US Pole Vaulter Katie Nageotte Wins Gold in Tokyo Olympics Finals

US Pole Vaulter Katie Nageotte Wins Gold in Tokyo Olympics Finals
Katie Nageotte of Team USA celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Women's Pole Vault Final on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on Aug. 5, 2021. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Lorenz Duchamps
Updated:

American Katie Nageotte won gold for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics women’s pole vault finals on Aug. 5.

The 30-year-old from Cleveland cleared 4.9 meters (16 feet, 1 inch) on her third attempt. It’s the third time that the United States has taken home a gold medal in the event’s history.

“It hasn’t even begun to sink in yet,” Nageotte said after besting world champion Anzhelika Sidorova of the Russian Olympic Committee team to win the gold.

“This is the biggest dream I have ever had for myself. And here I am living the dream. I will tell you when it finally sinks in. This is about as good as I could feel. We’ve all been through so much with COVID and everything. I’m really grateful.”

Nageotte, who also won the event at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, failed on her first two attempts of the competition, but improved from there to clinch her first major medal.

“It was the worst warm-up I have had in a long time, and I did an ugly first few jumps,” Nageotte said. “It took me a few heights to get into it, but I was just fighting, and I finally found a smooth jump.”

Sidorova, who won a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships, ended in second place and took home silver after clearing 4.85 meters.

The Russian champion’s silver was the first medal in track and field at the Tokyo Games for the team, which is competing under the ROC name as a result of the country’s long-running doping scandal.

The bronze medal was earned by Holly Bradshaw of Great Britain.

“I'll always have that Olympic medal now,” Bradshaw said. “I’ve dreamed of how I would feel as an Olympic medallist and it’s not sunk in. It’s a wave of emotions.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lorenz Duchamps
Lorenz Duchamps
Author
Lorenz Duchamps is a news writer for NTD, The Epoch Times’ sister media, focusing primarily on the United States, world, and entertainment news.
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