Donavan Brazier of the United States celebrates winning the men’s 800 meters in world championship and U.S. record time. Photo by Getty Images for IAAF
Another day, another spotlight on the 800 meters.
Donavan Brazier broke one of the oldest U.S. records on the book, winning the 800 in 1 minute, 42.34 seconds, breaking the record Johnny Gray set in 1985. And not only did Brazier break a 34-year-old U.S record, he broke the championship record and became the first American to win the 800 in 47 years.
But he did it on the same day that the Alberto Salazar, head coach of the Nike Oregon Project, was banned from the sport for four years for doping violations. Brazier runs for NOP, but he trains primarily with another coach, Pete Julian.
Alex Castle sorted through the conflicting emotions and storylines of the day for the Oregonian, and Brooklynn Loiselle did the same for DyeStat, adding information about another big U.S. victory, Noah Lyles in the 200 meters.
Brooklynn also wrote for DyeStat about the highly entertaining men’s pole vault competition, in which Sam Kendricks and Mondo Duplantis went mano a mano, with Kendricks eventually emerging victorious to become the first back-to-back world champion since the revered Sergey Bubka. And as if the event weren’t good enough, Kendricks is one of the most entertaining interviews in all of sport, not just track and field. He’s always a great story.
Nate Mann also covered the pole vault, but for the Register-Guard, he focused on Cole Walsh, a former University of Oregon athlete who had a breakout professional season and made the final, although he cleared only one height. As per usual for a pole vault story, Kendricks figures prominently here, too.
And as always, you can watch the athlete interviews with video by Brett Taylor for DyeStat.
