Final Frames Of the Olympic Games: Pole Vaulter Sergei Bubka.

Frames Of the Games From the expanses of the running track to the confines of the hardwood court and the diving platform, the world's top athletes produce a bumper crop of new records -- and some stun

If anyone seemed to have a lock on a gold medal this year, it was Soviet pole vaulter Sergei Bubka. He has virtually owned the event for the past four years, breaking the world record nine times and scoring ten of the 16 best jumps in the history of the sport. His real Olympic goal was not to beat the competition -- which seemed a foregone conclusion -- but to become the first man ever to soar over 20 ft., a threshold he had been flirting with all year.

In a track-and-field meet that had already stunned the world with a...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!