JONESBORO, Ark. (6/20/24) – The toughest team to make is Team USA, but this weekend, an Arkansas State track and field athlete bids for a spot on that squad as pole vaulter Bradley Jelmert competes in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The two-time All-American and 2024 NCAA Indoor silver medalist will compete in qualifying on Friday, with the top 12 advancing to Sunday's final at historic Hayward Field. The top three finishers in the final will be selected to join the elite team in Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Jelmert is one of 26 athletes in the field, and will compete in the second of two flights in Friday's prelims, set for a 7:50 p.m. CT start. Should he be among the finals qualifiers, he will compete again Sunday at 7:45 p.m.

The three-time Sun Belt Conference champion boasts a lifetime-best and school-record mark of 5.72m (18-9.25) set in December at the Crimson and Gold Invitational. Outdoors, his best clearance is 5.56m (18-2.75) set at the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championships – an event in which he took gold.

EVENT COVERAGE
Competition at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be shown live on NBC and Peacock, as well as NBCOlympics.com.

OLYMPIANS MADE HERE
Arkansas State track and field boasts 10 Olympians in its history, but its impact at the Summer Games goes even further. Since Thomas Hill competed in the 1972 Munich Games, an athlete or coach with A-State ties has competed in every Summer Olympics except for the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games – a stretch of 12 of the last 13.

SOCIAL MEDIA

For the latest on the A-State track and field and cross country programs, follow @AStateTrack on Twitter and @astatetfxc on Instagram, while also liking the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateTrackAndField.