Thierry Vigneron

Thierry Vigneron (born March 9, 1960 in Gennevilliers) is a retired French athlete. For many years he was among the world's leading pole vaulters.

Vigneron burst onto the world stage by unexpectedly beating the world record of Poland's Władysław Kozakiewicz with 5.75 m on June 29, 1980. Though he lost his world record to another Frenchman, Philippe Houvion, two weeks later, he was one of the favorites at the 1980 Summer Olympics. However, Vigneron could not rise to the challenge and lost the title to Kozakiewicz, who also reclaimed the world record that day with 5.78 m. On June 20, 1981, Vigneron came back to beat the world record with a 5.80 m jump, only to lose it to the Soviet Union's Vladimir Polyakov six days later. After yet another Frenchman, Pierre Quinon, raised the record to 5.82 m, Vigneron vaulted himself on top again with 5.83 m on September 1, 1983. This record remained unbeaten until May 26, 1984 when Sergey Bubka cleared 5.84 m just weeks before the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in which Vigneron took the bronze medal while Bubka was absent due to the Soviet boycott. A few weeks after the Olympics (September 1, 1984), Bubka beat Vigneron in a memorable contest in which the Frenchman briefly retook the world record with 5.91 m and the Ukrainian cleared 5.94 immediately afterwards. This was the high-water mark of Vigneron's career. Despite a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in 1985, a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in 1987, and a silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Vigneron was never able again to match Bubka who brought the world record to its present-day mark of 6.14 m. He retired from athletics in 1996.