Ricardo Montes de Oca repeats title in indoor pole vault

Published at: 28/02/2026 10:23 PM

For the second consecutive year, the Ayacucho-Lima 2025 Bolivarian Champion, Ricardo Montes de Oca, won the title of the American “Big South” championship in the final of the pole vault played last Friday in the covered oval of the Tryon International in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

Montes de Oca is the only Venezuelan to repeatedly win this series of championships that are part of the sports conference affiliated with Division I of the National University Athletics Association of the United States, MinDeporte announced on its website.

The Venezuelan represents High Point University, in North Carolina, where he has been studying higher education since 2025, and won his second indoor pole title after winning a series of clean jumps in the decisive phase of the test he led with 5.35 meters.

The also Junior Pan American Champion in Asunción 2025, with valid jumps at heights 5,07,5.22 and 5.37, this time Montes de Oca failed in all three attempts when the rod reached 5.47.

The final podium was completed by his teammates Jackson Tuomey, in second place, with 5.22 and Jason Oliveira, third in the category with 5.07.

Although this time the national team had enough height of 5.37 to keep the gold, it has 5.68 as the best indoor record, the current Venezuelan ceiling in the under-20, under-23 and adult categories, registered at the beginning of the current month in a university invitation in the state of Virginia.

The record of 5.68 places him as the continental leader and in the 19th place of the World Athletics universal qualifying ranking, with a view to the World Indoor Championships in Poland, which will be held from March 20 to 22. In this tournament, only the 12 best placed players will get the coupon on the pole, with the sweep of only two competitors per country, from the WA ranking.

Mazo News Team