IAAF World Championship Preview: The best NCAA track and field athletes
The IAAF World Championships are the biggest track and field competition not named the Olympics. Any athlete who can perform on that stage will go down as one of the best the world has ever seen. While professional athletes around the globe are competing on both the continental tour and the diamond league circuits, there is a third group that will compete in Budapest. Believe it or not, NCAA track and field is so competitive that many athletes like Christian Coleman and Abby Steiner, have won medals at the Worlds, just weeks after completing their college seasons. In 2023 athletes from multiple college divisions have a chance to not only make the World finals, but threaten for medals when they do. Here are just a few names you should keep an eye on that have a chance to shock the entire world.
Britton Wilson – Arkansas
Britton Wilson is a legitimate medal threat. She’s running the 400 at the World Championship after finishing second at the USAs to only Sydney McLaughlin. However, she’s been to the Worlds before in the 400 hurdles, and is fresh off a breaking the collegiate record in the 400 both indoors and outdoors!
Julien Alfred - Texas
Julien Alfred of St. Lucia is as dominant as anyone heading into the World Championships. She was at the worlds in 2022, but her 2023 has been on another level. She swept the NCAA sprint events indoors and outdoors, with some of the fastest times ever recorded in the world this year. Beyond that, she’s already beaten America’s best in Sha’carri Richardson.
Rhasidat Adeleke - Texas
Rhasidat Adeleke is a threat to win the 400 meter dash. She proved it by beating Britton Wilson and everyone else to win the NCAA title. She’s running for Ireland in both that event and the 200 meter dash.
Cordell Tinch – Pittsburg State
Nobody has become a medal threat in more shocking fashion than Cordell Tinch. He dominated Division 2 for Pittsburg State, winning every event he entered. But he’s now the fastest 110 hurdler that America has on the clock this year, even faster, than Grant Holloway. So there’s no reason to believe that he can’t be part of an American sweep of the event.
Talitha Diggs – Florida
Talitha Diggs was the collegiate record holder for Florida in the 400 indoors, but now she’s on Team USA in the 400 outdoors, with a good chance at running her way onto the podium. Keep in mind she was the American champion in 2022, and a World Championship finalist.
Tarsis Orogot – Alabama
Tarsis Orogot of Uganda is a threat to make the final in any 200 meter dash that he enters, which includes the worlds. He competed for Alabama and didn’t win the NCAAs, but some of the men who beat him are also on this list, and I’m certain he is looking for payback.
Courtney Lindsey – Texas Tech
Courtney Lindsey of Texas Tech won the NCAA championship in the 100 meter dash. He also shocked the track world already by beating Fred Kerley to make Team USA in the first place. You can count him out if you want to, but anybody who beats the reigning World Champion in the 100 meter dash, in a sprinting race, can continue to be overlooked.
Terrene Jones – Texas Tech
Terrence Jones ran with Lindsey at Texas Tech but he runs for the Bahamas. He is probably the only collegian with a legitimate chance to make the 100 meter final. He didn’t do it at the NCAA outdoor meet, but he won the indoor championship, and still holds the fastest college time of the year.
James Dadzie -Western Texas College
The most surprising of all has to be James Dadzie of Ghana. He ran his 2023 season at the junior college level, and now he is the fastest collegiate athlete in the men’s 200 at worlds. His seed time is even faster than last year’s silver medalist Kenny Bednarek. So regardless of whether we know him or not, he has what it take to bring home a medal.
Honorable Mentions
Even still, there will be other college runners who can surprise everyone after the gun goes off. Kevona Davis was another key piece of Texas’s national championship team, and she could also make the world championship final in the 200 meter by herself for Jamaica. That is a team that is insanely hard to make as is. Yet Shawn Maswanganyi has been leading the Houston Cougars for years now, and he will now be South Africa’s best bet to make a final in either the 100 or the 200 meter dash.
The Bottom Line
The World Championships are a competition for the best track athletes in the world, and that includes those who run in college. They may not be at the top of the list for the announcers to highlight. However the lanes on a track do not discriminate. Regardless of who you run for, or what your uniform says, if you have what it takes to get the job done, you will be allowed to do it on the biggest stage. Any athlete on this list has the talent to do it. The truth is that the NCAA championships is basically a formal warm up for the world championship meet. So there’s no reason to believe these athletes don’t have what it takes to get the job done.
LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD, RUN GOOD.
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