South African Brits is poles apart

30 July 2002

Okkert Brits of South Africa soared to Commonwealth glory in the pole vault breaking the games record in the process.

28-year-old Brits, from Stellenbosch cleared a height of 5.75m with his fifth jump of the contest. With the gold medal in the bag, Brits moved the bar to 5.80m, but could not clear it in three attempts.

The South African, who failed to clear a height in 1994, and was injured in 1998, is a six-metre vaulter at best, but had already done enough to claim his spot amongst his sports elite.

Former gymnast and 22-year-old prodigy, Paul Burgess (5.75m), grabbed a silver for Australia.

England’s Nick Buckfield just missed out on the medals despite recording a season’s best performance (5.50m).

View the full results here