Latest news with #DonovanBrazier
Forbes
5 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
The Five Top Moments From The USATF Outdoor Championships
The USATF Outdoor Championships never fail to disappoint. This weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the best track and field athletes in America fought for national titles and the right to represent their country at the World Championships in September. The audition lived up to the billing, with incredible performances, jaw-dropping races and one moment that sparked debate across the United States. Donovan Brazier Qualifies For The World Championships …Again Donovan Brazier's return to championship racing after a nearly three-year absence from the professional circuit was a story worth monitoring all weekend long. Because often, time doesn't stop for track and field athletes–on the contrary, it will simply pass them by. So it was certainly a fair question to ask how Brazier would fare, considering the 28-year-old had just three races under his belt and needed to perform over three rounds to secure his spot back on the U.S. team. Early on, Brazier proved he was ready, submitting a semifinal performance of 1:44.39. By the finishing moments of the men's 800-meter final, it was hard not to feel overwhelmed by the compassion and support he was given when he not only qualified but won in 1:42.16, finding redemption for years gone by. Brazier had last competed in the World Championships in 2022 by virtue of his win in 2019, failing to advance out of the heats. On Sunday, his effort was the third-best time in U.S. history and secured him his first bid to a World Championship since 2019, when he last won an international title and was slated to become the sport's 'next best middle-distance runner.' Things didn't exactly happen that way. But after transitioning to a new voice in former NAU coach Mike Smith, appointed as one of three Nike Swoosh Track Club coaches in February, and performing well in the lead-up to USAs – which included two efforts under 1:44 at the Portland Track Festival and the London Diamond League – Brazier is now on the road back to stardom. What a story he has been. 16-Year-Old Cooper Lutkenhaus Qualifies For The World Championships, Runs Under-18 World Record We aren't done with the men's 800-meter final. In the final straightaway, jaws dropped when 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus began eating up ground–and tying some of the best half-milers in the world The Texan from Justin Northwest High School eventually passed returning Olympian Brandon Miller, world champion Josh Hoey and Olympic 800-meter fourth-place finisher Bryce Hoppel en route to a second-place finish, scoring a mind-numbing time of 1:42.27. Behind Brazier, it was the fourth-best effort in U.S. history and a new under-18 record. Lutkenhaus' previous best effort was 1:45.45–mind you, a time which was earned in a high school race. In fact, Lutkenhaus himself is only entering his junior year in the fall. He commented afterward that he was using 'middle school tactics,' and that he had only seriously focused on track and field in his freshman year of high school – ostensibly a year ago. No American teenager in history had ever accomplished what the 16-year-old did on that stage in the 800-meters. Even more impressive, however, was the way he accomplished the feat, with nearly even splits in 50.66 and 51.61 seconds. Quincy Wilson, the 17-year-old star who reached the Olympics in 2024, is perhaps the only other male teenager who's accomplished a similar feat in the men's 400 meters – whereas Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reached the Olympics at 17 in 2016. But even Wilson struggled over the weekend, failing to reach the men's 400-meter final. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden Goes Unbeaten At The USATF Outdoor Championships Seasons like the one Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is having are rare. The 24-year-old sprinter from South Carolina has lost just once all season in an individual race and was unbeaten at 100 meters going into the USATF Outdoor Championships. By Sunday's end, she had only reaffirmed that position, securing not just one but two national titles, including an impressive outing in the 200 meters which saw Jefferson-Wooden run away from the field in 21.84 seconds. The performance was the world's No. 2 time. In doing so, however, Jefferson-Wooden also outclassed defending Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, who had to settle for third in 22.20. Meanwhile, Jefferson-Wooden on Friday posted her first win at USAs in the women's 100 meters, clocking a time of 10.65 that tied for the fifth-best performance in U.S. history. The U.S. star is on pace for a spectacular World Championships, which could see her potentially chase after a sprint triple. The only question remaining, then, is where the U.S. coaching staff will place Jefferson-Wooden in the 4x100, where she is also expected to star in Tokyo. Jefferson-Wooden will also have to contend with Olympic 100 meter champion Julian Alfred, whom she beat at the Prefontaine Classic in May, along with reigning 2023 world champion and Olympic silver medalist Sha'Carri Richardson, who has struggled so far this season. Shelby Houlihan Returns After 4-Year Ban And Qualifies For Worlds Four years is a long time to wait. And yet, by the time Shelby Houlihan was back on the U.S. circuit in February following a 4-year doping ban, it was as if time had never slipped by. The 32-year-old Houlihan was as sharp as ever, qualifying for a world indoor team that same month at USA Indoors. She then claimed a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China the following month in the women's 3,000 meters. On Sunday at Hayward Field, Houlihan followed up her impressive return to the track with her second