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The Warm Up Track 2025: Sam Kendricks – A lost Olympics and Making Peace with Tokyo
Awaiting the start of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, Sam Kendricks had just been at the USA Track and Field team meeting and posed for the team photograph when he received a notification which said his name in English and, alongside it, one word: POSITIVE.In that moment, everything changed. The reigning world champion and Rio Olympic bronze medallist would play no further part in the Tokyo Olympics. Sam takes us back to that time and shares exactly what happened to him. It is a harrowing account. The experience has left a lasting impression and made him wonder whether he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. During our discussion, Sam relives the whole ordeal. He offers his thoughts on whether it is ever right, under any circumstances, to detain someone for ten days the way that he was. He felt like a prisoner and no-one was able to free him.Now, four years on, he’s returning to Tokyo for the World Championships. How will he make peace with the country? How much will the memories of what happened in 2021 cast a shadow over 2025? He says he would rather talk than fight, but he won’t know exactly how he’ll feel until he’s there.Sam Kendricks is one of the greatest male pole vaulters in history. He began his career when Renaud Lavillenie was breaking the event’s long-standing world record and would go on to enjoy his own period of dominance, winning back-to-back world titles in 2017 and 2019. Now, in the era of Mondo Duplantis, he continues to make the podium at global championships. Sam’s assessment of both men, who he calls the two Princes of the sport, is fascinating, as is how he sees his own role as a part of that triumvirate. Sam takes us back to how it all started; being coached by his Dad and trying to beat his twin brother at everything. He explains how Stacy Dragila’s stardom in the women’s pole vault directly impacted High School Track and Field, and helped kick-start his own journey through the sport. We also learn why Sam’s decision to pursue a parallel career in the US Army Reserve wasn’t just about continuing his family’s military tradition, it was also borne out of necessity to get himself to college.Image: Silver medallist Sam Kendricks of Team United States celebrates during the Men's Pole Vault Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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The Warm Up Track 2025: Cordell Tinch – Barriers and how we get over them
Cordell Tinch went to college on a Football scholarship, but soon found he preferred Track and Field. Then the pandemic happened and he came home and got a job. At that stage, there were no thoughts about completing his education, or pursuing Track as a career. Three years went by, and then he received a phone call. It was the beginning of his return to college and to the sprint hurdles.Since 2023, he’s risen through the rankings to become one of the fastest 110 metre hurdlers in the sport’s history. There have still been bumps along the way. Carrying an injury in Olympic year, he finished fourth at the US Trials and wasn’t selected for Paris 2024. But that set-back was just more fuel for what he’s been able to achieve in 2025. He ran 12.87 seconds to win the Shanghai Diamond League meeting, the joint fourth fastest time in history. But he knows that it will be the Tokyo World Championships which define his season and his career so far.Cordell explains his journey to this point and how he looks after his mental health, with help and support from his family who are never more than a phone call away. We also discuss how important friendships are on the international circuit, where all of those airports and hotels can potentially feel pretty lonely. He tells us about imposter syndrome, and how he’s finally getting over that feeling.Cordell is an athlete who has had a completely different route to the top from just about anyone else who has been our guest in five seasons of The Warm Up Track. It’s pretty clear from hearing him describe how and why he’s got to where he is that talent also needs the opportunity to blossom, and that requires key people at key moments having your best interests at heart. Cordell Tinch doesn’t believe he belongs in the same conversation as the all-time greats of sprint hurdles yet, but many who have seen him compete think it’s only a question of time before that changes.Image: USA's Cordell Tinch (R) celebrates after the men's 110m hurdles event during the Shanghai/Keqiao Diamond League athletics meeting in Keqiao, Shaoxing in China's eastern Zhejiang province on May 3, 2025. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP via Getty Images)
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The Warm Up Track 2025: Emmanouil Karalis – Faster, Higher, Stronger
Emmanouil Karalis was born to a Greek father and a Ugandan mother, and experienced racism growing up in Athens. He was told ‘black people don’t pole vault’ and seriously considered quitting the sport in which he was already proving to be world class. He explains what it was like being a young person of mixed heritage in Greece during a time when the far right ‘Golden Dawn’ party was enjoying it’s greatest period of influence.It wasn’t ‘sunshine and rainbows’ he tells us during a ‘horrible’ time for non-white Greeks. When he reached the age of 18, he decided it was time to speak out about the racism and about his mental health. He says opening that door and taking that first step has helped those athletes who have come after him.Emmanouil - known more familiarly as Manolo – has been winning global and continental medals since the age of 15. He’s had success all the way up through the age-groups and first competed against Mondo Duplantis when both were still just boys. Their rivalry and their friendship has continued to grow. Manolo explains why the Olympic Games is extra special for Greek athletes – because the country was the birth place of the Ancient Olympics. He shares his memories of being taken to watch the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens when he was just four years of age. It was later, watching the London 2012 Olympics on television, that he knew he wanted to be a part of it.Coached by his father, who was a former decathlete, Manolo takes us back to the moment he beat his Dad’s personal best for the pole vault – a story you have to hear.We also discuss Mondo Duplantis and how the world record holder makes Manolo a better pole vaulter. The Greek athlete is, at the time of recording this podcast, the fourth highest vaulter in history, with a best clearance of six metres and eight centimetres. Spending some time in his company it becomes very clear that won’t remain his personal best for very long.Image: Emmanouil Karalis of Team Greece reacts during the Men's Pole Vault Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
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Lottie Woad: Meet golf's newest rising star
Just a week after turning professional, Lottie Woad is favourite for the final major of the year - the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl. It is a startling rise for British golf's most exciting prospect. She arrived in Wales having been crowned Scottish Open champion a week earlier This, in the same month she ended her amateur career by winning the Irish Open and finished third at the Evian Championship, the most recent women's major. Photo: Lottie Woad of England poses with the trophy following victory of the ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open following the final round of the ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open 2025 at Dundonald Links Golf Course on July 27, 2025 in Troon, Scotland. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Euro 2025: How did England's Lucy Bronze play with a broken leg?
Following England's Euro 2025 final win over Spain, defender Lucy Bronze revealed she had "played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, but no-one knew."Mum Diane Bronze said the Chelsea full-back suffered the injury in June but she still started all six of the Lionesses' games in Switzerland and was a key reason for their success.The 33-year-old played 598 minutes across the tournament, with only Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood and Hannah Hampton playing more for Wiegman's side.Nick Worth, who was England men's under-21 team physiotherapist between 2000-2003, told Sport Today how she managed the feat.Photo: Lucy Bronze of England on the ground during the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Final match between England and Spain at St. Jakob-Park on July 27, 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. (Credit: GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
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