Zach McWhorter, the former BYU All-American, placed eighth in the pole vault Saturday at the world track and field championships in Budapest.
McWhorter was one of six vaulters whose best clearance was 5.75 (18-9); the places were decided based on the number of misses.
McWhorter had a miss and a clearance at 5.55 and another miss and clearance at 5.75, then failed in three attempts to clear 5.85.
McWhorter had scaled 5.86 to finish second at the U.S. championships.
Pre-meet favorite Armand Duplantis, the defending Olympic and world champion, cleared 6.10 to claim the gold medal Saturday.
Duplantis owns the world record of 6.22 (20 feet, 4 3/4 inches). Ernest Obiena of the Philippines was second and Chris Nilsen of the U.S. and Kurtis Marshall of Australia tied for third.
The world championships will conclude Sunday. Three former BYU athletes will be in action — Nico Montanez and Rory Linkletter in the marathon and Courtney Wayment in the steeplechase.
So far, three athletes with Utah connections have finished in the top 10 in their respective events at the championships — Utah State alum Chari Hawkins (eighth in the heptathlon), Kenneth Rooks (10th in the steeplechase) and McWhorter (eighth in the pole vault).