qualifying run in the women's 5,000 meters, winning in 15:13.61. Houlihan closed her final 1,000 meters in 2:41.77, showing the kind of speed that's necessary to compete at an international level. It marked her first national outdoor title since 2019 and her first outright win since indoors in 2020. Noah Lyles' And Kenny Bednarek's Spat In The Men's 200-Meter Final The biggest domestic – and/or global – story to follow the U.S. Outdoor Championships, however, was an action made just after the men's 200-meter final, when Kenny Bednarek shoved Noah Lyles moments after his victory in 19.63 seconds. It was the push seen round the world. A beef we didn't quite understand but surely now realized was there. In the final meters, Lyles turned to Bednarek and issued a staredown not unlike one you would see at WWE Smackdown. Bednarek, who had won the men's 100-meter final on Friday in a personal best 9.79 seconds, wasn't pleased with the action and pushed Lyles just seconds later. The two exchanged barbs a moment later, and then that discussion followed in the post-race interview with NBC's Lewis Johnson. Afterward, Lyles declined to comment on the encounter in the mixed zone, citing his coach's advice. But Bednarek did not mince words. 'I've said it for years, Noah is going to be Noah. If he wants to tear me down, that's fine. But I ran five rounds. He's fresh. He can line up again and we'll go fresh and we'll see what happens,' Bednarek said. 'I'm very confident I can beat him. That's all I'm going to say.' Both are expected to contend for world titles in both the 100- and 200-meters in Tokyo. Both could also, feasibly, team together in the 4x100.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Cooper Lutkenhaus, 16, to become youngest American ever at track and field worlds
August 4 - At just 16, Cooper Lutkenhaus is set to become the youngest American ever to compete at the World Track and Field Championships, which take place next month at Tokyo. Lutkenhaus, a rising junior at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, placed second in the 800-meter final at the USA Track and Field Championships on Sunday at Eugene, Ore., with a time of 1:42:27. Donovan Brazier of Grand Rapids, Mich., won the event. Lutkenhaus' time smashed the previous U18 world record -- set by Kenya's Timothy Kitum in the 2012 Olympics -- by 1.1 seconds. It is also the fourth-fastest time by any U.S. man and 18th-fastest in the world. Less than a year ago, Lutkenhaus' time would have been the American record. The current record holder for youngest American at the World Track and Field Championships is Mary Cain, who was 17 years and 3 months old in 2013. Erriyon Knighton holds the record for youngest American man at 18 years and 5 months. Lutkenhaus, who is scheduled to begin his junior year of high school in just over a week, doesn't turn 17 until December. "I'll be missing some school," Lutkenhaus said, according to NBC Sports. "But hopefully the teachers will understand." --Field Level Media
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cooper Lutkenhaus set to be youngest American at World Track and Field Championships
Sixteen-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus made United States history at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday, Aug. 3. And all it took was dialing in some old middle school tactics. Lutkenhaus, who attends Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, made a miraculous comeback at the 800-meter final in Eugene, Oregon, to become the youngest American ever to qualify for the World Track and Field Championships. The rising high school junior was in seventh place with 200 meters to go before rising to runner-up with his time of 1:42:27. REQUIRED READING: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone among winners and losers from U.S. track and field championships "I've always kind of had a natural spot with 200 (meters) to go," Lutkenhaus told reporters after the race. "Ever since middle school that's kind of been the spot I've really pushed from. Kind of just decided to go back to middle school tactics with 200 to go and really just give everything I had left." Lutkenhaus' time shattered the previous U18 world record, which was set by Kenya's Timothy Kitum at the 2012 London Olympics, by 1.1 seconds. Donovan Brazier, a 28-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan, won the race with a personal-best time of 1:42:16. "I saw someone coming up and I was like, 'dang, this could be the high schooler,'" Brazier told reporters after the race. This kid's phenomenal. I'm glad that I'm 28 and maybe have a few more years left in me, hopefully won't have to deal with him in his prime because that dude is definitely pretty special." Lutkenhaus' time not only tops the best for a youth runner ever, but it's also one of the fastest by a U.S. man in history. His time ranks as the fourth-fastest ever by a U.S. man and 18th-fastest ever in the world. The previous record for youngest American at track and field worlds was set in 2013 by Mary Cain, who ran at 17 years and 3 months old. Lutkenhaus will shatter the record by youngest U.S. man at the worlds, which is held by Erriyon Knighton, who ran at 18 years and 5 months in 2023. Lutkenhaus' time was so impressive that it would have been the American record before Aug. 10, 2024. Bryce Hoppel set the mark at 1:41.67 after finishing fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics. There are only three times better than Lutkenhaus' time from Aug. 3 in American history. Lutkenhaus now sets his sights on the world championships in Tokyo in September, where he will be joined by Brazier and Hoppel. The high schooler will certainly make plenty of headlines again at the world's brightest stage. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cooper Lutkenhaus, 16, makes U.S. history in 800m
