By Kyle Merber
June 7, 2023
If Hollywood ever gets its act together, someday there will soon be a movie about a pole vaulter with the role of “coach” played by 83-year-old Al Pacino – hey, as a young dad-to-be, he’s gotta pay for those diapers somehow. And right before KC Lightfoot takes to the runway in Nashville to make the biggest attempt of his life, the coach, who vaguely resembles your favorite Cuban drug lord, will give an empowered speech about how “life is this game of centimeters.”
Entering Saturday’’s competition, KC’s personal best was 6.00m, a mark he achieved indoors in 2021 to set the NCAA record (take that Mondo!). An NCAA champion at Baylor, KC also left some eligibility on the table to sign with Puma and moved back to his hometown in Missouri to work with his high school coach. This worked out, as he made the Olympics where he would go on to finish fourth.
Similar to Mondo, Lightfoot has a name that was destined for track and field greatness. But he also showed signs from an early age that he had the necessary screws loose that all pole vaulters seem to have. Distance runners have a tendency to make those same screws too tight. KC was backflipping on trampolines by age three and has been cliff diving from as high as 90 feet.
With a father who also dabbled in the pole vault, it wasn’t long until there was a pit in the backyard. Sorta like Mondo.
At the Music City Distance Carnival Lightfoot cleared 6.00m for his first time ever outdoors. A good day in and of itself, but then KC raised the bar to 6.07m to tackle Sam Kendricks’ American record from 2019 and on his second attempt, he cleared it.
Between Lightfoot, Kendricks, and Chris Nilsen, the United States currently has three active vaulters in the elusive 6-meter club. But they are all chasing Mondo, whose world record is a remarkable 6.22m and regularly rising.
Lightfoot is catching up. In 2018, there were 47 centimeters between them. In 2020, Mondo was 35cm higher. And now they are only 15 centimeters apart. But Lightfoot has time on his side. He’s younger – by one day.
Kyle Merber
After hanging up his spikes – but never his running shoes – Kyle pivoted to the media side of things, where he shares his enthusiasm, insights, and experiences with subscribers of The Lap Count newsletter, as well as viewers of CITIUS MAG live shows.
