U.S. Pole Vaulter Sam Kendricks Wins Medal After Suffering Bloody Hand Injury

Sam Kendricks had come too far to let a little blood stop him from going for gold at the Paris Olympics.

The American pole vaulter had already failed to clear 6.0 meters three times in the finals at the Paris Olympics when his spikes punctured his hand. Kendricks wiped off the blood and tried again.

“I’ve got very sharp spikes,” Kendricks told reporters afterward. “As I was really committing to first jump at six meters, I punctured my hand three times and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. And rather than wipe it on my nice uniform, I had to wipe it on my arm."

Kendricks was unable to clear 6.0 meters, but it may have not mattered as Sweden's Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record with a height of 6.25 meters to take gold. Kendricks was able to capture the silver medal after clearing a height of 5.95 meters.

Kendricks was able to return to the Paris Olympics after his time at the Tokyo Olympics was cut short by a positive COVID test.

Kendricks, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves, said he was careful not to get any blood on the American flag after celebrating Monday's silver medal.

"I tried not to get any blood on Old Glory for no good purposes," Kendricks said.

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