OXFORD, Miss — Six athletes with ties to the Mid-South are set to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics starting later this month. That includes Oxford native Sam Kendricks, who is gearing up for his third Olympic Games; however, this will only be the second Olympics he competes in.
"I used to say that I was constrained by the golden handcuffs; they're pretty and they're valuable, but they drag you to where the sport needs you to be," Kendricks said. "The shackles are off me now, and I think that's super special. Tokyo gave me that perspective."
Fresh off a third place finish in Rio and World Championship titles in 2017 and 2019, Kendricks entered the 2021 Tokyo Games as one of the favorites to win gold. But after testing positive for COVID-19, he didn't get the chance to compete.
"The Olympics can't be something you hang your hat on. It's only temporary. It's a title, and it's nothing more," Kendricks said. "But we have to strive for it because it's the pinnacle and what people in our sport respect, so I feel robbed that it was taken away from me."
Kendricks' inability to compete at Tokyo tempted him to turn his back on Paris. But in the end, his love for the sport and representing the red, white and blue rang true.
"Despite my feelings, I'm getting on a plane and going to Paris," Kendricks said. "It's my job to go compete well, smile on camera, be a great representative and be the change I wish to see in the failures of Tokyo and if I can do that, that will have been my gold medal."
Winning a medal is by no means out of the question for Kendricks, who was the top qualifier at the US trials.
"My goal is to scare," Kendricks said. "I want to give a threat to the world's best ever."
No matter what happens in Paris, Kendricks' future in training the future generation is already off and running.
The two-time world champion has built a state-of-the-art pole vault and track training center in Oxford, Mississippi. It's where he is training in the lead-up to the Olympics and where, on July 25, you can watch his last session ahead of his trip to Paris at 7 p.m. at the Refuge.
Kendricks is also competing in the Ed Murphey Classic this Saturday on Beale St.
The Olympics begins on July, 26 and the men's pole vaulting qualifications begin on Aug. 3rd.
