Adkins Qualifies For Rio Olympics In High Jump

EUGENE, Ore. – It was a storybook ending to a tremendous Texas Tech track & field career for Bradley Adkins, who will trade in his scarlet & black uniform for a red, white and blue jersey with "USA" plastered across the front.

Adkins notched a third-place finish in the high jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday, July 10, to automatically earn a trip to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"I feel great," Adkins said. "I wanted to jump a little better, but I got to come out here and compete, and to finish third place, I'm just so thankful."

Fourteen men advanced out of the qualifying stage on Friday in the men's high jump from the original 26, including five who had already achieved the Olympic Standard, Adkins being one of them.

Rain was falling as the high jump competition began on both days, but that didn't bother Adkins or Trey Culver, who both cleared the opening height of 2.16m/7-1 on their first attempts on Sunday. The duo made up two of nine who advanced to the next bar and only two of six to clear on their first jump.

The second bar (2.21m/7-3) eliminated two more from the field, including Culver, who had three great shots but was unable to clear the height. Culver would finish in eighth overall in the competition.

For Adkins, it marked another first attempt clearance, putting him in the top three and applying pressure to the rest of the field below him to make the next height. He was also one of three left in the event who already had the Olympic Standard.

With seven men left in the event, only the two Adkins was tied with, Erik Kynard & Kyle Landon, cleared the bar at 2.26m/7-5. A little drama was added to the event as Deante Kemper, who was in fourth, passed on his final attempt at 2.26m/7-5, moving up to 2.29m/7-6 for his final jump. If he cleared, he would move ahead of Adkins and possibly edge him out. When he missed, Adkins' bronze medal was sealed and his ticket to Rio was officially punched.

"I need to clean up a couple things," Adkins said. "I was kind of diving into the bar, so I'm going to go back and hammer that technique so I can do something in Rio for the U.S."

It was quite a whirlwind of a 2016 for Adkins, who experienced an NCAA leading-mark in the high jump on Feb. 13, the mark that put him into the Olympic Games (2.29m/7-6), while also scoring two All-Big 12 honors, including a runner-up finish at the outdoor conference meet. He would also earn both first and second team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor & Indoor Championships.

As he takes off the Texas Tech uniform for the final time, he leaves as the co-indoor school record holder with a clearance of 2.29m/7-6, hitting the mark twice. He also holds eight of the top 10 marks in the Tech record books among both indoor & outdoor lists. He captured a Big 12 outdoor title in 2014, marking the first of three-straight for the Red Raiders, where he would finish runner-up in each of the next two. He racked up seven All-America honors and two NCAA runner-up finishes in 2015.

Adkins will be the first Red Raider to compete at the Olympic Games in the high jump. He'll be joined by Gil Roberts, who made the U.S. team a week ago on July 3 in the 400-meter dash. They will be the ninth and 10^th Red Raiders to represent their country at the Olympics.

Roberts will open in the first round of the 400 meters on Aug. 12 at 6:20 p.m. CDT, while Adkins will compete in the qualifying round of the high jump on Aug. 14, at 6:20 p.m. CDT.

Texas Tech University Athletics

Adkins Qualifies For Rio Olympics In High Jump

Players Mentioned

Bradley Adkins

Trey Culver

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