Daily Times

SACRAMENTO: American pole vaulter Sam Kendricks has set his sights on a World Championship gold medal after joining the discipline’s six-metre club at the US trials in Sacramento. The charismatic 24-year-old booked his ticket to London with a clearance at 6.0m on Saturday, the highest outdoor jump in the world this year. Kendricks’ first successful attempt at six metres was the latest milestone in a series of notable results that includes a silver medal at the indoor world championships followed by a bronze at the Olympics in 2016. Now Kendricks is determined to follow up his season-best leap with his first gold medal at a major championships.

“The main title is where I’m going,” Kendricks said following his win. “I have longer poles in the bag that I didn’t try. That gold in London is what I’m really vying for.” Kendricks, who now heads to Europe to compete in next week’s Diamond League meeting in Paris, said finally clearing six metres would give him the belief to challenge for gold in London. “I have the highest mark this year which gives me the confidence,” he said. “I have a personal best now that contends with any record in any championship.”

While he remains well short of Renaud Lavillenie’s world record of 6.16m set in 2014, Kendricks believes a six-metre jump in London could be good enough for gold. “If I can replicate anything close to how I performed here I know I’ll be hard to beat,” Kendricks said, identifying France’s Lavillenie, Olympic champion Thiago Braz and reigning world champion Shawn Barber as his main rivals. “They’re going to be tough to beat. But I’m going to be right there with them at 5.90, 5.95 or 6.0, and I know I have the ability,” added Kendricks, a first lieutenant in the US Army Reserve.

Kendricks’ exuberant confidence was on display on Saturday, where he assured himself of first place with a comfortable clearance at 5.80m. He then delighted the crowd with a successful attempt at 5.91, before deciding to take a crack at 6.0, which he cleared on his second jump.

“Six metres is a career point,” Kendricks said. “Every great jumper in history has at least one six-metre jump under their belt. “There’s a lot of great jumpers around the world but in order to be part of the club, the very prestigious club, you have to get over that six-metre mark. “To be part of that club, to be part of the elite, it’s really cool.”

Published in Daily Times, June 26th, 2017.