In pole vault, how many failed attempts are allowed before disqualification?

Correct — B. A pole vaulter has three attempts at each height.

Clear the bar and three more attempts come at the next height. Miss three times in a row and the vaulter is out, with the highest height cleared as the result.

So three failed attempts end the competition → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  2 — After two consecutive misses a vaulter is still in and gets a third try. The count that ends the competition is three.
• (c)
  4 — There is no fourth consecutive attempt. The third consecutive miss has already put the vaulter out.
• (d)
  1 — One miss is not fatal. A vaulter who misses once can try again, or pass to the next height with two attempts left there.

Pole vault is a vertical jump: the bar goes up in steps, and each vaulter chooses the height at which to enter.

At each height a vaulter gets three attempts. A vaulter may pass heights, but misses carry over: miss once, pass, and only two attempts remain at the next height.

Three consecutive misses, whatever the heights, eliminate the vaulter, whose result is the highest height cleared.

Key facts

• A pole vaulter gets three attempts at each height.
• Three consecutive misses eliminate the vaulter, even when they come at different heights.
• A vaulter may pass a height, and a miss carried over reduces the attempts left at the next height.
• The result is the highest height the vaulter cleared.

Common traps

• Answering 2 by reading 'allowed before' as the misses you can survive. The count that ends the event is three.
• Thinking the three misses must all come at one height. Misses carried over from a passed height still count.

No directly related past PYQ was found.