American athlete (born 1998)
Christopher Nilsen (born January 13, 1998) is an American athlete specialising in pole vault and high jump . He won the silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the pole vault event with a jump of 5.97 m (19 ft 7 in).
High school
Nilsen graduated from Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Missouri .[ 2] Nilsen was raised in hometown of Kansas City, Missouri . Nilsen set the United States high school record in the pole vault at the Missouri Class 5 sectional meet with a clearance of 5.61 m (18 ft 5 in).
Nilsen won 2016 Kansas Relays pole vault.
NCAA
Nilsen attended the University of South Dakota .[ 3]
Nilsen is a six-time NCAA Division I First Team All-American , and a three-time NCAA Track and field Pole vault champion.[ 4] Nilsen holds South Dakota Coyotes school records in the Pole vault indoor 5.80 m (19 ft 0 in) and outdoor 5.86 m (19 ft 3 in).[ 5]
Nilsen set American & NACAC outdoor pole vault U-20 record 5.75 m (18 ft 10 in) and American & NACAC indoor pole vault U-20 record 5.70 m (18 ft 8 in).
Nilsen honored as 2017 Summit League Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and 2017 Summit League Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. Nilsen honored on The Bowerman Watch List throughout the 2017 outdoor season.
Nilsen won 2018 Texas Relays clearing 5.80 m (19 ft 0 in), later battled Sam Kendricks at 2018 Drake Relays where he cleared 5.78 m (19 ft 0 in) and described the competition in Des Moines, Iowa to Sioux City Journal .[ 6]
Nilsen placed second at 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and won the pole vault title in an NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships meet record at 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships .
Nilsen won Summit League student-athlete of the week honors for the 9th time in 2019.[ 7] South Dakota ’s Chris Nilsen captured the men’s most outstanding performer of the championship accolade after capturing his third consecutive league pole vault title with a meet record vault of 5.81 m (19 ft 1 in).[ 8]
Nilsen jumped a then indoor personal best of 5.93 m (19 ft 5 in) at the Devaney Sports Complex in February 2020. This jump represented an Indoor NCAA Collegiate record , previously held by LSU Freshman Mondo Duplantis , which stood until in February 2021 KC Lightfoot cleared 6.00 m (19 ft 8 in).
Representing South Dakota Coyotes
School Year
Summit League Indoor track and field Championships
NCAA Division 1 Indoor track and field Championships
Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships
NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships
2017 Freshman
Pole Vault 1st, 5.63 m (18 ft 6 in)
Pole Vault 1st, 5.70 m (18 ft 8 in)
Pole Vault 1st, 5.51 m (18 ft 1 in)
Pole Vault 3rd, 5.45 m (17 ft 11 in)
2018 Sophomore
Pole Vault 2nd, 5.20 m (17 ft 1 in)
Pole Vault 2nd, 5.60 m (18 ft 4 in)
Pole Vault 1st, 5.80 m (19 ft 0 in)
Pole Vault 1st, 5.83 m (19 ft 2 in) CR[ 9]
High Jump 6th, 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
High Jump 10th, 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
2019 Junior
Pole Vault 1st, 5.75 m (18 ft 10 in)
Pole Vault 2nd, 5.73 m (18 ft 10 in)
Pole Vault 1st, 5.81 m (19 ft 1 in)
Pole Vault 1st, 5.95 m (19 ft 6 in) MR
2020 Senior
Pole Vault 1st, 5.51 m (18 ft 1 in)
High Jump 6th, 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
[ 10]
International
Nilsen began competing for South Dakota Coyotes and in Vermillion, South Dakota under coach Derek Miles in Fall 2016.[ 11]
In London at 2017 World Championships in Athletics , Nilsen cleared 5.60 m (18 ft 4 in) in the Pole Vault to place 13th.[ 12]
Nilsen won gold in the pole vault at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru after clearing 5.76 m (18 ft 11 in).
Nilsen began his professional career as a Nike sponsored athlete in July, 2020. He is currently working with his agent Karen Locke.
On June 21, 2021, Nilsen was the only pole vaulter to clear 5.90 m (19 ft 4 in) at the 2020 Olympic Trials, cementing his first place win and getting him a spot on the Olympic team, alongside Sam Kendricks and KC Lightfoot . He won the silver medal at the Olympic games in Tokyo with a jump of 5.97 m (19 ft 7 in), improving his personal best by two centimeters.[ 13] Nilsen was full of praise for the winner, Armand Duplantis . He compared the competition against Duplantis that evening as being a regular footballer "trying to emulate Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo " and that his superiority over the world's best pole vaulters was "impressive and ridiculous".[ 14]
Nilsen jumped an indoor North American Record of 6.02 m (19 ft 9 in) on 5 February 2022 at Golden Pole Vault Special Meeting in Tourcoing, France.[ 15]
References
^ a b c "Chris Nilsen" . teamusa.org . USOC . Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2022 .
^ "Watch: Former Park Hill athlete Chris Nilsen claims No. 1 pole vault in NCAA" . Kansascity.com . February 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "Chris Nilsen University of South Dakota Track and Field 2017 Profile" . South Dakota Coyotes . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "CHRIS NILSEN SOUTH DAKOTA Track and Field Results" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "South Dakota Coyotes Track and Field Records" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ JEFF BUDLONG (April 29, 2018). "South Dakota's Chris Nilsen continues to impress" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "South Dakota junior Chris Nilsen has been named the Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week" . April 23, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019 .
