Former KU pole vaulter Jordan Scott going for gold… and green

By Matt Tait     Mar 5, 2015

Jordan Scott competes in the pole vault event during the Kansas Relays Friday at Memorial Stadium.

For most people, the next summer Olympics, set for 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, remain in the distant future.

But not for former Kansas University pole vaulter Jordan Scott, a Watkinsville, Georgia, native and 2011 KU grad who hopes to make the U.S. Olympic team for the first time.

Scott, who recently stepped away from his full-time job in the KU Athletics IT department in order to focus all of his time on training for the Olympic trials, currently is in the middle of a fund-raising effort similar to the Kickstarter campaigns used by musicians, filmmakers, artists, designers and actors.

Through rallyme.com, Scott hopes to raise $20,000 by March 17 that will aid his training expenses for the next year or so — $12,000 for travel expenses for practice and competitions, $5,000 for monthly training trips to work with his coach in Knoxville, Tennessee, and $3,000 for training equipment, which includes turning his garage in Lawrence into a weight room.

Scott came across the rallyme.com idea with help from AthleteBiz, an organization that helps promote and support track athletes across the country.

Kansas pole vaulter Jordan Scott had a special hairdo for the Kansas Relays on Friday, April 22, 2011.

“It’s such a different sport than football or basketball,” Scott said of track and field. “We’re not really part of teams, but that’s an organization that tries to rally support. The rallyme.com idea is for athletes and teams in sports. It’s relatively new and I don’t know many other track athletes who have done it.”

As of Thursday morning, Scott had reached 27 percent of his goal.

Finding the money for proper training is only half of the battle. After that, Scott would still have to make the team. He reached the final round of Olympic qualifying in both 2008 and 2012 but came up just short in the finals. However, he spent the past year ranked in the Top 5 nationally among all male pole vaulters and believes he’s in the best vaulting shape of his life. Twenty-four vaulters are selected for the qualifying round and 12 of those go on to the finals. From there, the top three make the Olympic team and two others sign on as alternates.

“My goal is to win a medal in the Olympics,” Scott said. “But obviously my first goal is to get there.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.