Nilsen wins 3rd straight US Title
Chris Nilsen captured his 3rd straight outdoor national title in the pole vault last week in Oregon. At the 2023 USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Nilsen got a 3rd-attempt clearance at 5.76m/18-10.75 to stay alive instead of finishing 6th.
The World-Ranked #2 vaulter had a high chance of qualifying for the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, next month without a top-3 finish because of his ranking, but Nilsen was clutch. After clearing 5.76m on his last attempt, he cleared the next three bars on first attempts to earn his 4th overall USATF (Indoor and Outdoor) title at the same place he won a World Championships silver medal last summer.
Nilsen finished with a best clearance of 5.91m/19-4.75 before three misses at 5.96m/19-6.5, beating runner-up Zach McWhorter. McWhorter was the only other competitor to clear 5.86m/19-2.75. He missed once at 5.91m, passed to 5.96 but then retired.
Nilsen will represent Team USA at the World Championships, where he'll seek his 2nd straight and 2nd overall World Championships medal and 3rd-straight global championships medal. The Kansas City native, Park Hill High School, and South Dakota alum placed 2nd to world record holder Armand Duplantis at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 and last year's World Championships in Oregon.