University of South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen is a silver medalist in the Olympic pole vault. He cleared a new personal best of 19 feet, 7 inches. The gold medalist from Sweden cleared 19 feet, 9 inches. Nilsen graduated from USD last year.
He follows in the footsteps of his USD coach Derek Miles, who won a bronze medal in the pole vault at the 2008 Olympics.
Watch Nilsen's pole vault here.
A 2020 graduate of the University of South Dakota, Nilsen medaled in his Olympic debut. Nilsen brings home the silver from Tokyo for Team USA. Nilsen's silver was the highest pole vault finish by an American since 2004.
Nilsen was the gold medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and also competed with Team USA at the 2017 World Championships. As a collegian at South Dakota, Nilsen was a three-time NCAA Champion, the 2020 USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year and graduated with the NCAA indoor record in the pole vault.