Frequently Norwegians and Americans will ask me what the biggest differences between Norway and the US are. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment I never seem to figure out what the differences are besides roads and food portions. Therefore I figured I should write down differences when I think about them.
Today I thought about pole vaulting. For a while I didn't know what the gringos were talking about when they talked about pole vaulting, but I figured it out eventually.
You all know that Americans are very active in high school sports, right? High school football, high school basketball, high school wrestling, high school track and field, etc. It's all a big deal to be a part of some form of sporty activity. Which is good! I bet they move around a lot more than I did in high school...
It all started when I found out Jake's brother Nathan used to be a pole vaulter in high school. I just thought; "Pole vaulting? I hope that's not what I think it is". Turns out it was exactly what I thought it was.
Nate along with many other kids in USA used be active in pole vaulting.
I don't know why I find this so amusing, but I do. Sorry. It must be a combination of the tight, minimalism inspired clothing combined with running followed by jumping and not worrying if everyone and their mamas can see straight home.
You get what I'm saying?
I also wonder. What makes people choose pole vaulting? What goes through your mind when you sit there in high school thinking; "Pole vaulting. Siiiick!"
???
So there you go. A difference between Norway and the US served on a silver platter.
Norway; very few pole vaulters. I know zero pole vaulters.
USA; many pole vaulters. I know two already.
Pole vaulters with the latest hairtrend in 1988.
History
Suddenly I came across this picture...:
...and it made me wonder...
How long have people been doing this?
How did it start?
Wikipedia told me:
Poles were used as a practical means of passing over natural obstacles in marshy places such as provinces of Friesland in The Netherlands, along the North Sea, and the great level of the Fens across Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Artificial draining of these marshes created a network of open drains or canals intersecting each other. In order to cross these without getting wet, while avoiding tedious roundabout journeys over bridges, a stack of jumping poles was kept at every house and used for vaulting over the canals. Venetian gondoliers have traditionally used punting poles for moving to the shore from their boat.
Nice!
When did people start competing?
One of the earliest pole vaulting competitions where height was measured took place at the Ulverston Football and Cricket Club, Cumbria in 1843.[1] Modern competition began around 1850 in Germany, when pole vaulting was added to the exercises of the Turner gymnastic clubs by Johann C. F. GutsMuths and Frederich L. Jahn
Now you know! You learn something new every day and today you learned it from me (who learned it from Wikipedia).
Gudrun, you know one norwegian pole vaulter! i did it it for about 4 months (of course in Texas). I started because i was on the track&field team for runninng, but it looked like much more fun to run with a pole for a very short distance, fly for a while, and land comfortably on a tjukkas. And it was fun! Go try it out=D
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Kult!!
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