It would be the same for pole vaulting. You can enter the competition at a lower height and continue to clear as the height increases. Once you fail at a height you still have the highest height you did clear for the competition which you can still win with. That was probably a horrible explanation - my apologies if so.
"Once the vaulter enters the competition, they can choose to pass heights. If a vaulter achieves a miss on their first attempt at a height, they can pass to the next height, but they will only have two attempts at that height, as they will be out once they achieve three consecutive misses. Similarly, after earning two misses at a height, they could pass to the next height, when they would have only one attempt.
The competitor who clears the highest height is the winner. "
So, it takes some planning, and some athletes start at heights that they know they will clear easy, just to guarantee them 2nd or 3rd place. Then they continue their attempts at higher bars. Once they know they have won they have 3 more attempts to try and break the record.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Bubka
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Duplantis