Largely thanks to Armand Duplantis, pole vaulting is in the spotlight in athletics. German athletes once played a big role there, but not anymore. The competition at the German Championships clearly underlined this impression.
Because the pole vault currently has perhaps the most invincible athlete in history, Armand Duplantis, who sets a number of world records, the discipline often has a special place at athletics meetings. The competition was also one of the big highlights at the World Championships in Tokyo last year. When Duplantis was the first to break the 6.30 meter mark, the stadium and the entire international elite cheered for the Swede.
Duplantis pushes the competition to achieve top performance
German athletes were not part of this celebration. Bo Kanda Lita Baehre was the only one to make it to the final, but after three attempts he was over after a strong 5.75 meters. At the DLV, such a height is now something remarkable; last year only Torben Blech managed to reach a little higher at 5.80 meters. For the top international jumpers, however, these are values for a bad day – and that doesn’t just apply to Duplantis.
In 2025, 14 pole vaulters jumped over at least 5.90 meters, and this year there are already seven – four of them have already exceeded the six-meter mark. The Duplantis effect in the pole vault is visible, it pulls along its hopeless competition – just not the ones from Germany.
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At the national championships in Dortmund it was also a low-level competition. For Lita Baehre, a successful jump of 5.60 meters (he had previously jumped 5.50 meters once and missed the other two attempts) was enough to defend his title from the previous year. He had to share the one with sheet metal, both of which had crossed 5.72 meters – this time his biggest competitor didn’t get beyond 5.40 meters.
“5.60 meters is not a height that you like to win with. But you have to accept that”Lita Baehre admitted: “In the end, everyone jumps against themselves or the crossbar, so I wouldn’t blame it on the competition. I allowed myself a few small mistakes again. Who knows what would have happened if the others had pushed me harder. I’ve changed a lot over the past few years and would like to jump higher quickly, but I have to be patient.”
Germany already had several Top pole vaulter
Germany has been lagging behind for at least that long, although the pole vault was a star discipline for a long time. Raphael Holzdeppe became world champion in 2013, with Björn Otto, Daniel Ecker and Tim Lobinger, who was even the star of German athletics, there are three six-meter jumpers. Andrej Tiwontschik and Michael Stolle jumped 5.95 meters, Malte Mohr managed 5.91 meters and Lita Baehre also jumped 5.90 meters. But those days are long gone, although the discipline is booming.
“When you see the competitors who are doing their best and you’re a little behind, it’s 100 percent that you want to be there.”said Lita Baehre: “But it’s also a maturing process that you look at yourself and do what you can. And then it will definitely work out at some point, that’s my opinion.”
Lita Baehre has it Six meter mark further in view
Because Lita Baehre still firmly believes that with his changed approach and new bars he can not only build on the 5.90 meters he has already crossed, but can go even higher. “I’m not a fan of limiting myself. If I say 6.02 meters is my goal – who knows if there isn’t more I can do? It’s my goal to get to the top, but let’s see when and how that works. Hope dies last.”said the old and new German champions.
Lita Baehre continues: “When I made the changes, I immediately wanted to jump that high and approached every competition in such a way that I wanted to jump at my best. That doesn’t work and I’ve learned lately not to over-motivate myself. But the fact remains that I want to do it as quickly as possible.” So that pole vaulting in Germany can finally return to the top international level.
