RIO DE JANEIRO – An Army reservist and the first Ole Miss Rebel to win an NCAA championship, Sam Kendricks had his shot to be an Olympic champion Monday at Rio’s Olympic Stadium.
After qualifying for Monday’s final with a jump of 5.7 meters, the 23-year-old pole vaulter from Oxford, Mississippi, took on the best in the world – and ended up sharing the podium with them. It was a hometown kind of night with Brazilian Thiago Braz da Silva claiming gold, but Kendricks had his own moment by clearing 5.85 meters to win bronze.
"You have to recognize that a Brazilian boy has to have a home-field advantage," Kendricks said of his good friend da Silva. "And I hope that perhaps in 2024 I will have the advantage in Los Angeles."
Yes, Kendricks is already looking past 2020 in Tokyo – that’s assumed – and hopes Monday is the start of a rise toward a gold of his own.
He’s the first American to medal in pole vault since Timothy Mack won gold and Toby Stevenson won silver in 2004 in Athens, and he was close to more.
"They say back home, and jokingly in track circles, that if you win a medal it will change your life," Kendricks said. "I think your life is changed on the way to that medal, honestly. With all the journeys and sacrifices that you make, all the training that you do, and the people you leave at home to watch. That is what is really the value of the (medal). I’m glad I have something tangible to bring home and show for it. I know that everybody in Oxford will love to see it. But the journey, like my coach says, is the goal. Not necessarily the medals. And it’s very fun to come and compete, but not necessarily the end of all things."
He was philosophical afterward. He was, quite simply, having a blast during the competition. Kendricks said it didn’t feel like an Olympic final because he is tight with most of the other vaulters who were on the field.
And when da Silva cleared 6.03 – an Olympic record – to upset France’s Renaud Lavillenie (5.98) Olympic Stadium was up in arms. Lavillenie, the world-record holder (6.16) was stunned. Kendricks said his first impulse was to run and hug da Silva, but he decided better of it.
"I thought I was in a movie," he said of the moment.
He expects to be in this situation more than once in the future. On Kendricks’ third attempt, he grazed the bar, barely dislodging it. Maybe in the United States, he said, that bar stays put. Maybe he’ll get to find out if Los Angeles wins the 2024 bid.
"I gave my best effort but not quite the best forces in each area needed," Kendricks said. "I know that sounds rather complicated but me and my coach understand it very much so, and in the future I hope to even be more masterful of my poles and my equipment."
Joe Rexrode writes for The Tennessean.
