Track and Field

Black Female Athletes You Should Be Watching

January 31, 2024 by Tara S

Coco Gauff, A’ja Wilson, and Sha’Carri Richardson are some of the Black women in sports you should be keeping your eye on.

The ladies are putting the sports world on notice. They’re here to stay.

With women’s sports continuing to grow it’s only right that we take note of some of the best Black female athletes who are dominating their sports. Coco Guaff just won the US Open, A’Ja Wilson just led the Las Vegas Aces to the best regular season ever and Sha’Carri Richardson just won the 100m at the world track and field championships.

The Black ladies in athletics are here to stay. Here are the ones you should be paying attention to:

Coco Gauff

The youngest lady on this list, Coco Gauff is only 19 years old and is already making waves in professional tennis. She recently won the US Open and has cemented herself as one of the faces of Women’s professional Tennis.

A’Ja Wilson

A’Ja Wilson has succeeded on every level of her basketball career. She was the number one ranked player coming out of high school. While at South Carolina, she was a national champion, NCAA tournament MOP, national player of the year, and a three-time first-team All-American. In 2018, she was drafted first overall in the WNBA draft and has since been named a WNBA champion, two-time MVP, a five-time all-star, a defensive player of the year, and rookie of the year.

This post-season, she’s hoping to lead the Las Vegas Aces to another WNBA championship.

Sha’Carri Richardson

Despite her controversial past, Sha’Carri Richardson has persevered to become one of the best track athletes in the world. A month ago, she the 100m at the world track and field championships in 10.65 seconds—a championship record time.

Jonquel Jones

Breanna Stewart may get all the attention as the best player on the New York Liberty, but Jonquel Jones is no slouch. She’s a four-time WNAB All-Star who won league MVP in 2021. She’s hoping to be apart of the reason the Liberty win a championship in 2023

Angel Reese

Angel Reese is among the most dominant players in the country and this past season was named a first-team All-America, the NCAA tournament most outstanding player (MOP), and an NCAA Champion. LSU legend Shaquille O’Neal named her the greatest athlete the university has ever produced. The only question left is, can Reese lead the Tigers to back-to-back titles?

Flau’jae Johnson

Angel’s teammate, Flau’jae Johnson is not just a talented hooper, she’s also a successful rapper. She went viral last year for a dope freestyle she had on Bars On I-95.

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka has been a prodigy ever since she stepped on a professional tennis court. Despite being only 25 years old, she’s already won four majors, (two Australian Opens and two US Opens). Although she’s been on maternity leave for the past year, she’s ready to show that she’s still the best in the world.

Azzi Fudd

Azzi Fudd is a young college basketball player who just keeps getting better. Coming out of high school, she was the number one ranked player in the country and opted to go to the most storied women’s basketball program in the country, UCONN. During her freshman year, she helped lead her team to the 2022 Final Four. While the team didn’t make it that far in 2023, she’s hoping to lead a comeback this upcoming season.

Simone Biles

What can Simone Biles not do? She’s the most accomplished professional gymnast in the world. During the 2022 Olympics, she took a stand for athletes with mental health issues after she took a break during the games to focus on herself.

Aaliyah Boston

Following in A’Ja Wilson’s footsteps, Aaliyah Boston was also a star college athlete at the University of South Carolina. Currently, she’s the best player on a young Indiana Fever team and was recently named the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year.

Elaine Thompson-Herah

Usain Bolt ain’t the only successful Jamaican sprinter. The fastest woman in the history of the Olympics, Elaine Thompson-Herah set the Olympic record in the Women’s 100 Meters during the Summer Olympics in 2021. She edged out Florence Griffith Joyner’s long-standing record of 10.62 with a time of 10.61.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Before Thompson-Herah set the Olympic record in the women’s 100 meters, fellow Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran the fastest time in nearly 33 years: 10.63 during an event in June 2021.

Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone

Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone is also a track and field star who is among the fastest in the world. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won two gold medals, one in the 400-meter hurdles and another in the 4×400-meter relay. She also set the world record in the 400-meter hurdles in 2022, clocking a time of 50.68.

