Women Pole Vaulters Get No Respect

Unless you count over 30 million men discussing the fine points of pole vaulting in the YouTube comments section.

Last year, YouTube’s algorithm, recognizing me as a 60-year-old male, suggested a video of a high school pole vault competition. Puzzled by the suggestion I started watching it.

Did the girl (woman?) break a world record? Didn’t seem like it. Indeed, the video was quite uneventful. She ran, vaulted, landed on the mat, got up…

Pulled up her…? Bathing suit? What are those bottoms called? They aren’t shorts. They look like underwear, half of which is no longer visible.

Hmm, 10 million views. What’s so special about this pole vaulter? What am I missing?

Yeah, I was that slow!

I soon discovered many women’s track and field events receiving tens of millions of views. They’re easy to find. Indeed, if you watch one, as I did, YouTube will line them up for you.

My guess is that more dirty old men have watched these high school athletes than the total number of views for most Olympic events.

These cameramen know their main audience. You’ll see what I mean.

I wonder who makes money from all those views?

My guess is this gentlemen’s informal porn-hub will get shut down some day. So watch while you can. It’s quite a phenomenon.

Of course, you may not want to watch teenage girls hiking up their underwear every few minutes, so read the comments.

Some dirty old men are quite amusing if you’re the tolerant type. If not, fire up your email.