RIO DE JANEIRO – It was a special Monday night in Brazil for Ole Miss alum Sam Kendricks, who captured a bronze medal in the men’s pole vault at the 2016 Olympic Games.
In a dramatic competition that came down to three final vaulters, Kendricks rose to the occasion by clearing 5.85 meters (19-2.25) on his first try. He had three very close attempts at 5.93m/19-5.5, while Brazil’s Thiago Braz da Silva claimed gold with an Olympic record mark of 6.03m and defending champion Renaud Lavillenie of France won silver with a clearance at 5.98m.
Kendricks is the first American man to win an Olympic medal in the pole vault since 2004, and he’s the third Ole Miss track & field representative to medal at the Olympics. Brittney Reese, who will compete Tuesday, was the women’s long jump gold medalist in 2012. Tony Dees was the silver medalist in the 110-meter hurdles in 1992.
Before Monday’s competition began, Kendricks dedicated his performance to the six Oxford citizens who died in a plane crash over the weekend, and the children and families they left behind. By many accounts, his performance in Rio was a healing balm the town of Oxford needed after such a tragic occurrence.
The hundreds of fans that watched him from the Square in his hometown of Oxford cheered him on with fervor as each bar was raised a bit higher. He is the first Olympian from the small town in which he grew up, graduated from both high school and college, and still lives and trains.
Former Ole Miss great Brittney Reese added another shiny medal to her collection with a world-class long jump performance en route to silver on Wednesday night at Rio’s Olympic Stadium.
The world’s premier female long jumper since she turned pro after her 2008 junior year at Ole Miss, Reese came out to defend her gold medal from the 2012 Games in London. But despite an impressive leap of 7.15 meters (23-5.5), she was edged out by fellow American Tianna Bartoletta who claimed gold by two centimeters with a mark of 7.17m. Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic earned bronze at 7.08m, a national record.
Reese, a Gulfport, native who now lives and trains in San Diego, had only one fair attempt (6.79m) out of her first four, before a pair of huge distances in her final two – 7.09m and then 7.15m. Bartoletta won the competition on her fifth attempt with a personal-best 7.17m in a dramatic final two rounds of jumping.
“I’ve been through a lot these past two years emotionally, and physically battling back from surgery,” Reese said. “Today I kind of got off to a slow start and it costed me at the end, but I am really pleased to be on the stand again and represent the United States.”
It was part of a big night for the Team USA women on the track, who are coached by Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. The Americans went 1-2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles (first ever gold, silver, bronze for the U.S. women in any track & field event), while Mississippi native Tori Bowie earned bronze in the 200 meters.
Reese earns the fourth Olympic medal all-time among Ole Miss track & field representatives and is the first Rebel to boast two Olympic medals.
With Sam Kendricks’ bronze in the men’s pole vault on Monday combined with Reese’s runner-up effort, it’s the first Olympics for Ole Miss representatives to win multiple medals.
Tony Dees won the other Olympic medal by a former track & field Rebel with his silver in the 110-meter hurdles in Barcelona in 1992.
That concludes Olympics competition for the program-best track & field contingent in 2016.