Athletics
Leo Spall, UK Correspondent 7y

Sam Kendricks rises to final challenge but Evan Jager is left frustrated

Track and Field, Olympic Sports

LONDON -- Two U.S. athletes carrying the burden of favorite. Two men looking to upgrade their medals from the Rio Olympics at the IAAF Track and Field World Championships. Two very different outcomes.

As pole vaulter Sam Kendricks relished his forthcoming opportunity to sing the national anthem atop the podium, bronze medallist Evan Jager was scratching his head about what he had do to break Kenya's dominance of the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Nothing is ever certain in sports, and the pride of army reservist Kendricks compared to the contemplation of Jager summed up their tales.

"Being able to stand up there on the top of the podium is something very special," said the pole vaulter who won bronze in Brazil last year. "I've never been there before, never heard the national anthem of the U.S. up there, so I don't know how I will react. The anthem is something near and dear to my heart."

Kendricks, who was promoted to first lieutenant in Tennessee in March, stopped during qualifying at last year's Rio Olympics to stand to attention when he heard "The Star Spangled Banner" being played in a medal ceremony.

"You are professional always when you're an officer in the army," he said. "I have to understand I'm representing more than just me, but the flag, my unit back home and my family."

That didn't stop Kendricks from getting a little carried away with winning his event by clearing a height of 5.95 meters, however. "I did my victory lap probably too fast -- I actually cramped up at the end of it," he said. "But I was so happy I said, 'I really need to show respect to the flag and say this means something to me.'"

Most athletes who celebrate with their national flags tend to leave the track with it draped over both shoulders or holding it around them, but this gold medal winner was much more organised. His flag was folded neatly and placed on his left shoulder for safekeeping, intended as a gift for his girlfriend.

"I gave my flag from Rio to my twin brother," said Kendricks, 24, who has now won his last 11 events. "This flag means a lot to me. I put it over my shoulder to show it proudly."

Kendricks was coached by his father and had his family with him in London. He said the father-son athletics relationship was like "shooter and sniper -- he's calling the shot and I'm the one shooting."

By comparison, Jager was firing blind. Coached well and in good form, the 28-year-old still faced the prospect of having to break the dominance of Kenya in the steeplechase.

The East African country has produced the winner in all except two editions of the steeplechase at the world championships since 1987. Kenya has also claimed at least two medals in the steeplechase at every staging since 1991, and swept the board three times.

Jager was the favorite because of an impressive Diamond League win in Monaco last month -- when he ran 8 minutes 1,29 seconds, the fastest time of the year -- and because of the recent injury problems suffered by Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya.

But Jager had to plan for a slow race because the rest of the field was comfortable with a sprint finish, which is not his strength. That was how it turned out, with the winning time for Kipruto of 8 minutes 14.12 seconds.

"It's hard to run over half the race with the lead and still win," said Jager, who had tried to set the pace. "I was essentially a rabbit for Conseslus and those other guys.

"I knew that they were probably strong enough with a lap to go, but I was just hoping that I did enough to take the kick out of their legs and still have something in that last 200 meters to hold them off. I didn't quite have it that last lap.

"After silver last year in Rio, I wanted that upgrade to gold this time. It was a very hard last mile and I gave it everything. I'm really happy to be on the podium, for sure, but I'm also disappointed because I had pretty high hopes of winning gold."

Jager has the consolation of being the first American steeplechaser to win a medal in the event, but the way to surpass the Kenyans remains a mystery.

"It's really hard; I'm not sure," he admitted. "I don't think I can let it come to a kick. Maybe it'll just take a little bit of luck; maybe it'll take someone else in my same situation who wants to take it out early, and I take it out after that. You never know."

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