byLarry EderChris Nilsen is the new American indoor record holder at the pole vault. Chris cleared 6.02m at the Meeting Perche en, in Tourcoing, France on February 5, 2022. The 6.02m clearance was Chris’s first time over six meters indoors, and was his second of five competitions in 2022, where he won three times, took second twice, with his first meet a clearance of 5.81m in Reno, Nevada, and then, 5.92m on Feb. 9, and 5.91m in Metz (Feb. 12) and 5.91m on Feb. 17, 2022, he won in Lieven, again at 5.91m.
Chris Nilsen, Feb. 26, 2022, The Podium, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
And then, the American Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo, who had taken Sam Kendricks’ name off the AR indoor books, flew to Spokane, Washington, to compete in the U.S. championships…
KC Lightfoot, Feb. 26, 2022, The Podium, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
The pole vault is one of the most fascinating events in the sport of athletics. Pole vaulters are fast, strong, agile, and focused. Many even have well-developed senses of humor.
Chris Nilsen is one of those pole vault types. In 2019, after battling Mondo Duplantis for two years, placing second in most situations, Chris took the NCAA championships with Mondo taking second. He told World Athletics at the time, “We had a battle at the NCAA indoor meet my junior year in 2018 when he won and I was second and then we flip-flopped at the outdoor meet and I got the win while he was second,”
In summing up his win with an NCAA record of 5.95m to defeat Duplantis, he told the assembled media, “It was a very good battle both times – I just happened to have one more pole in my bag while he seemed to run out of poles at the end.”
Chris Nilsen, Feb. 26, 2022, The Podium, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
In 2019, Chris Nilsen took gold in the Pan Am Games, and his development at the very top of the global men’s pole vault, an event that requires endurance, and a curious fearlessness, was coming on well.
Enduring the pandemic, Chris Nilsen won the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, and was joined on the team by KC Lightfoot and Sam Kendricks. In Tokyo, Chris took the Olympic silver, KC Lightfoot took 4th, and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and WC 2017 and 2019 gold medalist Sam Kendricks was quarantined with COVID.
In the Podium, Chris Nilsen opened at 5.51m, with a first attempt clearance, as he did at 5.61m and 5.71m. KC Lightfoot cleared 5.51m on his first attempt, passed at 5.61m, then cleared 5.71 on his first attempt.
Both passed at 5.76m.
Both cleared 5.81m on their first attempts.
Then, it got interesting, as it always does in the pole vault.
KC Lightfoot, Feb. 26, 2022, The Podium, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
Okay, here’s a little knowledge to impress you: Pole vaulters are some of the finest athletes in the world, but even they get fatigued. Normally, one may assume, that the more jumps one takes, the more fatigue and lactic acid rears its ugly head.
At 5.86m, it took Chris Nilsen three attempts to clear the height.
At 5.86m, KC Lightfoot took one attempt.
He should have had an advantage.
Remember, in my preface where I noted that Chris had cleared 5.91m 3 times, 5.92m one time and 6.02 once prior to USATF Championships?
Chris Nilsen, Feb. 26, 2022, The Podium, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto
Well, Chris Nilsen got his stuff together and cleared 5.91m with one mighty leap, and on his first attempt.
KC Lightfoot ran out of gas, missing three attempts at 5.91m.
So, the USATF pole vault men’s food chain: Nilsen, 5.91m, Lightfoot, 5.86m, McWhorter, 5.81m.
And then, the AR holder made three game attempts at 6.03m, which would have been a new American record. He showed that he was human and after air flights that covered 5000 plus miles, Chris Nilsen, who came here to take a win and go to Belgrade, let us know that he, the new AR indoor record holder, was human, and had to return to the ground from trying to touch one star, once again.
The pole vault is one of my favorite events. Man is not supposed to fly, neither is woman, but don’t tell pole vaulters that!
