Buried underneath a mass of pole vaulters who dog-piled him in celebration, Sam Kendricks realized his goal of becoming the American record-holder and the second-best vaulter in world history today at the USATF Outdoor Championships.
Kendricks’ world-leading PR vault, 6.06m/19-10.5, which he made on his second attempt at the height, improved on the former record held somewhat controversially by dual Swedish-American citizen Armand (Mondo) Duplantis, who set the mark at 6.05m while competing for Sweden at the European Championships last year in August.
The last time a higher outdoor mark was achieved was when the great Sergey Bubka broke the world record 25 years ago.
