Wilma Anna Helena Murto is a Finnish pole vaulter. She won the gold medal at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich with a jump of 4.85 m, equalling the championships record and setting a new Finnish record. Murto also claimed victory at the 2023 European Indoor Championships, making her the first Finnish woman in history to win gold at these championships.
Murto at the 2022 Finnish Athletics Championships in Joensuu
Wilma Murto at the women's pole vault final at the 2022 European Championships in Munich
Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoan Greeks and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.
Vaulting phases of world record holder Armand Duplantis
Pole vault in the 1890s at US Naval Academy
Traditional fierljeppen in the Netherlands, using poles to clear "horizontal distances" over rivers
Pole vaulter Allison Stokke prepares for her jump.