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Vinay Nayudu
Doha
Two-time world pole vault champion and a three-time indoor and six-time outdoor national champion Sam Kendricks of the United States
is one of those who is effervescent at all times.
In Doha, to pole vault against some of the world’s best at the Wanda Diamond League, the 28-year-old reflected a competitive and happy state of mind as he opened up to questions ahead of the meet on Thursday.
He also underlined the rising success of Swede Armand Duplantis – famously known as ‘Mondo’ – and others as “setting new expectations”.
The 20-year-old Mondo has enjoyed a dream season, setting world records of 6.17m and 6.18m indoors and maintaining a winning streak throughout the whole of 2020. His latest victory was a 6.15m clearance – the highest outdoor vault in history – at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome last week.
There is also Frenchman and 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie among other top stars in the nine-man field for Doha and as such an explosive vault show is much to be expected.
Given the recent exploits, Kendricks, who has a personal best of 6.06, said “you just can’t be stopping those aiming to fly high”.
Asked if we are entering a new era in pole vault, he said it’s all about the growth of a sport.
Elaborating, he stressed: “How many years have we been doing this and how many young pole vaulters are there now in the fold? This is 60 or 70 years since the inception of bending baulking pole and it’s gotten into the hands of so many more young talented athletes because a sport has to grow because the base is so large.. eschew everything..
“The young are getting better and faster… Elaine (Thompson) can agree with that Amy (Hunt) and Mondo (Duplantis) are so much younger than we are that there is no stopping them. You just can’t, not in athletics.
“But you can’t say you are eclipsing guys of the past like Sergey Bubka because they set the trend, set the bar high. A new expectation has been set. If you want to pole vault against Mondo, then you better be ready to play it hard than anybody else in history!
“Sometimes for me it is scary to note that I may have to be better than all my co-vaulters, cannot wait to find that on the track in Doha!”
Praising the organisers of the Diamond League and the Qatar Athletics Federation, Kendricks said, “I’m just so grateful because meeting organisers have gone above and beyond to make sure competitions can happen.”
“Here in Doha, it’s over and beyond from what was expected. Had you asked me at the start of the year – Is this event possible should we even try?? Now we are here and it’s been an adventure.. makes my heart beat faster.. It’s 2020.. It’s becoming a unifying aspect of the whole year. I didn’t see myself at the start of the year of sitting here at this table and talking to you here in Doha.
“It’s been an adventure. We’ve all just kind of rolled with it this year, and that’s been cool.”
How much would it be to miss the fans live and does that affect athletes’ performance?
“When I went running Jamaica one time that was probably the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in my life in Kingston and it was for me one of the most exciting places I’ve been to. Back in my hometown before any event, I invite every people I know there to come and watch my last practice. And that’s selfish but I get so much more when there are not just people but a lot of them watching.. It’s just a chemical thing that makes you jump well. It works with 20 or 30 people but you’d really vouch for thousands in a stadium!
Sport is a different fire when you’ve got that many eyes on you. I am not a rockstar but I feel like one I might’ve been.”
Having said that, Kendricks stressed that athletes stay focused on producing their best. “You put the whole world aside when you step on to the track. And when you are on it, time goes fast and the whole world melts away. Not that I don’t care about the problems of the world, but they don’t matter when you’re standing there on the track. At that moment, it’s all about how fast you can run or how high you can jump!”Pole Vault line-up for WDDL1. Audie Wyatt (USA) SB: 5.82
2. Coe Walsh (USA) 5.65
3. Thibaut Collet (FRA) 5.62
4. Matt Ludwig (USA) 5.90
5. Harry Coppell (GBR) 5.85
6. Ben Broeders (BEL) 5.80
7. Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) 5.80
8. Sam Kendricks (USA) 6.02
9. Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis (SWE) 6.15
Doha
Two-time world pole vault champion and a three-time indoor and six-time outdoor national champion Sam Kendricks of the United States
is one of those who is effervescent at all times.
In Doha, to pole vault against some of the world’s best at the Wanda Diamond League, the 28-year-old reflected a competitive and happy state of mind as he opened up to questions ahead of the meet on Thursday.
He also underlined the rising success of Swede Armand Duplantis – famously known as ‘Mondo’ – and others as “setting new expectations”.
The 20-year-old Mondo has enjoyed a dream season, setting world records of 6.17m and 6.18m indoors and maintaining a winning streak throughout the whole of 2020. His latest victory was a 6.15m clearance – the highest outdoor vault in history – at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome last week.
There is also Frenchman and 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie among other top stars in the nine-man field for Doha and as such an explosive vault show is much to be expected.
Given the recent exploits, Kendricks, who has a personal best of 6.06, said “you just can’t be stopping those aiming to fly high”.
Asked if we are entering a new era in pole vault, he said it’s all about the growth of a sport.
Elaborating, he stressed: “How many years have we been doing this and how many young pole vaulters are there now in the fold? This is 60 or 70 years since the inception of bending baulking pole and it’s gotten into the hands of so many more young talented athletes because a sport has to grow because the base is so large.. eschew everything..
“The young are getting better and faster… Elaine (Thompson) can agree with that Amy (Hunt) and Mondo (Duplantis) are so much younger than we are that there is no stopping them. You just can’t, not in athletics.
“But you can’t say you are eclipsing guys of the past like Sergey Bubka because they set the trend, set the bar high. A new expectation has been set. If you want to pole vault against Mondo, then you better be ready to play it hard than anybody else in history!
“Sometimes for me it is scary to note that I may have to be better than all my co-vaulters, cannot wait to find that on the track in Doha!”
Praising the organisers of the Diamond League and the Qatar Athletics Federation, Kendricks said, “I’m just so grateful because meeting organisers have gone above and beyond to make sure competitions can happen.”
“Here in Doha, it’s over and beyond from what was expected. Had you asked me at the start of the year – Is this event possible should we even try?? Now we are here and it’s been an adventure.. makes my heart beat faster.. It’s 2020.. It’s becoming a unifying aspect of the whole year. I didn’t see myself at the start of the year of sitting here at this table and talking to you here in Doha.
“It’s been an adventure. We’ve all just kind of rolled with it this year, and that’s been cool.”
How much would it be to miss the fans live and does that affect athletes’ performance?
“When I went running Jamaica one time that was probably the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in my life in Kingston and it was for me one of the most exciting places I’ve been to. Back in my hometown before any event, I invite every people I know there to come and watch my last practice. And that’s selfish but I get so much more when there are not just people but a lot of them watching.. It’s just a chemical thing that makes you jump well. It works with 20 or 30 people but you’d really vouch for thousands in a stadium!
Sport is a different fire when you’ve got that many eyes on you. I am not a rockstar but I feel like one I might’ve been.”
Having said that, Kendricks stressed that athletes stay focused on producing their best. “You put the whole world aside when you step on to the track. And when you are on it, time goes fast and the whole world melts away. Not that I don’t care about the problems of the world, but they don’t matter when you’re standing there on the track. At that moment, it’s all about how fast you can run or how high you can jump!”Pole Vault line-up for WDDL1. Audie Wyatt (USA) SB: 5.82
2. Coe Walsh (USA) 5.65
3. Thibaut Collet (FRA) 5.62
4. Matt Ludwig (USA) 5.90
5. Harry Coppell (GBR) 5.85
6. Ben Broeders (BEL) 5.80
7. Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) 5.80
8. Sam Kendricks (USA) 6.02
9. Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis (SWE) 6.15
