Christopher Nilsen (born January 13, 1998) is an American athlete specialising in

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. He won the silver medal at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in the

event with a jump of .

High school

Nilsen graduated from

Park Hill High School Park Hill High School is one of two high schools in the Park Hill School District, in Kansas City. The school is located in northern Kansas City, in Platte County. Park Hill's teams are called the Trojans, and its colours are red and white. Park ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. Nilsen was raised in hometown of

. Nilsen set the United States high school record in the pole vault at the Missouri Class 5 sectional meet with a clearance of . Nilsen won 2016 Kansas Relays pole vault.

NCAA

Nilsen attended the University of South Dakota. Nilsen is a six-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

First Team All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

, and a three-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

champion. Nilsen holds

South Dakota Coyotes The South Dakota Coyotes, also known as the USD Coyotes (locally pronounced ; ), are the athletic teams for the University of South Dakota. Their team colors are vermilion and white. They have been members of Summit League of the NCAA's Division ...

school records in the Pole vault indoor and outdoor . Nilsen set American & NACAC outdoor pole vault U-20 record and American & NACAC indoor pole vault U-20 record . Nilsen honored as 2017 Summit League Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and 2017 Summit League Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. Nilsen honored on The Bowerman Watch List throughout the 2017 outdoor season. Nilsen won 2018 Texas Relays clearing , later battled

Sam Kendricks Sam Kendricks (born September 7, 1992) is an American pole vaulter. He is a three-time indoor and six-time outdoor national champion (2014–2019), the 2016 Olympics bronze medalist, and the 2017 World Champion. In 2019, Kendricks set the Ameri ...

at 2018 Drake Relays where he cleared and described the competition in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

Sioux City Journal The ''Sioux City Journal'' is the daily newspaper and website of Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1864, the publication now covers northwestern Iowa and portions of Nebraska and South Dakota. The Journal has won numerous state, regional and nation ...

. Nilsen placed second at

2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 55th NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 38th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Birmingham Crossplex in Bi ...

and won the pole vault title in an NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships meet record at

2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships was the 98th NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 38th NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in A ...

. Nilsen won Summit League student-athlete of the week honors for the 9th time in 2019.

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

’s Chris Nilsen captured the men’s most outstanding performer of the championship accolade after capturing his third consecutive league pole vault title with a meet record vault of . Nilsen jumped a then indoor personal best of at the Devaney Sports Complex on February, 2020. This jump represented an Indoor NCAA Collegiate record, previously held by

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Freshman,

Mondo Duplantis Armand Gustav "Mondo" Duplantis (born 10 November 1999) is an American-born Swedish pole vaulter, the current world outdoor and indoor record holder ( and ), the current Olympic and World outdoor and indoor champion, the current European outd ...

which stood until February 2021

KC Lightfoot KC Lightfoot (born November 11, 1999, in Lee's Summit, Missouri), is an American pole vaulter. He holds the American record with a clearance of at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville on June 2, 2023. This broke the record of 6.06 set by S ...

cleared .

International

Nilsen began competing for

and in Vermillion, South Dakota under coach

Derek Miles Derek Miles (born September 28, 1972) is an American pole vaulter, from Tea, South Dakota. A former pole vaulter for the University of South Dakota Track and Field team, Miles is currently an assistant coach for the Coyotes. In 2004, he placed se ...

in Fall 2016. In London at

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

, Nilsen cleared in the

Pole Vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

to place 13th. Nilsen won gold in the pole vault at the 2019 Pan Am Games in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

after clearing . Nilsen began his professional career as a Nike sponsored athlete in July, 2020. He is currently working with his agent Karen Locke. On June 21, 2021, Nilsen was the only pole vaulter to clear at the 2020 Olympic Trials, cementing his first place win and getting him a spot on the Olympic team, alongside

and

. He won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the

Olympic games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with a jump of , improving his personal best by two centimeters. Nilsen was full of praise for the winner, Armand Duplantis. He compared the competition against Duplantis that evening as being a regular

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

"trying to emulate

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

" and that his superiority over the world's best pole vaulters was "impressive and ridiculous". Nilsen jumped an indoor North American Record of on 5 February 2022 at Golden Pole Vault Special Meeting in Tourcoing, France.University of South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen breaks American indoor pole vault record

Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

Michael McCleary,

Sioux Falls Argus Leader The ''Argus Leader'' is the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Owned by Gannett, it was the state's largest newspaper by total circulation until 2021 when it was surpassed by the ''Rapid City Journal'', according to statistics from the ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsen, Chris 1998 births Living people American male pole vaulters South Dakota Coyotes men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) South Dakota Coyotes athletes USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists World Athletics Championships medalists Track and field athletes from Kansas City, Missouri NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners