Kyle Rademeyer secured Commonwealth Games pole vault silver in Glasgow on Saturday night, clearing 5.70m to end a 24-year wait for a South African medal in the event and lift Team South Africa’s overall haul to 28 — one better than Birmingham 2022.
The 24-year-old from Paarl went over the bar at 5.40m to guarantee himself a spot on the podium, then matched Englishman Owen Heard’s 5.70m for a season’s best. Both failed at 5.80m, and Kyle Rademeyer took silver on countback, having cleared 5.70m on his second attempt to Heard’s third.
It is South Africa’s first Commonwealth pole vault medal since Okkert Brits won gold in Manchester in 2002, and it arrives four years after Rademeyer’s own Commonwealth Games dream fell apart before it began. He was selected for the 2022 Birmingham squad but had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19, missing the Games entirely. Glasgow was the redo he never got to ask for.
Rademeyer built toward this moment the long way. He left Paarl for the University of South Alabama, where he won the 2023 NCAA Division I outdoor pole vault title with a clearance of 5.70m. The following year he claimed gold at the 2024 African Championships and pushed his personal best out to 5.73m in 2025, the mark that made him a genuine medal contender heading into Scotstoun Stadium.
Medal Table
🥇 Kurtis Marschall (Australia) — 5.85m, Games record
🥈 Kyle Rademeyer (South Africa) — 5.70m
🥉 Owen Heard (England) — 5.70m
“Four years ago COVID took that Commonwealth Games away from him before he’d even jumped. Saturday night, Kyle Rademeyer took it back!” – 🎙️Jay
Marschall was untouchable throughout the final, clearing every height up to 5.80m on his first attempt to claim a third straight Commonwealth title and equal Steven Hooker’s 2006 Games record in the process. He then raised the bar to 5.85m and cleared it on his second attempt, taking sole ownership of the record and closing out the athletics programme at Glasgow 2026 in style.
India’s Dev Kumar Meena finished fourth after failing to clear 5.40m in three attempts, with compatriot Kuldeep Kumar sixth on a best of 5.10m and Wales’ Thomas Walley exiting at 5.40m.
Kyle Rademeyer’s silver capped a heavy day for Team South Africa in Glasgow.
Judoka Timothy Meuwsen won silver in the men’s -81kg class earlier on Saturday, and Zakithi Nene claimed bronze in the men’s 400m. The pole vault result pushed South Africa’s overall medal tally to 28 for these Games, edging out the 27 won in Birmingham four years ago — the same Games Kyle Rademeyer never got to compete at.
📸 Images via SABC Sport / Commonwealth Games
