Team USA Shines at World Track Championships

HAYWARD FIELD

As a former middle-distance track athlete and forever Track & Field enthusiast and fan, I took great pleasure and joy in watching some of the globe's finest athletes compete at the recent World Track Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

World Championships in Athletics (Track & Field) are usually held every two years on odd-numbered years that precede and succeed Olympic Years, which, like Presidential elections, come around only once every four years on an even-numbered year.

But like everything else in our world, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted traditional schedules around a bit. Since the 2020 Olympics in Japan were actually held in 2021, the 2021 World Track and Field Championships were pushed back a year as well—to 2022—this summer. And for the first time in their 46-year history, the Championships were held in the United States—at historic Hayward Field, which also hosted the NCAA Division-1 Championships and the U.S. Track & Field Championships earlier this year. 

Suffice it to say, Hayward Field has been very busy this track & field season! 

Hayward Field has a classic, red-colored, Benyon Sports
BSS 2000 all-weather track surface.

For those unfamiliar with track and field, Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon—the home track of the University of Oregon Ducks—is the most famous track and field venue in not only the United States, but the entire Western Hemisphere.

Known as "Track Mecca" in the West, few other venues in the world possess the kind of athletic history, sporting lore, and haunting mystique that emanates from Hayward Field. Named after Bill Hayward, one of the early track coaches at the University of Oregon, Hayward Field has earned its prestige over many decades as historic athletes and coaches such as Bill Dellinger and Bill Bowerman, Steve Prefontaine, Ashton Eaton, Galen Rupp, Jenna Prandini, and countless others coached and competed in historic races and other events throughout the twentieth century and beyond.

Click HERE to see PICTURES of historic HAYWARD FIELD

As a former high school and collegiate middle-distance runner and an enthusiastic track and field fan, I understand the glory and mystique of Hayward Field. Although I never had the opportunity to compete there myself, I did have a chance to visit the track complex back in 2010 and saunter a ceremonial lap (a tradition of mine at track venues around the country) around its hallowed grounds at night when its stands were empty and quiet. That was nearly a decade before its $270 million renovation began in 2018. What was once just a storied collegiate track stadium is now a state-of-the-art, world-class, all-purpose track and field complex capable of hosting up to 25,000 fans at full occupancy.

As track stadiums in the United States go, that's huge! And the world took notice, rewarding Hayward Field and the United States' its first ever bid in 2022 to host the World Track & Field Championships.    

Anyone who knows about professional track and field knows that like cricket, rugby, soccer, or tennis, track & field is more popular in Europe and other countries around the world than it is in the United States. Let's face it: in America, football, basketball, baseball, combat sports and car racing simply suck up most of the oxygen in the proverbial "arena," leaving other sports to fend for themselves on the margins of popularity and revenue. Outside of an Olympics' year, track and field is often just an "also-ran" sport in the U.S. (no pun intended).  

Despite this fact, the U.S. has consistently performed at or near the very top of the track and field world ever since the first modern olympics was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. This global competitiveness stems in-part from a robust track and field culture that is deeply imbedded in America's public and private high schools and colleges. After all, have you ever been to a high school in the United States that didn't have a track circling its football field, or a college or university without an outdoor and/or an indoor track somewhere on its campus?

In addition to this perennial prep school and collegiate boost, other organizations and private clubs, such as the New Jersey New York Track Club in the Northeast, the Santa Monica Track Club and Oregon Track Club on the West Coast, and the successful (albeit controversial, disgraced, and now defunct) Nike Oregon Project, have played prominent roles in helping track and field athletes from the United States to become and remain among the very best in the world in virtually every track and field event. 

This long-term prowess was on full display this month from July 15-24 as the United States men's and women's team won an all-time record 33 medals (13 gold, 9 silver, and 11 bronze)—more than the second, third, and fourth place nations combined.

They also swept the medals (gold, silver, and bronze) in both the men's 100 meter and 200 meter dashes—a feat that no country had achieved since the 1904 Olympics—118 years ago! To say that U.S. men's sprinting is back (after some disappointing years and decades in the shadows of the lustrous legacies of Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, and the Jamaican Supermen led by Usain Bolt) would be an understatement. 

U.S. Men's Sprinting is definitely back!

And U.S. Women's sprinting has plenty to brag about as well, despite the continued dominance of Jamaica in women's sprints.

