U.S. Pole Vaulter Sam Kendricks Tests Positive For COVID-19

EUGENE, OREGON - JUNE 21: Sam Kendricks competes in the Men's Pole Vault Final during day four of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 21, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Sam Kendricks, a superstar on the pole vault and current Olympian, has tested positive for COVID-19. He will be unable to compete in his events at the Olympics.

As an immediate consequence, all athletes and staff for Australia’s track and field team were isolated until they were all tested and received negative results, as three members of the Australian squad were contact traced to Kendricks.

“We will continue to be very thorough in our observance of the Tokyo playbooks and our own additional measures. We want every Australian athlete to be in a position to have their Olympic moment. We will continue to be vigilant,” said Ian Chesterman, the Australian team’s chief de mission in a statement.

Kendricks is the sixth American in the Tokyo Olympics to test positive for COVID-19. He has been relocated to a hotel where he remains in isolation.

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“Sam is an incredible and accomplished member of Team U.S.A. and his presence will be missed. Out of respect for his privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

Kendricks, according to an Instagram post by his father, is feeling perfectly okay and is displaying no symptoms.

David Metzger