THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 13 : WEATHERING HEIGHTS : Bubka Stops Short of Trying for 20-Foot Vault Because Conditions Become Too Cold, Windy

Pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, who has broken 18 world records, stopped well short of No. 19 Wednesday.

After outlasting the rest of the Soviet vaulters and winning the Olympic gold medal, Bubka had the bar set at 20-0 feet, nearly 2 inches higher than his most recent record.

Only once before had he ever asked for such a height. That was in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, earlier this year. And that time he had simply run through, dismissing the attempt as “Everything in its own time.”

This was not the time, either. He had laughed as he pulled off his warmups and had stood in the runway for 2 minutes, eyeing the bar. And then he returned to the athletes’ seating area and, amid some scattered boos, sheathed his pole.

“The overall conditions were not conducive to my jumping,” he said. “The wind, the cold.”

Bubka needed all three attempts to make 19-4, but he cleared the last try with ease, going about 6 inches above the bar. Had he missed on his final try, he would have been out of the medal race. His previous clearance had been at 18-8, and that without a miss.

Earl Bell of the U.S. had made that height without a miss and, even though he bombed out at 18-10, he would have won a bronze.

As it turned out though, it was strictly an intra-squad meet. The three Soviets passed on different heights so that they rarely competed against one another. Radion Gataullin cleared 19-2 but passed until the bar was raised to 19-6, then missed 3 times and finished with the silver medal.

Grigoriy Yegorov cleared 19-0 but then failed at 19-4, settling for the bronze.

U.S. vaulters Kory Tarpenning and Billy Olson both missed with the bar set at 18-6 1/2.