Rio Reflections with American Pole Vaulter Sandi Morris

Published by ExcelleSports on October 24, 2016

Every Olympic year is emotional. The visions, the goals and the sacrifices day in and day out together accumulate to one moment in time. A pivotal and life changing moment that is the absolute epitome of athlete excellence, the Olympic Games. The Rio Olympics were filled with stories of athletic triumphs, drug scandals and security mishaps yet behind the scenes were the deeper personal journeys of athletes in the midst of the pressure filled competition.

Seven weeks before the U.S. Olympic Trials, American pole vaulter Sandi Morris broke her wrist ahead of the biggest event of her life. It was her dream to be an Olympian but on May 20 at a meet in the Czech Republic, she broke a pole and fractured her wrist. Her dreams were in jeopardy. But Morris came back.

Despite the pain, she got silver at Trials and earned a spot on Team USA. She went off to Rio and returned with a silver medal. Since she didn’t get the gold, Morris used her competitive fire to seek redemption in the Diamond League. In Brussels, she became the second American woman to ever jump five meters.