International athletes are dominating college Track and Field, at every level
The NCAA Division 1 championship is one of the greatest track meets of the year. Any real track and field fan knows some of the best performances of the entire outdoor season will be run on that weekend. In fact, if you really want to know who is up next to dominate at the Olympics, you should keep your eye on the winners circle. Americans like Christian Coleman, Sha’carri Richardson, Michael Norman, and Gabby Thomas, all proved themselves at the NCAA level. But in 2023 it is clear that something different is going on in the NCAA. At the outdoor national meet the University of Florida won the men’s title with Emanuel Bamidele as their leading scorer. The University of Texas won it all on the women’s side and they were led by Julien Alfred. If you don’t know much about either of those athletes, there is a reason. They are not American runners. Bamidele is from Nigeria and Alfred is from St. Lucia. They never ran one race for an American high school, coming straight to the states for college exclusively. More importantly, they are not the only ones.
The truth is that track and field in the National Collegiate Athletic Association isn’t really about the nation of America at all. Because at this point international athletes are dominating and it doesn’t seem like they have any plans on slowing down. So America better get their act together, because if we can’t even win medals at our own collegiate championships, come World Championship time, their hopes of getting on the podium might be slim to none.
International athletes are winning more than the Americans
The Penn Relays is one of the greatest events for any track fan primarily due to its USA vs. the World format. The opportunity to watch Usain Bolt compete at the Penn Relays in the 4x100, even on television is so satisfying because he came to an American event. It was actually an American college event to do it. The funny thing was that for the more than a decade that NBC would cover the meet, USA won the races most of the time. But right now, college track and field in almost every division has turned into USA vs. the World.
If you take a look at the Division 1 NCAA meet you will see that international athletes are winning more events, at that level than anyone else. On the men’s side 10 of the individual events at the championship meet were won by athletes who are internationally affiliated from as far away as Germany and South Africa. Only Udodi Onwuzurike technically attended an American high school, but he competes internationally for Nigeria. These athletes aren’t just coming to America for college, they are coming to win every competition that they enter, and the NCAA meet is a part of that.
The women’s side didn’t look any different. Julien Alfred ran past everyone indoors and outdoors in the sprints, scoring points for Texas, but representing St. Lucia. But all 5 of the leading scorers for the Lady Longhorns were international athletes from St. Lucia, Jamaica, Ireland and Latvia. Texas clearly has moved on from recruiting in state and now has a recruiting pipeline that stretches across the entire world. Beyond that 13 of the individual events were won by 12 international women. They represent a range of nations like Estonia, Kenya, and Sweden. The NCAA championships in Division 1 are basically a tune up meet for the World Championships, and that’s because almost all of those international athletes will be there competing against America.
It's up to you to determine if this international takeover is a problem or not. However, calling this a national collegiate championship is so far away from the truth, that it is basically a bold faced lie at this time. Some events are almost entirely dominated by international athletes, from top to bottom. Like the men’s hammer throw. Four of the top 5 scorers, which is actually half of all the athletes who scored points, were international. The NCAA takeover isn’t just at the top of the podium. It’s all throughout the meet.
How does this affect high school track and field recruiting?
The truth is that high school athletes in America have no idea that they aren’t just competing to be the best in their state, when they want a track and field scholarship. They are competing with the best athletes in the entire world. That is why it’s so hard to get one. Texas is actually a state that leads America in high school track and field performance. Which is ironic because the best track program in that state, left the entire nation to recruit a team that could win the national meet. As a matter of fact, their success is only going to convince more coaches to go overseas to do the same.
Right now Noah Lyles, and Erriyon Knighton are basically the best 200 meter sprinters in the entire world. Neither of them went to college. But the NCAA champion in NCAA Division 1 was slated to compete for Nigeria at the World Championships. The Division 2 champion was eligible for Zimbabwe, and the NAIA champion can represent South Africa. Even the NJCAA champion, that’s the junior college level, is a member of Ghana’s nation team. The oldest of those athletes is 26 years old! The only division where international athletes aren’t dominating is Division 3 because we don’t give scholarships out to them.
The Bottom Line
America takes track and field seriously, but so does the rest of the world. Unlike them we don’t send our best athletes overseas to compete in their colleges. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is running track and field at a level that is arguably higher than we ever have. Much of that is because it no longer matters which nation you come from when you compete. IF you are a college athlete, you should remember that it may say a college team on the front of your uniform. But the NCAA championship meet, isn’t just a battle for the team title anymore. At this point it is USA vs. The World. For that matter, the USA has some catching up to do, because the world is winning a whole lot right now.
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