30 American athletes to watch at the 2024 Paris Olympics
By Nick Villano
21. Chris Nilsen
Track and Field
Pole vault is another one of those events we don’t truly think about until the Olympics come around, but when the event is on TV, it’s invigorating. We are legitimately talking about a game of inches. Honestly, these athletes bring it down to centimeters between themselves and a horizontal pole 20 feet in the air. This year’s American standout is Chris Nilson, and he says he’s going for gold.
Tell me if you’ve heard this before: Chris Nilson is looking for redemption after coming so close at the Tokyo Olympics. Nilson finished second in the pole vault that year, taking home a silver medal with a jump of 19 feet and 7 inches. This year, he’s striving for an even higher distance.
Nilson has five U.S. Champion pole vaults under his belt. He’s more comfortable this year with the success he’s had, and it should result in a better showing, even if his results in Tokyo were great. Now, he gets to perform in front of thousands of people (the Tokyo Olympics were a TV spectacle that was performed in empty stadiums).
To win gold, Nilson likely has to break six meters. That’s a tall task when talking about the margins in pole vaulting. Can he jump just those few extra inches to get to the gold?