![]() ![]() “It’s cool that I got the upper leg on him,” said Nilsen, the 2019 Pan American Games champion, “but I want to see what happens in August when the Olympics roll around.” They were teammates in 2017 at the world championships, where Kendricks won and Nilsen did not reach the final. He’s been buddies with Kendricks since 2016 when they took that picture together. Being able to hang out with them is how I see meets now.” “As talented as this group of guys is, these are also my best friends. “That really speaks to the talent of this generation of pole vaulters,” said Nilsen, who is coached by three-time Olympian Derek Miles, the 2008 bronze medalist. ![]() In the final, those same 11 cleared 5.70 meters (18-8 ¼). In 2021, the 12th and last qualifier for the final had to clear 5.60, while the other 11 all went over 5.65 (18-6 ½). In 2016, the third-place finisher made the Olympic team with a mark of 5.60 meters (18-4 ½). In the five years since the last Trials, the men’s pole vault has seen a stratospheric rise in the level of competition. “This will go down in history as the hardest team to make ever,” proclaimed Kendricks, 28, who said he preferred the title “vice champion of the Olympic Trials.” “And I want to put that against every other event, not because I want to gloat it’s because it’s something that needs to be remembered.” Yet the three-time NCAA champion for South Dakota knew he had been vaulting consistently over 5.90 meters this season and has a personal best of 5.95 (19-6 1/4). “Back to the 18-year-old guy who came here,” said Nilsen, now 23, “if you had told him you were going to win the Olympic Trials in 2021, he would have slapped you in the face and been like, ‘That’s stupid, don’t ever tell me that again.’”Īctually, Nilsen added, “If you asked me a year ago if I was going to make the Olympic (team), the answer would have been immediately ‘No.’ If you had asked me this morning, I would have said, ‘I don’t know, maybe not.’” Kendricks, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, and Nilsen’s old friend KC Lightfoot tied for second at 5.85 meters (19-2 ¼) to complete the Team USA contingent for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. He had a clean record with six straight clearances until – after victory was assured - he missed three times at 6.00 meters (19-8 ¼).īut Nilsen did not knock Kendricks out of the picture completely. Nilsen was the only vaulter to clear 5.90 meters (19 feet, 4 ¼ inches) on Monday. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field, snapping the two-time world champ’s six-year winning streak. “My goal was to get a picture with Sam Kendricks, the American record holder, and I did accomplish that.”įive years later, he dethroned Kendricks as national champion at the U.S. “My goal was not to win or get even to the Olympic team,” said Nilsen. ![]() Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on Jin Eugene, Oregon.ĮUGENE, Oregon – Pole vaulter Chris Nilsen did not have lofty expectations back in 2016 when he qualified for his first Olympic Trials at age 18. Chris Nilsen celebrates in the Men's Pole Vault Final at the 2020 U.S. ![]()
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