Kyle Merber said it bestš£
"Your World Championships hangoverā±"
Thatās it. Thatās the end of a lengthy track & field season. What started in early December is now over at the end of July. Iām having some pretty heavy withdrawals from my ten days of track & field in Eugene, OR, but weāve got cross country coming up that should keep us all busy until the indoor season picks back up.
Something Iāve come to realize is that for the next few years, we all are only going to have to suffer for roughly one month without either sport. Instead of having to wait the majority of summer for competition, itās just a stretch of boredom from the end of July to roughly the end of August!
Next month, weāll see the first cross country meets of the season, as athletes continue to suffer in the āpoor manās altitudeā (humidity) and the beloved heat of late August. Once September hits, it will hopefully begin to feel more like cross country as the leaves turn brown and I can finally go back to my favorite combo of a crewneck and shorts.
Before we know it, itāll be time for the state championships, followed by NXR (Nike Cross Country Regionals), as Kansas athletes travel to Sioux Falls, SD for the Heartland Regional. Iām calling it āright here, right nowā, but Kansas is going to have multiple athletes racing at national meets this fall. Whether it be in Huntsville, AL at RuningLane, San Diego, CA at Eastbay (formerly Foot Locker), or even the first installment since of the Nike Cross Country Nationals in Portland, OR since 2019.
After the plethora of national meets, high schoolers will start building their base for the outdoor season, with indoor races sprinkled in here and there. Most collegians will primarily focus on their indoor season, and after thatās over in March, itās already time for the outdoor season. Thatāll last us through the end of May and early June for high schoolers and most collegians. After that, itās time for the USA Outdoor Championships, followed by another, yes another, World Championships! Sadly, a trip to Budapest, Hungary may require more planning than one to Eugene. Regardless, weāll have eleven(ish) straight months of cross country and track & field! Then weāll do it all over again in 2023-2024 with the Paris Olympics, and then again in 2025 with the next installment of the World Athletic Championships. 2026 will be the only year between now and 2029 where there is no international track & field championship. Are you not entertained?
āW'eāre not in Kansas anymoreāšŖ
For the first time since itās grand opening in April of 2021, Hayward Field welcomed nearly a full crowd to the largest track-specific venue in North America. After a lot of meets with lackluster crowds, the 2022 World Championships finally fulfilled the dream of those behind the venue, a sold out stadium. The āHayward Hatersā (trademark pending) had nothing to complain about this time around, as there were very few empty seats during most sessions over the span of the ten day championships.
There were a whole lot of medals, records and spectacular performances this time around, and there are talented people who dove way deeper than I, and did a phenomenal job analyzing the entire meet. You can read more about the meet in the CITIUS MAG Newsletter. If you havenāt read or watched any of their content, I highly recommend it. I got to talk to Chris Chavez (CITIUS MAG founder) a few times during my time in Eugene, and let me tell you what, Chris and his team arenāt just #Goodforthesport, they are the #Bestforthesport if you ask me. Trust me on this one, give them some love if you havenāt already.
For our hometown heroes who had the privilege of sporting their nationās colors on the grand stage, four of the ten athletes made the final, with all ten leaving everything on the track, in the cage, in the pit, or on the mat. There were also six different Kansas schools represented, as both K-State and KU had three alumni competing, along with the community college quartet of Butler, Cloud, Coffeyville and Northwest Kansas Technical also having an alum competing.
To keep things simple, weāll start with the track events and work our way up in distance, then shift to the field events.
Menās 100m & 4x100m
Andre de Grasse and Jerod Elcock, both NJCAA champions in the sprints in their collegiate career, each put themselves up against the greatest sprinters in the world. De Grasse, the reigning Olympic champion in the 200m and returning double medalist from the 2019 World Championships had not been 100% at any point this season, and dug deep as he competed in Eugene. De Grasse was entered in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m, but didnāt make the finals in the 100m after a 5th place finish in his heat of the semis. Prior to the 200m heats, De Grasse scratched and focus on the 4x100m relay. It worked out in the end for the former Red Raven, as him and teammates Brendon Rodney, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake edged out and upset the USA squad for the gold, 37.48-37.55. Not to take anything away from De Grasseā leg, but a shaky handoff between Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy did more help than damage to the Canadian relay. Even if it would have been a clean handoff, Iām not sure if anybody anywhere on the track would have had the capability of taking down De Grasse. He covered his 100m portion in 8.79 seconds, the fastest of any leg amongst the podium teams. After a less than ideal result in the 100m and 200m, one of the greatest in the world ends the meet on a high note. Most recently, De Grasse pulled himself out of the Commonwealth Games, and is contemplating ending the season pre-maturely to focus on the World Championships next summer.
Elcock ended his extended track season on the sportās biggest stage. After 45 races this season (I think the math is right), Elcock ended it in the second of seven heats in the 100m in Eugene. Elcock was the first man out of the semi-finals in his heat, and his 10.22 was just shy of 10.15, the time that won the final āLittle qā. These were the second world championships that the Grizzly ran in 2022, after his 6th place finish in the 60m final in Belgrade back in March. I donāt think this is the end of Elcockās career representing Trinidad and Tobago, if anything, itās just the beginning.
Menās 800m
Donāt even get me started on the ridiculousness that was the menās 800m. If you didnāt catch it last week, all four American men did not advance out of the heats, but Iām not blaming any of them. Starting with the defending champion in the event, Donovan Brazier. For a guy that hasnāt been fully healthy for a while with heel pain, and a pre-scheduled surgery the week after his 800m competition, he did everything in his power to go out and perform. Props to him for having the guts to perform at any capacity with the pain heās been experiencing. For Brandon Miller, the NCAA indoor champion, his heat of the 800m was his 31st of the year, totaling 19,700m of racing under his legs heading into his third championship meet this year at Hayward. The Texas A&M star was seven-tenths of a second away from a qualifying spot in his heat. A pretty valiant effort from the 19 year-old if you ask me.
Let me be blunt. Bryce Hoppel and Jonah Koech both got robbed. For the first twenty-nine minutes after the 800m heats, Koech and all fans were under the impression he was the lone American to advance to the semi-final. Apparently, Koech had a little too much ācontactā with Swedish runner Andreas Kramer on the backstretch during the second lap. Honestly, his DQ not warranted and garbage in my eyes. Kramer still qualified to the semi-final on time, almost making Koechās DQ pointless and unneeded. If Kramer would have fallen or been severely impacted by the contact, I could see the reasoning, but come on. While Koech was reprimanded for his tactics, Hoppel was punished for another athleteās decision. During his heat, Canadian athlete Brandon McBride and Jamaican athlete Navasky Anderson were both part of accidental contact, as Anderson unintentionally cut off McBride, leading to him having contact with Hoppel, ending with McBride falling to the track and Hoppel being forced into lane 5 while having to hurdle McBride.
Obviously, having to hurdle an athlete will interrupt your rhythm and stride, negatively impacting your performance, as Hoppel simply didnāt have enough down the homestretch to earn a qualifying spot. Both McBride and Hoppel appealed, but both were denied. Personally, that seems a little bogus considering what Koech was DQād on, but unfortunately World Athletics didnāt consult with me before making a decision on the matter. All-in-all, itās a bummer that there was no red, white and blue in the latter races, (besides Australia, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands), but now we all get to watch the āBryce Hoppel Revenge Tourā, along with the redemption arcs for Brazier, Koech and Miller.
3000m Steeplechase
Olympic finalist, national runner-up and Cloud County legend Benard Keter was one of the first men out of a qualifying spot, as he was less than a second out of the last time qualifier in the preliminary round. After a runner-up finish at the USA Championships in June, Keter was oh-so-close to another international final. Three of the five finishers ahead of him in his heat were Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, the world champion, and Getnet Wale and Abraham Kibiwot of Ethiopia and Kenya, the 4th and 5th place finishers. A gutsy and impressive run for Keter, and just like Hoppel, Iām sure this is fantastic ābulletin board material.
Womenās 1500m & 5000m
Laura GalvĆ”n is simply built different. The Mexican national record holder in the 5000m was on the cusp of the final in both the 5000m and 1500m. GalvĆ”n was the second woman out of a āLittle qā position, as her 4:07.25 just missed out. She wouldāve placed 2nd in the first heat and earned a āBig Qā, but unfortunately she didnāt have the luxury of running for position compared to time. In the 5000m, GalvĆ”n ran 15:15.92 on non-fresh legs, and again, came very close to punching her ticket to the final.
Menās 10,000m
In the longest event on the track, Northwest Kansas Technical Community College alum Zouhair Talbi finally had the chance to compete at the international level. Typical of a menās championship distance race, the pace was mediocre for the first couple of miles. They came through 5000m at 14:01.33, which is a jog compared to what these men ran their PRās in. (Cheptegei came through 5k in 13:08 when he broke the WR in 2020) Big surprise that the pace cranked as the laps went on, and proceeded to close in 1:54 over the last two laps, with a 53 second bell lap. For shifting gears from running 4:20-4:30 per mile, to a 4:02 last mile, Talbi held his own, finishing 21st in the world, running 28:28.69.
Womenās Hammer Throw
The lone individual medalist from the āSunflower Stateā was none-other than Janeeā Kassanavoid. What a year itās been for the Kansas State graduate. Last June, Kassanavoid left Eugene as the 4th place finisher at the USA Olympic Trials, meaning she was the first woman not going to Tokyo. She had to watch from home as all three Americans left the games without a medal in the event. This summer, Kassanavoid was the U.S. runner-up, and the World Championship bronze medalist, which to me is quite the improvement from 2021. Along with some new hardware, Kassanavoid also improved her PR in the event, jumping to 78 meters, 2.5 meters ahead of her 2021 mark. If the PR wasnāt enough itself, Kassanavoid now stands as the #3 All-Time American in the womenās hammer throw, and the #6 All-Time in world history. Also, with her bronze medal last month, she became the FIRST EVER Native American woman to win a world championship medal! Isnāt that something thatās amazing to read? Congratulations to Janeeā and her growing list of accolades!
Womenās High Jump
Another Wildcat graduate in Kimberly Williamson found her way into the high jump final halfway through the world championships. In the qualifying round, Williamson earned a ālittle qā with her clearance of 1.90 meters. In the final, Williamson was just four inches shy of matching that height in the final, bowing out of the competition at 1.89 meters. The Jamaican was only .4 meters away from her PR clearance, but took 11th in the world. Sheāll look to punch her ticket to Budapest at some point in the next year, now that the qualifying window is officially open.
Womenās Discus Throw
The final female athlete to cover is the 2022 NCAA Runner-Up in the womenās discus, Kansasā Alexandra Emilianov. Representing her home nation of Moldova, Emilianov just barely missed on advancing to the final. When I say barely, I mean barely. She was the 13th place finisher in the preliminary rounds, and only twelve athletes compete in the final. Her season best throw of 60.67 meters, was a little over half of a meter shy of Franceās Melina Robert-Michon, who snagged the last qualifying spot. Even though she would have preferred to make the final, a 13th place finish is nothing to sneeze at. Additionally, between now and 2028 she has five international championships to hopefully compete in, and sheās only 22. The sky is the limit for the Jayhawk.
Menās Pole Vault
Rounding out our World Championship recap is an athlete that I missed in the build up leading to the championships. Kansas graduate Hussain Al-Hizam is the Saudi Arabian record holder, both indoors and outdoors. In Eugene, Al-Hizam had a similar result to his fellow alum Emilianov, in which he was one of the first athletes out of the final. In the qualifying round, all twelve athletes that moved on to the final cleared 5.75 meters. Al-Hizam finished 14th as he cleared 5.65 meters, a season best.
Team USA didnāt miss a beatšŗšø
Ethiopia, Jamaica and Kenya all won ten medals apiece in Eugene. Ethiopia won all ten of their medals in the distance events, earning hardware in the 1500m and up. Jamaica was the complete opposite, as on the track the longest event they ended on the podium was the 4x400m relay. They won medals only in the sprints, jumps and relays. Kenya had a very similar showing to the Ethiopians, except they had medalists in the 800m up to the marathon.
If you combined the medal count from these three nations, they still would be three medals shy of tying with the host nation, the U-S of A! Thirteen gold, nine silver, and eleven bronze. There were twenty-six total different events during #Oregon2022, and the United States medaled in sixteen of them. Team USA also swept three events on the menās side, the 100m, 200m and the shot put. If Devon Allen didnāt get DQād for having the best reaction time, the US would have swept four. For those that need a de-briefing, here is a rundown of the 33 medals that the US kept home.
Sprints
Fred Kerley. Thatās it, thatās the tweet. After dropping a 9.79 in the heats, and cruising to a 10.02 in the semi-final, Kerley led the USA to a 1-2-3-6 finish in the 100m final, winning in 9.86 over Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell, who each ran 9.88. Defending champion Christian Coleman took 6th in 10.01.
