Athletics: Why Sandi Morris is one to watch on the path to Tokyo 2020

When Sandi Morris takes to the Tokyo National Stadium in August 2021 during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, she will be one of the favourites to improve on her silver medal from Rio five years ago.

The American star of track and field athletics has been near or at the top of the pole vault world since those Games in Brazil, when she came agonisingly close to the Olympic title, clipping the bar on her last attempt.

At 28, Morris is at the peak of her career, and is likely to be one of the key Team USA medal hopes in Tokyo alongside Ryan Crouser (shot put), Noah Lyles (sprints), and Allyson Felix (relays).

Here are some things to know about the South Carolina-raised vaulter, and why she should be watched closely this year.

Sandi Morris' perseverance

Never write off Sandi Morris.

Back in 2016, in the build up to the Rio Games, the then-23-year-old suffered a freak accident during a competition when her pole broke and a splinter cut her shoulder.

However, what she did not know immediately was she had also fractured her wrist, and would have to face six weeks out, interrupting her preparations for the American Olympic trials.

Despite that, she rebounded strongly to finish second at the trials and qualify for Rio. From there, the rest was history.

She tied Olympic gold medallist Ekaterini Stefanidi's clearance of 4.85m in Rio and only just clipped the bar on her last try, finishing second on count-back by having missed more earlier attempts.

But even the feat of making it that far in the Olympic final when she was out with a broken wrist barely two months earlier showed her resilience and is a key reason why she should be watched in Tokyo.

Media training at college

Morris is probably one of the Team USA athletes most well-placed to deal with media engagements – the University of Arkansas graduate majored in broadcast journalism, started journalling before high school, and blogs semi-regularly on Tumblr.

"I have kept a journal of life since sixth grade," Morris told SPIKES Magazine in 2016.

"It is no surprise I ended up majoring in broadcast journalism because I love to write."

The name of her blog, incidentally, is "More Stubborn than Gravity", another quality of Morris's that is propelling her to bigger and better heights.

That immovable determination manifested itself in 2016 in her injury comeback, and continues to drive her performances.

Morris is not shy about voicing strong opinions on her blog either, with the most recent entry speaking out against the usage of a controversial flag in the U.S. on the account of a pole vaulting magazine.

(You can see some of Morris' broadcast work on her YouTube channel, like in the video below.)

Sandi Morris' superstitions

In that same 2016 interview, Morris revealed that she had a superstition before competing - kind of – and it has to do with the socks she wears.

While some athletes might wear the same pair over and over once they have tasted success, Morris does the opposite.

"If I do perform well in a pair I tend to not wear them the next meet because I don’t want to use up all the luck at once," she explained then.

"For the U.S. Indoors this year, when I jumped a PB of 4.95m, I wore a pair of blue socks. I didn't wear the socks for another six competitions – although clearly my tactic worked because the next time I jumped in them I got another PB."

Morris dominating pole vault

Away from her resilience and fortitude, her performances on the jumps are also grabbing attention.

As of 5 May 2021, Morris has been unbeaten in all World Athletics-sanctioned competitions she has competed in over the last two seasons.

The 2019 World Championships was the last time Morris, who is one of only two women alongside world record holder Yelena Isinbaeva to have cleared 5 metres, did not win an event she entered.

Then, she recorded 4.90m to win silver behind Authorised Neutral Athlete Anzhelika Sidorova.

She would take top spot at all nine of her competitions (five indoors) in 2020, including clearing 4.83 metres at the World Indoor Tour stop in Liévin, France.

Morris' 4.66m clearance at the Inspiration Games in July, the first major competition after the pandemic shutdown, was also good enough to win in an impressive field of athletes.

And, as of the start of May, she is unbeaten in five meets in 2021.

Can she continue that through to Tokyo?