Track and field is, arguably, the most exciting yet vastly underappreciated sport in the world.
All you needed to do was watch the World Championships over the last week to recognize that.
For those who tuned in every day to check out some of the greatest athletes in the world, you were not disappointed.
Especially if you are from the U.S.
Over the span of nine days, the U.S. dominated the field, taking home 33 total medals (13 gold, 9 silver and 11 bronze).
It was a record-breaking event for Team USA, something that captivated the audience both at Hayward Field in Oregon and across the world.
U.S. Men’s Team
In the 100m, Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell swept the field.
In the 200m, Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton swept the podium and Lyles set a new American record of 19.31, besting Michael Johnson’s 19.32.
Sweeping those two events is a feat that hasn’t happened since 1904.
While the men were sweeping the track, their counterparts in the field did the exact same in the shot put.
Olympic champ Ryan Crouser led the way by taking gold. He was followed by Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde, who set season bests and personal bests, respectively.
In the 400m, Michael Norman bounced back from a disappointing 5th place finish at the Tokyo Games last year to snatch gold in Oregon.
In the 110m hurdles, America went 1-2, with Grant Holloway taking gold and Trey Cunningham taking silver.
Rai Benjamin and Trevor Bassitt added more excitement in the 400m hurdles, with Benjamin taking gold and Bassitt, with a final lean at the tape, taking bronze in a thrilling race.
Zachery Ziemek took bronze in the decathlon by being consistent throughout.
Back at the field, Christopher Nilsen took silver in the pole vault behind new world record holder Armand Duplantis, who broke the record in the last event of the evening.
In the 4x400m relay, Elijah Godwin, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Champion Allison took gold in the 4x400m with a world-leading time of 2:56:17.
But in the 4x100m relay, poor handoffs once again affected the team, pushing Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy to silver behind Team Canada.
U.S. Women’s Team
The women of Team USA gave us equally, if not more, thrilling performances, led by star Sydney McLaughlin.
McLaughlin, as we wrote about in this story, is simply on another level right now.
First, she blazed through the 400m hurdles finals, smashing her own world record with a time of 50.68. Teammate Dalilah Muhammad took bronze.
That time would have put her in 7th place in the open 400m. And that’s with hurdles.
The 22-year-old phenom also anchored the gold medal-winning 4x400m team, running an incredible 47.91.
Her coach has said that she has her sights set on the 400m next. With those performances, we have no doubt she will soon be challenging and probably breaking, Marita Koch’s (Germany) world record time of 47.60.
McLaughlin was joined by her partner in stardom, Athing Mu, who won a thrilling 800m race with a world-leading time of 1:56:30.
While Team USA wasn’t on the podium in the women’s 100m or 200m, thanks to the dominant Jamaican trio of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah, the performances of young sprinters like Abby Steiner, Tamara Clark, Aleia Hobbs and Melissa Jefferson gives the team a bright future.
Ana Hall took the bronze in the Heptathlon.
In the relays, the American women did what the men could not, and that’s sweep both races.
In the 4x100m, Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry held off their rivals from Jamaica in a thrilling race to capture gold with a time of 41.14.
Steiner had a special World Championships experience.
She took gold in both the 4x100m and 4×400, becoming the second woman since Allyson Felix to accomplish that task. She was also a late addition to the 4x400m team, subbing in for Muhammad who was injured during warmups.
Steiner, as reported by NBC Sports, also ran a ridiculous 58 races this year, so she’s earned both her medals and some rest for sure!
Speaking of Allyson Felix, the GOAT returned to Oregon to run in the 4x400m semis and helped lead them to the final round where Talitha Diggs, Steiner, Britton Wilson and McLaughlin brought home the gold.
That means that Felix receives a gold medal as well, adding a 15th gold to her now 20 World Championship medal count.
Over at the field events, the U.S. experienced great success as well.
Chase Ealey, a former sprinter in high school, became the first U.S. woman to win World Championship gold in the shot put. And she did it on her first attempt.
Brooke Anderson and Janee’ Kassanavoid took gold and bronze, respectively, in the hammer throw. Kassanavoid became the first Native American woman to medal at the World Championships.
Valarie Allman took bronze in the discus and Kara Winger took silver in the javelin.
In the pole vault, Katie Nageotte and Sandi Morris took gold and silver, respectively.
In the triple jump, Tori Franklin won bronze.
Team USA took the overall medal title, which helped to remove some of the disappointment a few of the athletes had from the Tokyo Games. It also gave the world more than a week’s worth of excitement, chills, awe, celebration and tears of joy.
Track and field deserves more respect and shine all year around. The World Championships proved that.
So let’s all keep that love and enthusiasm we got from the Worlds and keep it going to 2024 and beyond.