In the 200m, while breaking Michael Johnsonās 26-year-old record, (who was in attendance) Noah Lyles led Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton to the broom closet, as the menās sprint group completed their second sweep of the championships. The three ran 19.31, 19.77 and 19.80. After a lot of fans had turned on the 25-year-old due to his celebration at the USA Outdoor Championships back in June (see picture below), Lyles most likely won them back with his ability to both ātalk the talkā and āwalk the walkā.
In the 400m, the only man in the world right now who I believe has the potential to break 43.0, Michael Norman, won his first world title. He took down a deep field which included the current WR holder, South Africaās Wayde Van Niekerk. Norman crossed the line in 44.29 as the crowd roared. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.
Hurdles
In the menās 110mH, Grant Holloway does what Grant Holloway does best, win. The second fastest man in history won his second world title, taking down fellow American and the second fastest collegian of all time, Trey Cunningham. The pair went 13.03 and 13.08 to go 1-2, as unfortunately fan favorite, NFL player and the world leader in Devon Allen watched from underneath the stadium. With how Allen had been running, Iām not sure what would have happened in the final with all three Americans, but Iām sure it would have been some combination of 1-2-3.
The 400mH resulted in four medals for the Americans. Starting with the star of the show and arguably the greatest athlete in the world, Sydney McLaughlin. In one of the most hyped up events of the meet, McLaughlin (50.68) gave the crowd just what they wanted, and some. She became the first ever woman to break 51, making it her fourth time that she has broken the world record. In 3rd was former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad (53.13), followed by Shamier Little (53.76) and Britton Wilson (54.02) in 4th and 5th.
On the menās side, the three men who ran under the world record a year ago were back and in the final again. Except this time, both Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin were not anywhere near their top form as both the Norwegian and American have been dealing with injury and/or sickness for a lot of the year. That didnāt matter for Brazillian Alison Dos Santos, as he came to win and left with gold. All three men are between the ages of 22 and 26, and will likely be battling it out for the next few championships. The surprise of the event and truly a #GFTS (good for the sport) moment was a bronze medal from recent DII national champion Trevor Bassitt. Just months after winning the outdoor title in the event, he upgraded his NCAA gold for a world bronze, which should go nicely with the rest of his accolades.
Distance
The 800m was both superb and disappointing if you were an American fan. On one hand, Athing Mu won her second international title and first World Championship gold in the 800m, edging out Great Britainās Keely Hodgkinson. For a good 20m, I thought Hodgkinson was going to pull it off, but Mu wasnāt going to let it happen on her home turf. The pair crossed in 1:56.30 and 1:56.38, going 1-2 in the final for the second year in a row. Americans Raevyn Rogers and Ajee Wilson finished 6th and 8th respectively.
The reason I said that the 800m was also disappointing was because in the heats of the menās 800m, all four Americans failed to make the final. You already knew that though for one of two reasons. 1) You are a track fan who either watched, read, or heard about the meet. 2) You read the twelfth paragraph of this newsletter when I wrote about this event. Either way, no need to repeat.
The 1500m didnāt have any American medalists, but there were valiant efforts from all of the athletes. Special shoutout to Sinclaire Johnson, Cory McGee, and Josh Thompson for all making it to the final and hanging on to a blistering pace on each side.
The 3000m steeplechase also ended with no medals, but did give the fans the return of Evan Jager, who took 6th in the final. On the womenās side, Courtney Frerichs led the Americans.
The 5000m broke my heart on both sides, but since I didnāt elaborate on other events with no medalists, I feel itās only fair to keep it consistent. I decided this after I had already typed a good two paragraphs about the womenās race alone, so donāt think itās due to a lack of caring. All Iām going to say is that Grant Fisher is going to medal in the 5k and 10k in Budapest. Lofty? Yes, but if I somehow end up being right I can come back to this and brag to everybody I know.
The 10,000m was unfortunately similar, as no Americans medaled and Fisher was less than a fifth of a second from the first menās American medal in the event. Give it time.
The marathon honestly went how I was expecting on the menās side, simply due to the depth of the field and the distance between the top of the pack and the field. For example, there was only one North American in 18 spots, and he wasnāt even American. (Another shoutout to Cam Levins for killing it) The womenās race though made me pretty happy though, as the US ladies went 5-7-8.
