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The article deals with the investigation of the flexural properties of 3D-printed Nylon CF12 with regard to the correlation between the loading and layering directions. It also discusses the prospective consideration of a suitable combination of lightweight material, 3D-printing, and cellular structures for application in sports, such as the production of poles for pole vaulting. Full-volume samples (with and without orbital shell) and porous (Diamond, Primitive, and Gyroid) samples sizes of 20 × 20 × 250 mm were fabricated and subjected to experimental three-point bending tests. The force–displacement dependencies were plotted, and the data were further evaluated. The results showed that the flexural properties of 3D-printed full-volume beams are significantly influenced by the direction of loading relative to the layering, while for porous beams with cellular structures, the differences in properties are very small. Also, the mismatches between the material properties listed in the datasheets and achieved within the research were identified and indicate the necessity to verify mechanical properties of newly developed products experimentally.

BackgroundDuring pole vault, a high level of energy is transferred from horizontal speed of athlete to the pole. Several ways of performing the pole vault exist, and could be associated with specific injury risk.ObjectiveTo analyse the potential association between the biomechanical patterns of pole vault and the history of injuries.DesignRetrospective study.SettingNational elite indoor championship and youth national indoor championship (U17 and U20) of pole vault (athletics)Participants62 (70.5% of the eligible population participating in the championships) healthy national level male and female pole vaulters.Main Outcome MeasurementsWe prospectively collected the pole vault biomechanical data of the run-up and take-off phases of the vault, and we retrospectively collected the history of injuries during the 12 preceding months through an online questionnaire.ResultsA total of 62 (70.5% of those participating in the championships) pole vaulters accepted to participated in this study, and benefited from pole vault biomechanical and injury data collection. 77.4% reported having presented at least one injury during the 12 preceding months. Higher mean training duration per week and some parameters of the final run-up (higher speed, higher contact time) and take-off (lower height at impulse) phases of the pole vault were significantly associated with history of all injuries.ConclusionsAlthough the design of the present study do not allow to determine the cause-consequence relationships regarding the biomechanical patterns and the injury occurrence, this study presents some interesting findings supporting the hypothesis of a relationship between the biomechanics pole vault pattern and the injury risk, which can be helpful in injury prevention perspective.

This study examined the effect of run-up velocity on the peak height achieved by the athlete in the pole vault and on the corresponding changes in the athlete's kinematics and energy exchanges. Seventeen jumps by an experienced male pole vaulter were video recorded in the sagittal plane and a wide range of run-up velocities (4.5-8.5 m/s) was obtained by setting the length of the athlete's run-up (2-16 steps). A selection of performance variables, kinematic variables, energy variables, and pole variables were calculated from the digitized video data. We found that the athlete's peak height increased linearly at a rate of 0.54 m per 1 m/s increase in run-up velocity and this increase was achieved through a combination of a greater grip height and a greater push height. At the athlete's competition run-up velocity (8.4 m/s) about one third of the rate of increase in peak height arose from an increase in grip height and about two thirds arose from an increase in push height. Across the range of run-up velocities examined here the athlete always performed the basic actions of running, planting, jumping, and inverting on the pole. However, he made minor systematic changes to his jumping kinematics, vaulting kinematics, and selection of pole characteristics as the run-up velocity increased. The increase in run-up velocity and changes in the athlete's vaulting kinematics resulted in substantial changes to the magnitudes of the energy exchanges during the vault. A faster run-up produced a greater loss of energy during the take-off, but this loss was not sufficient to negate the increase in run-up velocity and the increase in work done by the athlete during the pole support phase. The athlete therefore always had a net energy gain during the vault. However, the magnitude of this gain decreased slightly as run-up velocity increased. Key pointsIn the pole vault the optimum technique is to run-up as fast as possible.The athlete's vault height increases at a rate of about 0.5 m per 1 m/s increase in run-up velocity.The increase in vault height is achieved through a greater grip height and a greater push height. At the athlete's competition run-up velocity about one third of the rate of increase in vault height arises from an increase in grip height and two thirds arises from an increase in push height.The athlete has a net energy gain during the vault. A faster run-up velocity produces a greater loss of energy during the take-off but this loss of energy is not sufficient to negate the increase in run-up velocity and the increase in the work done by the athlete during the pole support phase.