^ "NDSU Men, Women Sweep Summit League Track & Field Championships" . KVRR-TV . May 11, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019 .
^ "Men Pole vault Final NCAA Division I Championships Historic Hayward Field – Eugene, OR - June 6, 2018" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "Chris Nilsen Track and Field results from South Dakota and professional championships" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 . TFRRS
^ "South Dakota Coyotes 2018 Track and Field Coach Derek Miles" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "16th IAAF World Championships August 4 - August 13, 2017 - London Stadium - London, UK" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "Athletics-Sweden's Duplantis soars to pole vault gold" . Reuters . August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ "Christopher Nilsen slår tillbaka mot hatet mot Armand Duplantis" (in Swedish). Expressen . August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021 .
^ University of South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen breaks American indoor pole vault record Yahoo Michael McCleary, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
^ "2018 USATF Championships Male Pole Vault Results - 6/21/2018 to 6/24/2018" . Retrieved July 10, 2018 .
^ "2017 USATF Championships Results - 6/22/2017 to 6/25/2017 Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, California" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
^ "2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field Results - 6/30/2016 to 7/10/2016 Eugene, Oregon" . Retrieved June 6, 2018 .
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Pole vault for distance Pole vault
1906 : Alfred Carlton Gilbert
1907 : Claude Allen
1908 : Charles Vezin Jr.
1909 : William Happeny (CAN ) , Harry Babcock (2nd)
1910 : William Happeny (CAN ) , Theodore Babcock (2nd)
1911 : Gordon Dukes
1925 : Paul Jones
1926 : Charles Hoff (NOR ) , Edwin Myers (2nd)
1927 : Sabin Carr
1928 : Sabin Carr
1929 : Fred Sturdy
1930 : Fred Sturdy
1931 : Fred Sturdy
1932 : Fred Sturdy
1933 : Keith Brown , Frank Pierce
1934 : Bill Graber
1935 : Ray Lowry , Eldon Stutzman , Oscar Sutermeister
1936 : David Hunn
1937 : Earle Meadows
1938 : Richard Ganslen
1939 : Cornelius Warmerdam
1940 : Earle Meadows
1941 : Earle Meadows
1942 : Boo Morcom
1943 : Cornelius Warmerdam
1944 : Jack DeField
1945 : Bill Moore
1946 : Bill Moore
1947 : Guinn Smith
1948 : Bob Richards
1949 : Boo Morcom
1950 : Bob Richards
1951 : Bob Richards
1952 : Bob Richards
1953 : Bob Richards
1954 : Jerry Welbourn
1955 : Bob Richards
1956 : Don Bragg , Bob Richards
1957 : Bob Richards
1958 : Don Bragg , Bob Gutowski
1959 : Don Bragg
1960 : Don Bragg
1961 : Don Bragg
1962 : Henry Wadsworth
1963 : Dave Tork
1964 : John Uelses
1965 : Billy Gene Pemelton
1966 : Bob Seagren
1967 : Bob Seagren
1968 : Dennis Phillips
1969 : Peter Chen
1970 : Bob Seagren
1971 : Dick Railsback
1972 : Kjell Isaksson (SWE ) , Steve Smith (3rd)
1973 : Steve Smith
1974 : Vic Dias
1975 : Roland Carter
1976 : Roland Carter
1977 : Larry Jessee
1978 : Larry Jessee
1979 : Dan Ripley
1980 : Earl Bell
1981 : Thierry Vigneron (FRA ) , Dan Ripley (3rd)
1982 : Billy Olson
1983 : Billy Olson
1984 : Sergey Bubka (URS ) , Earl Bell (3rd)
1985 : Doug Lytle
1986 : Sergey Bubka (URS ) , Brad Pursley (5th)
1987 : Earl Bell
1988 : Radion Gataullin (URS ) , Dave Kenworthy (2nd)
1989 : Radion Gataullin (URS ) , Billy Olson (2nd)
1990 : István Bagyula (HUN ) , Tim Bright (2nd)
1991 : Kory Tarpenning
1992 : Dean Starkey
1993 : Greg West
1994 : Kory Tarpenning
1995 : Nick Hysong
1996 : Pat Manson
1997 : Lawrence Johnson
1998 : Scott Hennig
1999 : Jeff Hartwig
2000 : Lawrence Johnson
2001 : Lawrence Johnson
2002 : Timothy Mack
2003 : Derek Miles
2004 : Toby Stevenson
2005 : Brad Walker
2006 : Brad Walker
2007 : Jeff Hartwig
2008 : Brad Walker
2009 : Jeremy Scott
2010 : Timothy Mack
2011 : Mark Hollis
2012 : Brad Walker
2013 : Jordan Scott
2014 : Mark Hollis
2015 : Sam Kendricks
2016 : Sam Kendricks
2017 : Sam Kendricks
2018 : Scott Houston
2019 : Andrew Irwin
2020 : Matt Ludwig
2022 : Chris Nilsen
2023 : Sam Kendricks
2024 : Chris Nilsen
Notes
1876–1878New York Athletic Club 1879–1888NAAAA 1888–1979Amateur Athletic Union 1980–1992The Athletics Congress 1993–onwardsUSA Track & Field Notes
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic .