--- title: "Watch This Olympian Drop Everything To Pay Respect To The National Anthem" date: "2016-08-22" modified: "2016-08-22" authors: - name: "James Clark" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/watch-olympian-drop-everything-pay-respect-national-anthem/" categories: - "Americas" - "Army" - "Around the World" - "Military Branches" - "News" tags: - "Reserves" --- # Watch This Olympian Drop Everything To Pay Respect To The National Anthem ![]() If you’ve ever been in the middle of something when colors or the national anthem starts to play, you understand that heart-pounding sense of urgency to stop what you're doing and stand ramrod straight at the position of attention. Olympian Sam Kendricks also knows that feeling. Related: Meet The 17 Service Members Joining Team USA At The Olympics » On Aug. 15 at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Kendricks, a 23-year-old second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve literally dropped what he was doing — he was in the middle of the qualifying round for pole vaulting — to stand at the position of attention when the “Star-Spangled Banner” began to play. The video was posted to NBC’s Twitter feed on Aug. 21. https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/767379558840406017 Even after stopping in the middle of the competition to pay respects to the national anthem, Kendricks still medaled, taking home the Bronze after vaulting 19 feet, 2 1/4 inches, making him the first American to win a medal in the event in 12 years. ## Author James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [LinkedIn]()