Kelsie Ahbe Closes Out Her Olympic Debut

Kelsie Ahbe finished 12^th in the women's pole vault at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The bar started at 4.35m in the finals. Her first two attempts provided enough height but she clipped the bar both times on the way down. On her third and final attempt at the height she cleared the bar to move onto 4.50m. Again, on her first two attempts she knocked the bar down. She quickly rebounded to clear the height on her third attempt. Finally, the bar was moved to 4.60m, which would have been a lifetime best for Ahbe. Unfortunately, she did not clear on any of her three attempts.

Ahbe, another former All-American, made the finals after an impressive showing on Tuesday morning in the qualifying round. She passed on the opening height of 4.15m and cleared her first attempt at 4.30m. Immediately following that she cleared 4.45m on her first attempt. Finally, she lined up for a career best mark of 4.55m, which she also cleared with ease. Due to her clean card through the first four heights she was awarded a spot in the finals.

Three Hoosiers have made it to the Olympics in the pole vault. Leroy Samse was the first, and he won the Silver medal in the 1904 games. Dave Volz made the 1992 finals and finished fifth. Ahbe became the first female with Indiana ties to make the Olympic finals.

In her time at Indiana, Kelsie was a two-time All-American in the pole vault. She was the NCAA and USA Jr. runner-up in the event as well.

Indiana University Athletics

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