And like the men's sprinters, U.S. shot putters also swept the medal stand, with world record holder and Olympic Champion, Ryan Crouser, winning gold and his American teammates, Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde, claiming the silver and the bronze.   

Sydney McLaughlin has broken the world record four times
in an event—the 400 hurdles—that some consider
the most difficult in all of track and field.

The most notable personal achievement for the United States came from 400 meter hurdler Sydney McLaughlin, who broke her own world record in her premier race and became the first woman in history to clock under 51 seconds in the event.

Some consider the 400 meter hurdles to be the most difficult event in all of track and field. In this incredibly challenging race, Sydney McLaughlin has now broken the world record an astounding FOUR (4) times in the past 13 months. In the process, she has lowered the world record time by nearly a second-and-a-half, which is more improvement than the previous seven world record holders made over a period of 35 years! (1). 

McLaughlin later anchored Team USA's 4x400 meter relay team to gold with a blistering sub-48 second lap split. Is it any wonder that pundits are starting to consider handing her the title of: "Greatest Female Track and Field Athlete of All-Time" as rumors swirl she might soon be taking her talents to the open 400 meters—and beyond!    

Click HERE to watch Sydney McLaughlin's Gold Medal World Record Breaking 400 Meter Hurdles Race

Click HERE to watch Sydney McLaughlin anchor Team USA's Gold Medal 4x400 Meter Relay Team

Click HERE to watch Sydney McLaughlin hint that she might soon take on other events besides the 400 meter hurdles

The next most notable achievement for Team USA was delivered by sprinting phenom Noah Lyles in the 200 meters when he broke Michael Johnson's 26-year old American Record to win gold.

Click HERE to watch Noah Lyles win gold and break Michael Johnson's American Record in the 200 meters.

As an avid track fan and proud American, it was thrilling to watch my countrymen and women perform so solidly and successfully in a sport that receives relatively little attention in comparison to other, higher-profile American sports. And to have them perform so well at home, on American soil—where the World Track & Field Championships had never been held before—in front of so many enthusiastic fans from around the world, was a genuine joy to behold. What made me even prouder than the athlete's sporting achievements was the effort, enthusiasm, sportsmanship, grace, and class that they demonstrated throughout the 10-day meet.

At Freedom Focused, we believe in something called the PATRIOTISM PRINCIPLE.  This principle promotes the idea that individual self-action leaders have a duty to be energetic, enthusiastic, earnest, supportive, and participative members of whatever groups in which they choose to play a part. In other words, you should be patriots of more than just your country. You should also be patriots of your family, club, school, team/department/organization, church, neighborhood, community, state, nation, and world, etc. Doing so promotes the welfare of each group in which you play a part—as well as the welfare of individuals involved in each group.  

In exercising this brand of positive patriotism, self-action leaders should eschew attitudes of condescension or superiority towards other teams, groups, or nations, especially in the face of victory. While it is both desirable and fun to excel—and to win—and while there is nothing wrong with feeling a sense of pride in excellence and victory, such events should never lead us to harbor attitudes or actions that suggest we are existentially superior to our competitors, because we are not! In short, self-action leaders should always strive to do and be their very best without diminishing the absolute worth of all other human beings.  

Click HERE to learn more about the PATRIOTISM PRINCIPLE. 

One of the things I love about the Olympics and World Championship events is the eclectic patriotism I get to see on display from all over the world during the course of these celebrations. At such events, Americans are proud to be Americans and cheer enthusiastically for their nation's athletes. And similar excitement is demonstrated by fans, coaches, families, and athletes from other nations.

At the world championships, Americans are proud to be Americans; Jamaicans are proud to be Jamaicans; Kenyans are proud to be Kenyans, and Brits are proud to be Brits... and so on.

And that is precisely as it should be! 

Despite my unabashed and unapologetic pride in my American citizenship and my fellow American athletes, I also vicariously take pride and joy in the incredible achievements of athletes from other nations who surpass the performances of my countrymen. In such moments, I try to put myself in the shoes and singlets of fans from other countries and allow myself to vicariously experience the pride they must feel in their own nation's achievements. 

The Union Jack was draped proudly over the 
shoulders of GOLD medalist Jake Wightman
following his surprise victory in the 1500 meters.