Jumps
In terms of track & field knowledge, the jumps may be one of my least understood events there are, and thatās only because I have not taken the time to familiarize myself with the metric system. If I learned how to convert feet and inches to meters, that would change the game. Anyway, it was a lot of near misses for Team USA, as they seemed to be the first people to not win a medal in the jumps. They performed fantastically, but were sadly on the bubble of the podium a lot. In the high and the long jump, the United States had one 4th, two 5thās, and a 6th place finish in the final on both the menās and womenās side combined. The triple jump however is highlighted by bronze medalist Tori Franklin, who set a season best of 14.72m (acting like I actually know how far that is) while earning her first international medal. Donāt let my lack of metric knowledge take away from her medal!
Throws/Vault
Shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer. Two golds, two silver, and three bronze? Pretty remarkable if you ask me. Starting with the women, who had a medalist in every event, Chase Ealey won the shot put title over Chinaās Lijiao Gong. On her first throw of the final, Ealey launched one 20.49m, which what ended up being the gold medal throw. In the discus, Valarie Allman took 3rd, which in her eyes may not be what she wanted, but at the end of the day she is still third in the world. Another #GFTS moment of the championships was the bronze medal finish for Kara Winger. Let me set the stage and put you in her shoes
Youāre 36-years-old and are competing in your 6th and final World Championship. Youāve never won an international medal, and have been on the outside looking in too many times during the award ceremonies. You have one throw left of your career, in front of an American crowd, just two hours south of where you grew up. Youāre currently in 5th, and need something big to get on the podium. On your final throw, the crowd is clapping (maybe a little too quickly) as you run up the runway and release your javelin one last time in front of a sold out crowd and in front of over 2.3 million people watching at home. Just like that, in your last throw, in your last meet, in front of thousands of people rooting just for you, you win your first ever international medal and are crowned the second best javelin thrower in the world. Now that right there is a storybook ending. Kara, if youāre reading this (which I am almost positive she never will), congratulations on a tremendous career.
In the hammer throw, like I mentioned towards the top of this, American duo and very good friends Brooke Andersen and hometown hero Janeeā Kassanavoid went 1-3 in the womenās hammer throw. With the possible return of former world champion DeAnna Price next year, Iād like to manifest an American sweep in Budapest. In the menās shot put, Ryan Crouser lived up to his hype (as we all expected), leading teammate and reigning champion Joe Kovacs, and other American Josh Awotunde to yet again, an American sweep. Crouser set a championship record, while Kovacs was just behind him, as the pair ended with marks of 22.94 and 22.89. Awotunde was a little ways behind the champions, but plenty ahead of the fourth place finisher.
Sam Kendricks simply cannot catch a break. He tested positive for Covid-19 just days before the pole vault was scheduled to start in Tokyo last summer, and this year he couldnāt get back into form in time following his necessary knee surgery back on May 2nd. He was expected to be the most likely challenger to Swedenās Mondo Duplantis, but fellow American teammate Chris Nilsen said āhold my beerā. Nilsen outlasted all but one person in the field, earning him a silver medal behind the greatest pole vaulter to ever live. After Nilsen and the rest of the field were finished vaulting, Duplantis was faced with a decision. He could either take his gold and call it a night, or he could attempt to break his world record in front of a packed house who were all begging for more track & field. Duplantis had already cleared 6.00 meters to win gold, but then he chose to go for the 6.21 world record and give the crowd a show to send them home with. Spoiler, he broke the world record AGAIN, and like McLaughlin after the 400mH, he was handed a $100,000 check with his gold medal, as a reward for breaking the world record at the championships. Hopefully they both took that check to the Wild Duck immediately after, but I'll bet they opted not to.
Multis
Anna Hall is 21-years-old. Sheās also an NCAA champion, and the NCAA record holder. Sheās also the US champion, and the bronze medalist in the Heptathlon at the World Championships. Thatās seven events in two days, including the 100mH, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin and the 800m. Hall won the 200m and 800m, while placing 3rd in both the 100mH and high jump. She finished 5th, 7th and 9th in the long jump, javelin and shot put, but all of that was good enough to total 5741 points. If that wasnāt good enough for the American fanbase, the addition of a second medal in the menās decathlon hopefully sweetened the deal.