Candace Parker

Candace Parker is a basketball legend who’s been the best at every level of her career. As a rookie in the WNBA, she won the WNBA MVP and the Rookie of the Year award. In 2021, she cemented her status as a Hall of Famer after leading her hometown team, the Chicago Sky, to their first-ever WNBA championship.

Britney Griner

Thankfully, Britney Griner is back home after spending more than 100 days in a Russian prison during most of 2022. People may have forgotten, but Griner is still an imposing physical presence in the WNBA and had an awesome 2023 season despite the Phoenix Mercury struggling as a team. She’s a nine-time all-star and a WNBA champion.

Elana Meyers Taylor

I know some of us don’t pay attention to the Winter Olympics, but you might want to start, in order to watch bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor do her thing. During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Taylor became the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history after taking home her fifth medal.

Erin Jackson

Along with being a brilliant athlete, Erin Jackson also has a degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Florida. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the talented speed skater won gold in the 500 meter.

Claressa Shields

The ladies have hands too. Claressa Shields is one of the best Boxers out there. She won a gold medal at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics and is undefeated as a professional boxer.

10 BREAKOUT PERFORMANCES BY TEAM USA ATHLETES IN SUMMER SPORTS IN 2023

December 22, 2023 by Tara S

BY CHRÖS MCDOUGALL | Team USA

New stars emerge every four years at the Olympics and Paralympics. If you were paying attention in 2023, though, you might have caught a preview of what’s to come next summer.

The year before the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 saw several breakout performances from Team USA athletes, results that included world championships, world records and drought-busting finishes.

Fans can follow along throughout the year at TeamUSA.com, but as we look ahead to the Olympic and Paralympic year in 2024, here are 10 athletes who showed in 2023 that they could be names to watch for in Paris:

Minna Stess, Skateboarding

Currently ranked 5th in the world, Minna Stess made history this year by placing third at the WST Park World Championship 2023 in Rome Ostia. In addition to securing crucial points for the Road to Paris 2024, Stess became the first U.S. woman ever to podium at an Olympic qualifier or Worlds event. At just 17 years old, she is considered the top U.S. female athlete in park skateboarding.

Mark Reis: Team USA

Sarah Adam, Wheelchair Rugby

Long a mixed-gender sport in name only, wheelchair rugby in the United States now has a female star. Adam broke through to become the first U.S. woman to compete at the world championships in 2022, and in 2023 she established herself as a go-to scorer on a team with Paralympic gold-medal aspirations. Adam, who when not playing is a professor of occupational therapy at St. Louis University, played key roles for Team USA in two major tournaments this year, including the Parapan American Games in November in Santiago, Chile. A victory there made Adam the first woman to win Parapan Ams gold in the sport and secured Team USA’s spot in Paris next year. Only Chuck Aoki, a three-time Paralympic medalist, scored more points than Adam.

Team USA

Hannah Chadwick guide Skyler Espinoza, Para-Cycling

Chadwick and her visual guide Espinoza didn’t plan to race the track sprint event at August’s world championships in Scotland. Yet in their first sprint race together, the new tandem won a bronze medal. Later, at the Parapan American Games, they opened with another unexpected win in the 3,000-meter individual pursuit. One day later they were back at their preferred 1,000-meter distance, and back atop the podium, this time in the time trial. The winning time also set a new Parapan Ams record for the event. In Paris, Chadwick, of El Cerrito, California, and Freeport, Maine, native Espinoza will aim to win Team USA’s first Paralympic medal in a visually impaired cycling event since 2008.

Mark Reis

CJ Nickolas, Taekwondo

The 21-year-old Nickolas put U.S. men’s taekwondo back on the map in May when he finished as runner-up in the men’s 80 kg. class at the world championships in Azerbaijan. Nickolas, of Brentwood, California, defeated the reigning Olympic bronze medalist in the semifinals before falling to the division’s top-ranked athlete in the final. In doing so, he became the first U.S. man to win a world championships medal in the sport since 2009. After no U.S. men qualified for the Olympics in taekwondo in 2021 — the first time that had happened — Nickolas should be in position to not only qualify for Paris but maybe even contend for a medal.

