Posted: June 9, 2004

Athletics: Dragila’s mark declared not to be WR by IAAF

INDIANAPOLIS – Although Stacy Dragila on Tuesday jumped higher outdoors than any woman in history in the pole vault, her American record mark of 4.83 meters/15 feet, 10 inches in Ostrava, Czech Republic, will not be considered a world record, the IAAF has announced.

Shortly after her performance, the IAAF had updated their online world outdoor records to include Dragila as the new record holder. However, the organization on Wednesday announced that their current rules recognize Russian Yelena Isinbayeva’s 2004 indoor mark of 4.86ms/15-11.25 as the world record. Isinbayeva previously held the best outdoor mark of all-time, 4.82m/15-9.75 in 2003, but the IAAF no longer differentiates between indoor and outdoor records in the event.

"They felt it was inappropriate to have an indoor record better than an outdoor record where the conditions were the same," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said of the rule change. "As long as the runways are correct and adequate, then the conditions are the same. There are still separate indoor and outdoor lists, but only one world record, which is the absolute best."

The IAAF web still maintains separate pages for world indoor and outdoor records, although marks such as Isinbayeva’s world record appear on both: http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/records/index.html

From USATF.org.