Charles Hoff

Charles Hoff ( born May 9, 1902 in Fredrikstad, † 19 February 1985) was a Norwegian athlete who came into existence in the 1920s.

He was five times Norwegian champion:

He was also in 1922 when the British open championships with 3.66 m victorious.

He set four world records in the pole vault on:

• 4:12 m on 3 September 1922 in Copenhagen (improving the previous record of American Frank Foss by 3 cm)
• 4:21 m on 22 July 1923 in Copenhagen
• 4:23 m on 13 August 1925 in Oslo
• 4.25 m on 27 September 1925 in Turku (improvement in 1927 by Sabin Carr)

Charles Hoff was the first pole vaulter, who used a recess box (wooden). He also coined a new jump style, which was that he not rather run closed the legs, as the hands had let go of the bar.

Even as a runner Charles Hoff was able to achieve significant results. About 400 m stand for him and 48.8 sec over 800 m 1:56,7 min to book. This time he ran in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, where he renounced because of an injury to participate in the pole vault competition and over 800 m finished in eighth place. However, his performances had not step runs only sporadic character. This proves a published on January 18, 1926 note in the "Time", goes to the effect that Hoff along with three other Europeans, including the German Hubert Houben, an invitation to participate in the American winter season followed with the intention of in the pole vault to target the 14 foot and also to compete on the middle distance.

Hoff's colorful personality could be seen not only on the sports field, but also in the music hall, where he was remunerated for his performances of course. It seemed like it - had to come - the then zeitgeist: As he clothed himself in the spring of 1926 with a tailcoat about 4:16 m swung, he was declared a professional and was therefore no longer to start in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.