RIO DE JANEIRO
Former Kansas State high jumper Erik Kynard will compete for his second straight Olympic medal on Tuesday after qualifying Sunday for the men’s high jump final.
Kynard, 25, cleared the 2.29-meter bar (7 feet, 6 inches) en route to a fifth-place qualifying finish in Rio’s Olympic Park Stadium, just minutes before Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won his third straight gold medal in the same venue.
Kynard, a second-time Olympian, won silver in the high jump four years ago in London. But his Rio experience has been different. The former Wildcat said he hopes familiarity with the Olympic drill will help him take one step up on the podium.