The Power of Two Olympians: Morris and Nageotte Jump Their Way to Worlds
Sandi Morris wins the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships pole vault. Photo by Tim Healy
By Cassie Cole
The expectations were high in the women’s pole vault final, but so were the jumps. The best pole vaulters in the country came together on day two of the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in the hopes of winning the national title.
The title went to Sandi Morris, who was the only competitor to jump 4.82m (15-9.75) on Friday. Morris’ jump is a world leading height and as well as a season best—a stark comeback after injuries sustained from breaking a pole kept her from competing in the Olympic pole vault final last year.
During a press conference earlier this week, Morris said that she has a “fire in [her] heart” that pushed her to return from last year’s injury even stronger than ever. That fire took her to the top of her field and the top of the bar Friday afternoon.
“I was super motivated to make this comeback,” Morris said. “I want to keep this momentum going and keep this positive mindset, and my body feels healthy and strong.”
As the national champion, Morris will be competing in the World Athletics Championship Oregon22 next month at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. She already has plans for how she can improve over the next several weeks.
“I’ve got bigger bars in sight,” said Morris. She feels that she can improve upon how she jumps off the ground, with a focus on “jumping like a long jumper” to put more energy into her jump instead of relying on the momentum of her pole. “I really want to get back up over 4.90 and higher,” Morris said.
Although Morris now holds the world leading height for the women’s pole vault, she doesn’t want to get ahead of herself for what may happen at Worlds. The 2020 Olympics showed her how quickly things can change.
“All I can say is, I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna jump my heart out and I’m gonna give it my absolute all, and maybe it’ll be my day,” said Morris. “I like to say every dog has its day, and if you just keep on trying and you don’t let failure hold you back from trying again, your day will come.”
Regardless of her results at worlds, Morris knows that the event will be a competition to remember. The World Championships this summer will be the first time the event has been held in the United States, giving American athletes the opportunity to represent their country on home soil.
“I’m just so grateful that I get to experience it because it’s gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Morris. “To get to look up and see all those American flags and have the home crowd behind us, I know it’s gonna be very, very special.”
Morris’ training partner and top competitor, Katie Nageotte, also placed high in the pole vault. Her jump of 4.65m (15-3) put the Olympic gold medalist in third place for the USATF Championship and punched her ticket to worlds.
In Nageotte’s own words, she’s had a tough year. After coming off her Olympic success, Nageotte has faced injuries during the indoor season, COVID-19 during the outdoor season and difficulty finding motivation all year.
“Usually when you have that elation [of the Olympics] and you have that feeling, I think my body was like, ‘wait, we have to do this all over again?’” Nageotte said. “As much as I wanted to feel hyped up and excited—and obviously I wanted to make this team—it was like my body just wouldn’t turn on.”
Despite a difficult year so far for Nageotte, she’s found some managing tactics. Nageotte has turned to her training group for support, finding energy in their positivity.
“Everybody just comes in, everybody wants to do well. Everybody wants to work hard, that’s why we’re all there,” Nageotte said of her training group. “It’s really fun just being around people that want it like you do.”
Nageotte has also changed the way she competes in events to address her lack of motivation.
“Make this as technically good as you possibly can, because right now you’re not getting hyped up in the way that I normally feel,” Nageotte said. “So we need to just approach this from a different way and that worked.”
Nageotte’s approach took her to a spot as one of the top three finalists before she chose to retire from the competition and avoid pushing herself too hard. Joining Team USA for Worlds is enough for Nageotte, especially after all that she has dealt with.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of a year,” said Nageotte. “It’s one that I wasn’t prepared for, I wasn’t expecting, but it makes me that much more proud of what I did today.”