Lightfoot Goes Over 19-11 (6.07m) To Break Kendricks Record

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photo courtesy Nick Zincone/Puma American Track League

KC Lightfoot, still a relative newcomer to professional track and field at the age of 23, broke the American record in the men's pole vault with a clearance of 19 feet, 11 inches (6.07m) on Friday at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tenn.

Lightfoot, who was fourth in Tokyo in 2021, had only cleared six meters once in his career and that was on Feb. 13, 2021 when he achieved the NCAA record vaulting indoors for Texas Tech. 

By going seven centimeters higher Friday, he surpassed Sam Kendricks' 19-10.50 (6.06m) jump from 2019 and became the third-highest vaulter of all-time behind world record holder Armand Duplantis and former world record holder Sergey Bubka of Ukraine. 

Lightfoot's 6.07 clearance is tied for the 14th-highest in global history and it's the second-highest ever jumped in the United States.