The orientational trajectories of rod-like particles suspended in a liquid are influenced by their surroundings, such as the type of flow and nearby walls, and deviate from the well-known Jeffery orbits in shear flows. We consider two types of shear flows between two parallel planar walls: wall-driven simple shear flow (C-flow), and parabolic flow driven by an external body force (P-flow). We simulated hydrodynamically interacting rod-like particles using a chain-of-spheres model immersed in a lattice Boltzmann fluid within a confined channel. As these particles in shear flows approach the wall, their orbits become flattened, exhibiting a ‘swinging motion’ on a plane parallel to the wall. Near the wall, the influence of the wall on the orbital motion varies depending on the flow type. In P-flow, the particles maintain their periodic swinging motions, whereas in C-flow, they stop swinging and align with the flow direction. This difference arises due to distinct hydrodynamic interactions with the wall in each flow type. Simulations also replicated the ‘pole-vaulting’ motion, where particles move away from the wall during their tumbling motion. For weakly sedimenting particles under shear flows, both flow types showed behaviour similar to that of neutrally buoyant particles. However, in P-flow, driven by gravity towards the wall, the particles cease their swinging motion and align perpendicularly to the flow direction, consistent with experimental observations.

The decathlon is a 10‐event discipline in the sport of track and field, typically offered only for men at the elite level of competition (heptathlon is the complementary event for women). It is composed of 10 distinct events contested over 2 days. Using event‐specific coefficients, marks are converted to scores, which sum to produce an overall score. Ten events that share some underlying features, but also some disparate features, create a challenge for coaches and sports administrators in identifying potential elite talent and developing it optimally across the career. In this investigation, decathletes were profiled on the basis of keeping performances ≥6400 points and including only those participants who competed in ≥4 years (n=642) $( {n = 642} )$ . Using gamma generalized linear regression models, the first‐season best mark and improvement in each event were related to all‐time career best. Coefficients were compared to infer priorities for elite decathlete selection (using first‐season best marks in each event) and development (using the delta or improvement in each event). These data show that the most crucial event for identifying an athlete with a future potential elite all‐time career best is the pole vault, followed by the javelin throw, long jump and shot put. For optimal career development, the data suggest athletes obtain the most return by focusing on improvement in the pole vault and long jump. What is the central question of this study? What are the most important event strengths to look for in selecting and developing an elite track and field decathlete? What is the main finding and its importance? Using a gamma generalized linear model, this investigation determines that first‐season performances in the pole vault, javelin throw, long jump and shot put are crucial for identifying athletes with elite potential. To develop a decathlete with elite potential over a career, an approach that emphasizes improvement in pole vault and long jump is indicated to facilitate optimal career performance.

Performance in pole vaulting is related to the athlete’s mechanical energy when crossing the bar, which corresponds to the sum of the energy during take-off (Einit) and the net energy gain during the pole support phase (Egain). This study assessed the influence of sex and performance on the trade-off between the Egain and Einit and aimed to identify the discriminating variables regardless of running speed. Eighty-four athletes were grouped by sex (female, male) and performance standards (inter-regional, national and international). Mechanical energy was computed from successful jumps video recorded in the sagittal plane. Correlations (r) between Egain and Einit were assessed, and discriminant analysis identified how energy lost during take-off, pole plant timing, pole angle, take-off angle and maximal pole bending differentiated the groups. All correlations were negative (−0.87 < r < -0.41), and only the pole angle and pole plant timing differentiated the groups. The results suggested that each group faced an energy balance between Egain and Einit, indicating multiple strategies to achieve similar performances. This study highlighted a hierarchy among the variables related to performance, with running speed (Einit) being prioritised, followed by a higher grip favouring Egain.

