Thierry Vigneron

Thierry Vigneron

Thierry Vigneron in 2012
Personal information
Born	9 March 1960
Medal record Men's Athletics Representing  France Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Pole vault World Championships 1987 Rome Pole vault World Indoor Championships 1985 Paris Pole vault 1987 Indianapolis Pole vault European Indoor Championships 1981 Grenoble Pole vault 1984 Gothenburg Pole vault 1987 Liévin Pole vault 1990 Glasgow Pole vault Summer Universiade 1983 Edmonton Pole vault Mediterranean Games 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Pole vault

Thierry Vigneron (born 9 March 1960 in Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine) is a retired French pole vaulter. In the 1980s, he was among the world's leading pole vaulters. He broke the world record in the event four times and was the last man to hold the world record (for only a few minutes in August 1984) before Sergey Bubka, who would hold on to it almost 30 years until February 2014.

Vigneron burst onto the world stage by unexpectedly beating the 5.72 m outdoor world record of Poland's Władysław Kozakiewicz with a jump of 5.75 m on 1 June 1980. Vigneron equaled his own outdoor world record of 5.75 m on 29 June 1980. Although Vigneron lost his outdoor world record to another Frenchman, Philippe Houvion, on 17 July 1980, he was one of the favorites at the 1980 Summer Olympics. However, Vigneron could not rise to the challenge; he could only finish in 7th position at 5.45 m. The 1980 Olympics pole vault title was won by Kozakiewicz, who also reclaimed the outdoor world record from Houvion with a jump of 5.78 m in that Olympic final. On 20 June 1981 Vigneron reclaimed the outdoor world record with a 5.80 m jump, only to lose it to the Soviet Union's Vladimir Polyakov six days later.

After yet another Frenchman, Pierre Quinon, raised the outdoor world record to 5.82 m on 28 August 1983, Vigneron vaulted to another outdoor world record again with 5.83 m on 1 September 1983. This record remained unbeaten until 26 May 1984, when Sergey Bubka cleared 5.85 m just weeks before the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in which Vigneron took the bronze medal while Bubka was absent due to the Soviet-led boycott. On 31 August 1984, less than three weeks after the 1984 Olympics had ended, Bubka beat Vigneron in a memorable contest in Rome in which the Frenchman briefly retook the outdoor world record with 5.91 m and the Ukrainian cleared 5.94 m immediately afterwards. It was the last time that anyone other than Bubka held the outdoor world record. (Bubka continued to hold the outdoor world record until September 17, 2020 with a 6.14m mark). However, Bubka's indoor world record of 6.15m was previously beaten by another Frenchman, Renaud Lavillenie, who vaulted 6.16m, on February 15, 2014. Ironically, both marks were set in Donetsk, Ukraine, which is Bubka's hometown.)

This was the high-water mark of Vigneron's career. Despite a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in 1985, a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in 1987, and a silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Vigneron was never able again to match Bubka who brought the outdoor world record to 6.14 m.

Vigneron retired from pole vaulting in 1996.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  France
1979	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	–	NM
	European Junior Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	3rd	5.40 m
1980	European Indoor Championships	Sindelfingen, West Germany	8th	5.40 m
	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	7th	5.45 m
1981	European Indoor Championships	Grenoble, France	1st	5.70 m
	Universiade	Bucharest, Romania	4th	5.60 m
1982	European Championships	Athens, Greece	5th	5.50 m
1983	European Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	–	NM
	Universiade	Edmonton, Canada	2nd	5.60 m
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	8th	5.40 m
1984	European Indoor Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	5.85 m
	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	3rd	5.60 m
1985	World Indoor Games	Paris, France	2nd	5.70 m
	European Indoor Championships	Piraeus, Greece	–	NM
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	1st (q)	5.50 m1
1987	European Indoor Championships	Liévin, France	1st	5.85 m
	World Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, United States	3rd	5.80 m
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	2nd	5.80 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	5th	5.70 m
1990	European Indoor Championships	Glasgow, United Kingdom	3rd	5.70 m
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	6th (q)	5.30 m1
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	8th	5.60 m
1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto, Canada	6th (q)	5.50 m1
	Mediterranean Games	Narbonne, France	2nd	5.50 m

¹No mark in the final

• French all-time top lists - Pole vault
• Men's pole vault world record progression

• Thierry Vigneron at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• IAAF profile of Thierry Vigneron