SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ For all his life, Nick Hysong has heard about the great American pole vaulters.

But he's never been able to see them at work.

After winning the event at every single Olympics from 1896 to 1968, the United States didn't win again until Friday, when Hysong cleared 19 feet, 4¼ inches to edge silver medalist and fellow American Lawrence Johnson.

"We haven't gotten a gold medal in a long time. People talk about that a lot," said Hysong, who was born in 1971. "That's something that I've looked at. That's something that I've thought about as I competed and as I trained."

Russian Maxim Tarasov won the bronze. The top four all cleared the same height, but the positions were determined by a tie-breaker based on misses in earlier rounds.

From Athens to Mexico City, from William Welles Hoyt to the "Vaulting Vicar," from bamboo poles to fiberglass, the United States dominated pole vaulting, winning 16 consecutive golds _ the longest streak in any Olympic sport.

But after Bob Seagren's victory in 1968, the Americans have been in a slump as thorough as their superiority had been before. There has been plenty of bronze and silver _ Seagren himself finished second in '72 _ but no gold.

This didn't figure to be the year the losing streak was broken, with Jeff Hartwig _ the top-ranked vaulter in the world _ failing to clear the opening height at the U.S. trials in Sacramento, Calif.

"I know a lot of people thought that Jeff Hartwig was our only chance," said Hysong, who trains with Hartwig. "What can we say: Lawrence and I came out with the goal of showing that we're ready to jump. It's not just Jeff."

It's not just Bob Seagren, either.

Hysong missed once at 18-8¼, but cleared it on the next try. He needed just one attempt at 19-0¼ and 19-4¼, breaking his personal best by almost three inches despite hitting the bar hard and watching it bounce around before it came to rest in place. Johnson took two tries to make 19-4¼, and Tarasov took three.

Four vaulters _ the other was Germany's Michael Stolle _ survived to go for 19-6½.

Johnson went under the bar on his first attempt and then banged into it twice. Hysong aborted his approach once, and then knocked the bar off cleanly. On his last try, he hit the bar with his left knee, and before he came down he was waving his arms in frustration.

That left him with nothing to do but wait. "It was a little nerve-wracking waiting for everyone else to finish," he said.

When Stolle missed to clinch it for Hysong, he jumped in the air and pumped his arms, then knelt to pray beside the landing mat. He wore a U.S. flag draped around his shoulder as he and Johnson took a victory lap together, slapping high-fives.

"I'll be looking forward to Athens in 2004 to try to change the color of my medal," Johnson said.

Hysong met Seagren a few years ago at a pole vaulting summit. Now he's looking forward to their next get-together, when they meet as equals.

"I'm more than positive I'll see him again," Hysong said.

(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)