Amazingly, there was no landing pit for pole vaulters at the 1908 London Olympics, nothing really to soften the return to earth. Nor was there a box or hole in which to plant the pole. Instead, a nail or spike attached to the bottom of the pole was the only means of securing it for takeoff. Of course, this was long before the use of fiberglass poles that catapulted vaulters to such heights. The gold medalist in London was Edward Cooke, who cleared 12 ft. 2 in. (the current world record is 20 ft. 1-3/4 in.). Matching Cooke鈥檚 height, but on more tries, was fellow American and silver medalist A.C. Gilbert, whose greatest claim to fame came later as the inventor of the Erector Set, a popular construction toy. He became known as 鈥淭he Man Who Saved Christmas for Children鈥� after he talked the government鈥檚 national defense council out of placing a moratorium on toy sales in 1918 as a wartime sacrifice.
