Sandi Morris was feeling it. The American pole vault star, who won a silver medal in Rio, said on Twitter that she was feeling “chipper and confident” after solid practice sessions back home and in Japan on Friday.
“I feel things have come together at just the right time!” Morris posted on Saturday. “Carrying this positive energy forth.”
View social media post: https://twitter.com/sandicheekspv/status/1421461116849463303
But Morris’ Olympics came to a crashing end on Monday after her pole snapped during qualifying, sending her awkwardly off the pad and into the well.
“I overstretched my hip a little bit,” she said to someone off camera while flexing her left leg. ”But, I think I’m okay.”
She was not okay.
Morris failed to reach the bar on her next attempt and grabbed her hip after landing hard on the mat.
“I don’t know what I did, but my hip is really hurting,” she said. “It’s like popping.”
Morris would never make it airborne on her final attempt and burst into tears.
View social media post: https://twitter.com/sandicheekspv/status/1422228115493957641
Morris had high hopes for a medal in Tokyo. She is highly decorated on every level, including medals in the Junior Pan Am Games, the NCAA Championships and World Championships.
Anzhelika Sidorova of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team and Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, among the favorites for medals in the Olympic women's pole vault competition, progressed on Monday to the final as rain interrupted the qualifying event.
Both women cleared 4.55 meters and will battle it out for gold on Thursday.
ROC's Sidorova, the 2019 world champion, boasts the second highest jump of the year, a 4.91 she cleared in June in Italy. Stefanidi is the defending Olympic champion.
Morris’ teammate Katie Nageotte, who produced the highest jump of the year at 4.95 she cleared in June in Eugene, Oregon, also progressed.
SEE MORE: Katie Nageotte cheers as she qualifies for pole vault finals
