, elite women over 8.2. Current world record holder Armand "Mondo" Duplantis was even measured at 10.3 meters per second at takeoff — roughly 37 km/h, pace usually only true sprint specialists reach. That very sprint speed, not an unusually massive pole, is the real foundation of his world record of 6.31 meters.
Approach speed explains most of the height differences between world-class vaulters. That doesn't mean technique is irrelevant — it means technique without speed has a lower ceiling, no matter how clean the swing-up and turn are.
Kinetic energy grows with the square of speed: 6% more speed means roughly 13% more energy. This disproportionate gain is the real reason even small speed increases can produce large height gains.
It's not the start of the approach that counts, but the speed in the final steps before the plant — exactly where the elite's 9.5 and 8.2 meters per second get measured. Many athletes unknowingly lose speed here because they subconsciously brace for the plant and decelerate.
Taking the 67% figure seriously means treating sprint training not as a side program to the weight room, but as an equally ranked training block. Real sprint work — acceleration, frequency, running drills — pays directly into vault height.
His takeoff speed of 10.3 meters per second isn't genetic luck alone, but the result of years of prioritized sprint training alongside pole vault technique. The 6.31-meter world record is a direct consequence of that, not a pure technique miracle.
Higher approach speed noticeably changes timing and force demands at the plant — a speed increase without matching pole and grip adjustments raises injury risk, because the pole then becomes relatively too soft for the new speed. So always raise speed together with your coach, never in isolation on your own.
Sprint training itself carries its own injury risks — warm-up, load management and adequate recovery apply here just as much as in pure sprint training.
Time your final five approach steps electronically, not just the whole approach. Exactly there, in the closing acceleration, research shows the largest share of your vault height is decided — and exactly there, few athletes notice they're slowing down.
A fact that should reshape any training plan: 6% more final speed brings roughly 13% more energy. Internalize that square-law logic and you invest training time differently — with more sprint work, not automatically more reps on the pole.
Both count, but approach speed explains around 67% of the differences between world-class vaulters. Technique decides how much of that speed actually converts to height — but without speed, any technique stays capped.
Because kinetic energy grows with the square of speed. 6% more speed means roughly 13% more usable energy at the plant — a disproportionate gain pure strength increases can't match.
Elite men run over 9.5 meters per second in the final steps, elite women over 8.2. World record holder Duplantis was even measured at 10.3 meters per second at takeoff, roughly 37 km/h.
Given speed's 67% explanatory power for vault height, sprint training deserves at least the same status as strength training — not as an add-on, but as an equally ranked training block.
Pole Vault: Getting Started and Overview