For example, two of my favorite events are the 1500 and 5000 meter runs. I love these events in part because I used to compete in them myself in college. I also love them because they are so exciting to watch! It is also an unusually exciting time in history for both events because elite athletes from around the world have either broken (or come close to breaking) world records in both events in recent years.

The winner of the 1500 meters—a young man from Great Britain named Jake Wightman—was a huge come-from-behind surprise victory that few outside of his immediate family saw coming. Adding to the drama of his exciting surprise victory was the fact that his Dad just happened to be the stadium announcer for his race that day. What a day it was for the Wightman family! And what a day of renaissance for British middle distance running. Anyone familiar with the history of middle distance running is aware that the United Kingdom has a rich history in the sport, with bragging rights borne of names like Sebastian Coe and the two Steves (Ovett and Cram). One of my personal track heroes of yesteryear, Sebastian Coe, is a former holder of multiple world records in middle distance events. More recently, he served as the Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Organizing Committee and is a former member of the British Parliament's House of Lords. Coe currently serves as the President of World Athletics, the governing body for international track and field. His present role afforded him the privilege of handing out many of the medals at the World Championships.  

I was so happy for the Wightman family, Seb Coe, and British citizens everywhere when Wightman pulled a rabbit out of his singlet and shocked the world with his surprise win in the 1500!

Click HERE to watch Jake Wightman's epic upset of Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500 meter finals

Jakob Ingebrigtsen made his countrymen and
women very proud when he won gold in the
5000 meters in a winning time of 13:09.24.

Then, in the 5000 meters, a young man from Norway named Jakob Ingebrigtsen—who is the reigning Olympic Champion in the 1500 (and was the favorite to win the 1500 meters before being upset by Jake Wightman in his primary race)—ran a perfect race in the 5000 meters to win his first World Title in his second-best event and smoke a field of extraordinary talent from all over the world. What an exciting day for Norway!

I was so happy for the Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the Norwegians!

Click HERE to watch Jakob Ingebrigtsen win Gold in the men's 5000 meter finals

Sweden's Mondo
Duplantis won gold
in Pole Vault.

And then there was the Swedish-American superstar pole vaulter, Mondo Duplantis, who, like Sydney McLaughlin in the 400 meter hurdles, broke his own world record when he vaulted 20 feet, four-and-one-half inches to finish off the 10-day meet and win GOLD for Sweden. Imagine launching yourself over six meters into the air by a flexible pole made of fiberglass and carbon fibre.

That's what Mondo Duplantis did for Sweden!

Click HERE to watch his Epic Vault for yourself.  

One of my favorite things about Olympic and World Championship events in track and field is the medal ceremony held after each event is over. This is the ultimate opportunity for athletes from all over the world to demonstrate PATRIOTISM for their homeland as their nation's flag rises upward into the sky as the gold medal-winning athlete's national anthem fills the stadium air.  

I was just a wee lad of eight or nine years old—around the time of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea—when I first began dreaming dreams of someday standing atop the winner's podium with my hand over my heart—a GOLD medal draped around my neck and chest—reverently singing my nation's national anthem: The Star Spangled Banner.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how I look at it—my own athletic ability never rose to the level to make such an experience possible for me in this lifetime. The closest I ever got to that pinnacle of sport was running in a 1500 meter final in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Track Championships at South Plains Community College in Leveland, Texas, in May 2003. 

Click on any of the maroon links below to watch
one of the Medal Ceremonies from this year
World Track & Field Championships

Nevertheless, I will always take great pleasure and joy in watching others realize their long-held hopes and dreams—the result of countless hours of mental, physical, emotional, social, and intellectual preparation—as they stand atop the champion's podium for the rest of us who will never have the chance.  

And my heart will always throb with patriotism (either literally or vicariously) as they do so!

Click BELOW to watch some of the inspirational and moving Medal Ceremonies at the recent 2022 World Track and Field Championships...  

Men's 100 Meter Dash   (USA)

Men's 200 Meter Dash   (USA)

Women's 100 Meter Dash    (Jamaica)

Women's 4x400 Meter Relay   (USA)

Women's 100 Meter Hurdles   (Nigeria)

Men's Shot Put   (USA)

—Dr. JJ

July 27, 2022

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 276th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 105th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.  

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 274 FF Blog Articles.  

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Notes:

1.  Click HERE for source citing Sydney McLaughlin 400 meter hurdle stats.