It came down to Sandi Morris of the US and Ekateríni Stefanídi of Greece in the women’s pole vault. With Stefanídi leading on misses, she needed Morris to miss her final attempt on 16’3 -- and Morris’ leg just brushed the bar, giving Stefanídi the gold.
Rio 2016 2016: Ekateríni Stefanídi of Greece wins gold medal in women’s pole vault
Sandi Morris of the US won silver, just missing out on a win.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Morris settled for silver. Eliza McCartney of New Zealand won bronze.
Jenn Suhr of the US, who won in 2012 and has the second-highest vault of all time, fought illness in Brazil and struggled on the runway all evening -- according to her husband, who is also her coach, Suhr was coughing up blood on Friday morning. She only cleared 4.6 meters and finished in seventh place.
Morris, 24, had never medaled in a global outdoor competition but won the indoor title this February. Morris broke the American outdoor record with a vault of 16’2 in July. Her vault of 4.95 meters (16’2.75) that won the world indoor title is the third-best pole vault of all time.
Cuban Yarisley Silva won the 2015 world championships as Fabiana Murer of Brazil took second, but Murer didn’t qualify for the Olympic final in her home country.
On Friday, it was Stefanídi who vaulted to a win.
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