Testicular and scrotal trauma is most commonly divided into two classifications based on the mechanism of action, blunt and penetrating, with penetrating trauma being reported more frequently. Blunt testicular injury is often due to motor vehicle accidents or contact sports where scrotal protection is not regularly worn, such as basketball or soccer. Several hours after initially being struck in the left testicle by a fiberglass pole while vaulting, a 23-year-old man presented to the emergency department for testicular pain and swelling. Scrotal edema and ecchymosis were found on physical examination. Ultrasound findings showed a hydrocele with debris and structural changes within the testicle, suggestive of a testicular rupture. The patient was taken to the operating room for decompression of the hydrocele and further exploration. A testicular rupture was confirmed and repaired with partial resection of the seminiferous tubules. A follow-up appointment two weeks after surgery showed a well-healed incision without complication, and a semen analysis was completed at six weeks with normal results. This case exhibits a unique mechanism of action for testicular rupture due to the lack of track-and-field-related trauma reported within the literature. Rapid diagnostic and surgical treatment were vital in this case to reduce the risk of fertility concerns and orchiectomy. Emergency medical providers must have a high index of suspicion for testicular rupture, given the severe complications if such a diagnosis is missed despite unusual mechanisms of injury.

This study evaluated a purpose-trained markerless motion capture system for biomechanical analysis in elite pole vault competition. The aim was to determine whether a markerless approach could produce results comparable to manual digitising—the current standard in live competition settings—when operating under the practical constraint of a fixed four-camera setup. Data were collected from eight world-class pole vaulters during the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships. The final steps of the run-up through take-off were recorded at 100 Hz and analysed using both manual digitisation and the SIMI Nemo Markerless system to extract key biomechanical variables. Results showed strong overall agreement between methods for most spatial and centre of mass (CM) variables, with mean relative bias and random error of 0.3% and 3.8%, respectively. Step length differed by approximately 1 cm, and running step velocities showed root mean square error (RMSE) values between 0.02 and 0.05 m/s. CM height and horizontal velocity at pole plant showed RMSEs below 0.02 m and 0.1 m/s, respectively. At take-off, horizontal, vertical and absolute CM velocities all showed RMSE values of approximately 0.1 m/s. For these variables, intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.898–1.000. Continuous waveform agreement was also strong, with Coefficient of Multiple Determination values exceeding 0.98 for vertical CM displacement, and above 0.90 for both CM velocity and most joint angle trajectories. In contrast, joint angles at take-off showed less agreement (RMSE 5°–10°), reflecting challenges in joint landmark identification in field conditions, and indicating that further refinement may be needed for complex movements. These findings suggest that, when supported by anatomically-informed pose estimation algorithms, a four-camera markerless setup is capable of capturing essential performance indicators in elite pole vault. The approach shows strong potential for scientific and applied use in real-world sport environments.

This research concentrates on examining the dynamic responses of a system modeling the pole vault as mass–elastica, characterized by uncertain parameters. A first-order perturbation method (PM) is introduced and compared to the second-order PM and the reference Monte Carlo method. The results demonstrate an improvement in computational efficiency and accuracy under moderate uncertainties. This study highlights the impact of key parameters, such as the nondimensional velocity (v0) and the deflection of the elastica due to the weight of the mass (w) on the performance of the system, providing useful information for a better understanding of the dynamic behavior.

With the aim to better identify talented Track & Field performance development, this study estimated the relationships between chronological (decimal) age with 60-m sprint, high jump, triple jump, and pole vault performance. Then, to mitigate against expected Relative Age Effects (RAEs), Corrective Adjustment Procedures (CAPs) were applied to an independent sample. Mixed-longitudinal design examining public data between 2005 and 2019. The performances of 5339 Italian sprinters and jumpers (53.1 %) spanning 11.01–17.99 years of age were examined, with trendlines between chronological age and performance established. Related to an independent sample (N = 40,306; female 45.5 %), trendlines were then utilised to apply CAPs and adjust individual performance. Considering raw and adjusted performance data, RAE distributions were examined for the top 25 % and 10 % performers. For all male and female events, quadratic models best summarised the relationships between chronological age and performance (R2 = 0.74–0.89). When examining independent athletes in similar event, RAEs were more pronounced in males (Cramer's V = 0.35–0.14) than females (Cramer's V = 0.29–0.07). For both sexes, RAE magnitude decreased with age and increased according to performance level (i.e., Top25%–Top10%). However, following CAP applications, RAEs were reduced or removed within annual age groups and performance levels. With RAEs prevalent across Italian youth Track & Field events, findings validate CAPs as a strategy to account for the influence of relative age differences on athletic performance. CAPs help establish a more equitable strategy for performance evaluation and could help improve the efficacy of long-term athlete development programming.