Which athlete became the first to clear six metres in the men's pole vault?

Sergey Bubka became the first athlete to clear six metres in the men's pole vault.

Bubka cleared 6.00 metres in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, on 13 July 1985. The mark was a major milestone because six metres had long been regarded as an exceptional barrier in pole vaulting. Bubka then continued to raise the event's world record repeatedly during his career.

The Ukrainian-born athlete competed for the Soviet Union during most of his career and won the inaugural men's pole-vault title at the 1983 World Championships. He also won Olympic gold at Seoul in 1988. The six-metre milestone is separate from the outdoor world record: later athletes surpassed Bubka's record, while Mondo Duplantis became the first to clear six metres indoors and outdoors as a junior-level phenomenon. Bubka's achievement remains a landmark in pole-vault history.