Methodical Mack soars to record

ATHENS, Greece — Timothy Mack is such a methodical pole vaulter, he doesn’t allow himself to enjoy the moment, even when it’s the biggest one of his life.

That’s probably why he’s the new Olympic gold medalist and Olympic record-holder.

The former University of Tennessee vaulter spiced up his resume Friday night by outthinking, and outperforming, a world-class field inside Olympic Stadium. He was the only vaulter to clear 19 feet, 61/4 inches, breaking the Olympic record shared by three people from the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

When Mack crossed the bar for the final time, he simply pumped his fists.

He took a routine victory lap-and-a-half draped in an American flag.

He even smiled. A little bit.

“Yeah, I was thinking that maybe I should be enjoying this more,” said the 31-year-old veteran. “Don’t get me wrong, this is going to hit me, and I’m going to enjoy it just like everybody else does.

“Probably after a few moments on my own, it’s going to come together and it’s going to be awesome.”

American teammate Toby Stevenson cleared 19-41/4 to capture silver as the Americans pulled a repeat from Sydney in 2000, where Nick Hysong and another former Tennessee vaulter, Lawrence Johnson, finished 1-2.

“You knew coming in that everybody was going to bring their A game,” Stevenson said. “And everybody brought it, including myself and including Tim Mack, and luckily for us, we’re bringing home the gold and the silver.”

The final three vaulters survived a four-hour battle that wasn’t decided until Mack’s third attempt at the winning height. Until then, Stevenson was in position for gold.

Mack stuck with his game plan to the end, a plan he memorizes and keeps in a nearby notebook.

He knew exactly what he wanted on that final jump.

“It’s such a big jump that you can sit there and think, ‘OK, I’m down to my last attempt and I might not make this,’ ” he said. “So then you go back to step one and step two and just keeping thinking to yourself, ‘Stick to the plan, stick to the plan.’ “

Now, a man who started vaulting because he didn’t want to run is an Olympic champion with an Olympic record.