Zachery Bradford (born November 29, 1999) is an American athlete specializing 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 ...

. He finished second, behind

Armand 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 ...

, at

2018 IAAF World U20 Championships The 2018 World U20 Championships in Athletics, also known as the World Junior Championships, was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 1999) which was held at Tampere Stadium ...

in Tampere. He qualified to the U20 Championships by winning the 2018 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, setting the meet record in the process. His outdoor personal best is 5.77 meters, in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, on April 20, 2019. It is the

Kansas Relays The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in a ...

meet record. Later in the 2019 season he won the silver medal at the

2019 NACAC U23 Championships in Athletics The 10th NACAC U18 and U23 Championships in Athletics were held in Queretaro, Mexico from July 5–7, 2019. It was the first time that an U18 competition was added to the event alongside the U23 category. Medal summary For medal winners and co ...

sharing the meet record with fellow US vaulter Clayton Fritsch. Because winner

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 ...

was the defending World Champion and later also the 2019 Diamond League Champion, Bradford finishing 4th at the 2019 US outdoor Championships in

Des Moines 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, ...

qualified him for

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Doha. Started his sophomore college indoor season winning 4 of the 5 meets setting meet, facility and Kansas records along the way. Set a personal indoor best vault of 5.80 at the Tyson Invitational achieving the 2020 Olympic standard. Qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships that were later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. While at Bloomington High School in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

, he was a three time 3A state champion and currently holds the state meet record at 17' 6". Holds the all time outdoor state record of 17' 9" (18' 2.50" unattached) and an indoor record of 18' 0.5".

References

External links

* American male pole vaulters 1999 births Living people Kansas Jayhawks men's track and field athletes {{US-polevault-athletics-bio-stub