The Amazing Adventure of the Overnight Olympian – The Wall Street Journal

Tokyo

“It’s starting to settle in,” Matt Ludwig said.

This was Saturday night in Tokyo. Ludwig, 25, was calling from the athletes village, where he’d arrived from the United States barely hours before his qualifying round in the pole vault Saturday morning. He marveled at the perks—the snazzy weight and exercise bike setup; the 24/7 food court; the key fob he could tap on a machine to get a sports drink.

“Anything you could possibly need,” Ludwig said.

The past 40 or so hours had been a blur. Wednesday night, Ludwig had been back at his apartment in Akron, Ohio. Close to 11 p.m., he got a call from his manager, who told him that the U.S. pole vaulter Sam Kendricks tested positive for Covid-19, potentially opening up a slot for a last-minute replacement.