australia on verge of pole vault domination?

[AS]

Aside from the top two on the list, the men's list looks like a pretty average year for US High School vaulting.

I agree... which speaks to the idiocy of the claim. Hard to argue the country is doing much better than the UK. Their top 9 in 2008:

MEN
5.71i Steven Lewis (22)
5.50i Luke Cutts (20)
5.31i Scott Simpson (29)
5.30i Paul Walker (23)
5.25 Mark Christie (24)
5.20i Christian North (34)
5.20 Nick Buckfield (35)
5.20 Andrew Marsh (18)
5.12 Max Eaves (20)

WOMEN
4.40i Kate Dennison (24)
4.21 Louise Butterworth (23)
4.15i Zoe Brown (25)
4.12 Emma Lyons (21)
4.05 Henrietta Paxton (25)
4.05 Jade Ive (16)
4.03i Ellie Spain (25)
4.02 Kirsty Maguire (25)
4.00i Kimberly Skinner (21)

Looks like the typical British story vs Australia in this discipline... less quality at top end, but somewhat deeper lists...

I'm sure folks could provide several other countries with much better lists in this event: RUS, FRA, SWE?

[Barto]

GER is maybe the second deepest behind the US.

[AS]

Lists for the candidate countries for 2008:

Russia:
MEN
6.01 Evgeniy Lukyanenko (23)
5.81 Sergey Kucheryanu (23)
5.81i Igor Pavlov (29)
5.75 Dmitry Starodubtsev (22)
5.75i Pavel Gerasimov (29)
5.71i Leonid Kivalov (20)
5.60 Viktor Chistiakov (33)
5.60i Pavel Prokopenko (21)
5.60i Dmitriy Kuptsov (26)
5.55 Aleksandr Gripich (22)

WOMEN
5.05 Elena Isinbaeva (26)
4.75 Svetlana Feofanova (28)
4.75 Yuliya Golubchikova (25)
4.71 Tatyana Polnova (29)
4.65 Anastasiya Shvedova (29)
4.50 Valeriya Volik (19)
4.50 Aleksandra Kiryashova (23)
4.40 Ekaterina Kolesova (18)
4.20 Ekaterina Sultanova (24) (+2 others)

Germany:
MEN:
5.81 Alexander Straub (25)
5.81i Tim Lobinger (36)
5.80 Raphael Holzdeppe (19)
5.80i Danny Ecker (31)
5.76i Fabian Schulze (24)
5.75i Tobias Scherbarth (23)
5.70 Richard Spiegelburg (31)
5.70 Björn Otto (31)
5.70 Lars Börgeling (29)
5.70 Malte Mohr (22)

WOMEN
4.70 Silke Spiegelburg (22)
4.65 Carolin Hingst (18)
4.60i Julia Hütter (25)
4.52 Kristina Gadschiew (24)
4.52 Martina Strutz (24)
4.52i Lisa Ryzih (20)
4.50 Nastja Ryjikh-Reiberger (31)
4.50i Anna Battke (23)
4.27 Denise von Eynatten (21)

France:
MEN:
5.75 Jérôme Clavier (25)
5.71 Romain Mesnil (31)
5.70i Renaud Lavillenie (22)
5.65 Damiel Dossévi (25)
5.50 Xavier Tromp (24)
5.50 Alain Andji (34)
5.50i Joël Soler (26)
5.50i Fabrice Fortin (28)
5.50i Charles Andureu (23)
5.50i Nicholas Durand (29)

WOMEN
4.60i Vanessa Boslak (26)
4.50 Marion Buisson (20)
4.35 Alizée Dufraisse (21)
4.30 Amélie Delzenne (25)
4.25 Alixe Auvray (23)
4.20 Hortense Lecuyot (19)
4.20 Télie Mathiot (21)
4.20 Marie Frachebois (24)
4.20 Aurore Pignot (29)

Ukraine have 3 guys at 5.70 or higher
Poland have 3 women at 4.50 or higher

Australia certainly doesn't stack up

[Dave]

As someone said earlier, it is a puff piece and it is written by someone who doesn't know the sport.

I pay very little attention to basketball, football, or baseball. Do these sports have the same problem with writers who don't know what they are talking about?

[BillVol]

I don't see Aussie domination in anything unless it's boomerang throwing. Although the Kenyans are making ground there, so I don't know.

[Barto]

As someone said earlier, it is a puff piece and it is written by someone who doesn't know the sport.

I pay very little attention to basketball, football, or baseball. Do these sports have the same problem with writers who don't know what they are talking about?

No, they would be roasted alive for such unsubstantiated claims in those other sports.

[Dave]

As someone said earlier, it is a puff piece and it is written by someone who doesn't know the sport.

I pay very little attention to basketball, football, or baseball. Do these sports have the same problem with writers who don't know what they are talking about?

No, they would be roasted alive for such unsubstantiated claims in those other sports.

Then a short, informative letter to the editor is probably in order to provide the customary roasting.....