Things Heated Up Quickly Following Record Jump

After the pole vault fiasco in the Millrose Games at New York a week ago, all was quiet on the Western Front Friday night at the Forum.

At least it was quiet until the Soviet Union’s Sergei Bubka broke American Billy Olson’s world indoor best with a vault of 19-5 3/4 in the Times/GTE Indoor Games.

Then, the cold war began.

The evening had begun on such a friendly note. Bubka and Olson have been trading insults in the press this week, Bubka winning on points with his comment during a press conference Tuesday that Olson wouldn’t know which way to go on the runway in a major competition.

Olson responded Friday night with a sense of humor, wearing a T-shirt that read, “Sergei, Where’s The Pit?”

He had another T-shirt that read, “All Talk and No Action.”

Bubka proved to be both.

Olson, who entered this meet with a world indoor record of 19-5 1/2, was almost out of the competition before it began, missing his first two attempts at 18-4 1/2. He veered to the left on both jumps. His first miss was particularly dangerous as he went under the bar and fell onto the edge of the pit. managing to break his fall.

“I’m sure it was scary for the fans,” Olson said. “It was really scary for me.”

But he cleared the height with ease on his third attempt.

Meantime, Bubka entered the competition at 18-6 1/2 and went over the bar on his first try.

Bubka passed at 18-10. Olson had one mediocre effort at the height. But after conferring with several other vaulters, including close friend Brad Pursley, Olson appeared to have the problem solved when he went over on his second attempt with his most impressive vault of the night.

“I think he was a little excited early,” former vaulter Dan Ripley said. “His plant was a little jerky. But he was right down the middle on the last one he made.”

On this particular night, Bubka was the better vaulter.

After he cleared at 19-2, with Olson passing, the bar was raised to the world indoor-record height of 19-5 3/4. In meters, that is 5.94.

Both missed their first attempts.

Before Bubka’s second attempt, following Olson’s second miss, the Soviet vaulter asked for quiet from the crowd of 14,449.

After public address announcer Scott Davis relayed the message, the crowd booed.

“If Bubka’s bothered by the crowd, he shouldn’t advertise it,” Ripley said. “Billy will be out there leading cheers.”

Then, just as Bubka was about to make his approach, the crowd gave one of its largest ovations of the night as Steve Scott’s name was announced at the beginning of the mile.

But that apparently didn’t affect Bubka.

He barely scraped the bar, but it didn’t fall. It was the eighth time since Dec. 28 that the indoor mark has been broken, the third time by Bubka. It was the second time Bubka has broken a world record at the Forum, jumping 19-1 1/2 in 1984.

Olson passed on his third attempt at 19-5 3/4, asking that the bar be raised two centimeters to 19-6 1/2.

Bubka immediately protested. According to rules agreed upon by the games committee before the competition, the bar had to be raised at least three centimeters on each progression. He was joined in the confrontation by his coach, Vitaly Petrov, and the Soviet leader, Eduard Gushin.

Meet referee Herman Reininga was called into the huddle of the Soviet officials and meet officials. Reininga confirmed that Bubka was correct.

“It’s really difficult for the Russians to understand when the international rules aren’t followed,” said Steve Chappell, manager of AMF Pacer, a leading manufacturer of poles. “They’re accustomed to competing internationally, and believe me, they know the rules.”

Following that, the bar was raised to 5.98 meters, which is 19-7 1/2. Olson missed on his final attempt. Bubka decided to call it a night. He and Olson will meet again Sunday afternoon in the Michelob Invitational at San Diego’s Sports Arena.

“You have to compete under the same rules, whether you’re the record-holder or not,” Bubka said through an interpreter.

“I concede that Billy Olson is a strong athlete, but only indoors. I didn’t like all the turmoil about Billy Olson’s success, but now I have again proved that I am the strongest.”