Zach Ziemek, the third place finisher in the USATF Combined Events Championships held in May, stepped up big time when national champion Garrett Scantling was not named to the team in July. At the time, it did not come with any reasoning. Later, USADA announced that Scantling, the 2022 world leader, was serving a provisional suspension for āa potential tampering violation that 'stems from Scantling's conduct during an investigation into his third potential whereabouts failure.ā" Iām not going to assume that Scantling is guilty or anything of the sorts, considering he agreed to have the entire process publicized. We know what can happen when we assume things, but hopefully it truly was just poor planning and scheduling by Scantling, but weāll find out eventually. Anyway, back to the star of the show, world bronze medalist Ziemek. Similar to the Heptathlon, the Decathlon has the javelin, long jump, shot put, high jump and hurdles, but it also has the 100m, 400m, discus, pole vault, and replaces the 800m with a 1500m. Also an extremely tiring and difficult two days of competition, the Decathlon remains one of the two most difficult yet rewarding events in the sport (along with the Heptathlon). Ziemek only finished outside of the top six three times in ten events, while he took 2nd in two events, and third in another. Possibly the last #GFTS moment of the meet, was the teamwork shown by Team USA in the 1500m of the Decathlon. Steven Bastien, who ended up finishing 16th in the world, helped pace Ziemek to a 4:44.97, which solidified his third-place finish.
Relays
Two golds in the 4x400m, a gold and a silver in the 4x100m, and a bronze in the mixed 4x400m made for a dominant showing from the American squad. Talitha Diggs, Abby Steiner, Britton Wilson and Sydney McLaughlin did exactly what everybody was hoping for, winning handily over Jamaica and Great Britain. A team made up of three collegians and a 22-year-old left nothing up for question, winning by almost three seconds. Yes, you read that right. Three collegians with 174 total races under their legs since the beginning of the season combined, proceeded to āshow up and show outā, leaving no doubt who the best relay nation was. For those that may be curious, the splits were 50.50 for Diggs, 49.99 for Steiner, 49.39 for Wilson who stepped in for Athing Mu who was busy recovering from winning gold in the 800m. McLaughlinās leg you ask? 47.91.
Iāll say this because itās true. If she does end up deciding to switch to the open 400m after she goes under 50 in the 400mH (which sheās going to do eventually), McLaughlin WILL break the current world record of 47.60. and honestly going under 47 is not out of reach for an athlete of her caliber. Remember, sheās only 22-years-old. Simply insane.
For Steiner, it was her second relay gold of the weekend, as the evening before, herself, Melissa Jefferson, Jenna Prandini, and Twanisha Terry took down the Jamaican team, which was a huge upset. Team USA, who had zero medalists in the 100m, took down all three medalists at once. Granted, thatās what Canada would do to the US men, but letās pretend that didnāt happen.
Just like the 4x400m, the 4x100m was made up of three collegians and Prandini, whoās been around the block in terms of experience. Overall, if the sprints for Team USA were a stock, Iād buy in right now, because I donāt think itās going to drop anytime soon (fingers crossed).
On the menās side, the 4x400m team may have ran the most casual 2:56.17 that I have ever seen. They won by two seconds, and it felt like anchor Champion Allison (44.43) could have ran along the stands on the homestretch and signed a few autographs and still won gold. Iām glad he chose to stay in lane one instead, but imagine. Allison was helped by Elija Godwin (44.28), Michael Norman (43.64) and Bryce Deadmon (43.82), all putting the US in a strong position after their legs. The menās 4x100m did not go how many of us were expecting, but a silver at worlds isnāt a bad day. With Fred Kerley not in the relay pool following a small injury to his quadriceps during the 200m semis, fans were a little more nervous, but still expecting a gold. With two world champions in Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, along with 100m runner-up Marvin Bracy and NCAA champion Elijah Hall, I donāt think many thought the victory was in jeopardy. I personally think all four men ran a great race, but just had less than perfect handoffs. Regardless, a medal is a medal, and congratulations are in order!
The mixed 4x400m finished in 3rd, as the š (Allyson Felix) won yet another international medal.
Itās August 5th, and track season is over. Itās officially time for cross country. Get ready for consistent newsletters, way more content, and hopefully some big (good) changes for KSXCT&F. As always, thanks to each and every one of you who has subscribed and for staying along for the ride during a three week stretch with nothing in your inbox. Thatās not going to happen again, if anything youāll get more. Stay tuned for some announcements over the coming months.
Does anyone want to run with me at 5:30am and do some tempos and intervals on saturdays and long run on sunday.