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Sandi Morris’ equipment — and Olympic dreams — are shattered on a rainy night in Tokyo for the Downers Grove-born pole vaulter

stacy st. clair, chicago tribune
·4 min read

American pole vaulter Sandi Morris’ quest for a second Olympic medal ended Monday on a rain-soaked runway after her pole broke and her hip flexor hyperextended.

Morris, who was born in Downers Grove, made three more attempts despite the injury, but she barely made it off the ground and ended up writhing on the mat in obvious pain each time. After faltering on her third and final try, a tearful Morris hugged her fellow competitors and walked off the field with a medical team.

“My hip flexor was shooting pain down my leg and clicking, and my quad was cramping in reaction,” Morris wrote on Instagram. “I had no chance to make it down the runway for another jump. But I tried anyway.”

Morris’ injury came after heavy rain temporarily suspended the women’s pole vault event at the Olympic Stadium. When the competition resumed, many athletes struggled with the slick conditions, and officials ended the qualification round early with anyone who cleared 4.55 meters advancing to the final.

The reigning Olympic silver medalist, Morris, 29, easily clears that height when healthy. She was about to make her first attempt when the rain picked up and vaulting was haunted.

American teammate Katie Nageotte cleared the mark just before the downpour. She said she considered herself lucky to get in the vault before the rain.

“When it really opens up like that, it’s really dangerous,” she said.

The injury marked yet another disappointment connected to these Games for Morris, who had hoped to be here with her husband, Tyrone Smith, a Bermudian long jumper who was raised in North Chicago. The pair, who fell in love at the Rio Olympics, wanted to compete in Tokyo as a married couple before Smith retired from the sport.

But Smith, 36, struggled to find enough Olympic qualifying competitions during the pandemic and was unable to earn a spot in Tokyo. If he had qualified, Smith would have become the first Bermudian male athlete to compete in four Olympics.

Instead, Smith has begun his post-competition life with a new job at a consulting firm in Atlanta and a recent MBA from the University of Texas. With fans barred from attending competitions, Smith watched on television as his wife cried and struggled to push through the injury.

“I’ve been gutted not being there myself to compete,” Smith said Monday. “It’s amazing how little that seems to matter right now with what’s happening to my wife. Right now, I couldn’t care less about my situation. I’ve had my opportunities. I really wanted this for her so badly.”

Though Smith has retired from competition, the Bermudian national team has asked him to compete at next year’s Commonwealth Games, for which he already qualified. He would like to do it as a gesture of thanks to the federation that has supported him over the years, but he is not sure his demanding work schedule — “I’ve got a big-boy job now,” he joked — would allow him to train properly.

He plans to continuing his running and strength regimens in retirement. His knees would love it if he never jumped again, but Smith isn’t sure he won’t try it now and then.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself if I see a sand pit,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for more than two decades, going back to the first time I did the standing long jump in the fourth grade.”

Smith purposefully timed his MBA to coincide with the end of his competitive career so he would have something else on which to focus. All the time and energy he spent becoming a world-class athlete will be channeled into his new career, he said.

“Other than that, I am going to become the world’s biggest cheerleader for my wife and be at any meet that I can be at,” he said.

The American record holder, Morris indicated in her Instagram post that she will continue competing once she recovers from her injury. She has made no secret of her desire to break the world record.

“The conditions and the circumstances were unlucky and unfortunate,” she said. “But I will go home, heal, be around the love of my husband and family and I know I will come out just fine.”