Noelle Malkamaki, Para Track & Field

Breaking a world record is so fun Malkamaki decided to do it three times this summer. The 22-year-old from Decatur, Illinois, first established a new global mark in the women’s shot put F46 at the U.S. championships in May. In July, she did it twice more at the world championships in Paris. Her final throw of 13.32 meters secured both the world title and her second world record of the day. Malkamaki, who throws collegiately for DePaul, only recently began throwing in Para competitions, and already she’s a favorite for a Paralympic medal next year in Paris.

Getty Images

Fred Richard, Gymnastics

Richard arrived on the scene in 2022 eager to draw attention to his sport , both through TikTok and his performances. It’s safe to say he’s succeeded in both. In April, the 19-year-old wrapped up his freshman season at Michigan by winning the all-around and two event titles at the NCAA championships. Six months later, in Belgium, he broke through on a higher level. Richard left the world championships with a pair of bronze medals — in the team and the all-around. Those marked the first medals for U.S. men in those events at a global championship since 2014 and 2012, respectively. And Richard’s high-flying ways aren’t limited to his stunning floor exercise and high bar routines. His creative gymnastics challenge videos have earned him a following of 645,000 and counting on TikTok.

(L-R0 Valarie Allman and Laulauga Tausaga-Collins pose with their U.S. flags.

Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, Track & Field

Talk about owning the moment. Tausaga-Collins unleashed the biggest throw of her life — by far — to become the first U.S. woman to win a discus world title. The Hawaii-born, California-raised thrower missed the Tokyo Olympics and finished 12th of 12 in the final of last year’s world championships, both while battling back injuries. At this year’s worlds in August in Hungary, Tausaga-Collins sat in fifth place with two throws to go. That’s when she broke out for a 69.49-meter throw, beating her personal best by nearly four meters. Her U.S. teammate and the defending Olympic champ, Valarie Allman, was just behind Tausaga-Collins in second (69.23 m).

Joe Kusumoto

Sam Watson, Climbing

Speed climbing will debut as an Olympic medal event in Paris after being rolled into a combined event in 2021 in Tokyo. That’s good news for Watson, who at 17 is already one of the fastest in the history of the sport. In April, Watson, of Southlake, Texas, scaled the 15-meter wall in 5.02 seconds to establish a new U.S. record. The only thing missing for Watson was a climb like that when it counts most, in a final. He finally put everything together at the Pan American Games in October in Santiago, where he not only won the gold medal but also clinched his first Olympic berth.

Getty Images

Joscelyn Roberson, Gymnastics

The world championships didn’t end quite how Roberson had hoped — a “freak injury” in warmups kept her out of the team and vault finals. But just about everything prior in 2023 was a dream for the 17-year-old from Texarkana, Texas. Following a switch to Simone Biles’ gym last year, Roberson enjoyed a breakthrough winter racking up medals at competitions in Germany, Egypt and Colombia. The powerful tumbler is particularly strong on floor and vault, the latter of which she won at the U.S. championships. In only in her second year at the senior elite level, Roberson showed she can hang with the best in the world.

Joe Kusumoto Team USA

Jeromie Meyer, Wheelchair Basketball

Make no mistake, the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team is still a veteran-led group. If the team is to win a third consecutive Paralympic gold medal next year, though, it’ll need key contributions from players like Meyer, of Woodbine, Iowa, who proved to be a key contributor off the bench this year. Meyer closed out his first senior tournament with Team USA by dropping in five points in a 67–66 win over Great Britain to secure the world title in June in Dubai, UAE. He was the only bench player to record a point. Meyer was at it again at the Parapan Am Games, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds in the final as Team USA thumped Colombia to secure the gold medal and a spot in the Paris Games.

Chrös McDougall has covered the Olympic and Paralympic Movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Athletics star Yemi Mary John crowned winner of SportsAid’s One-to-Watch Award 2023

December 22, 2023 by Tara S

By: Sports Aid

Track sensation Yemi Mary John, 20, from Woodford in Essex, has been named as the winner of SportsAid’s prestigious One-to-Watch Award for 2023! Yemi Mary received the annual Award, supported by Royal Bank of Canada, after an outstanding year which saw her claim gold in the 400m at the European Athletics U23 Championships and two senior relay medals at the World Athletics Championships.

Yemi Mary, who also featured in the top 10 last year having won gold at the World Athletics U20s Championships in 2022, was presented with the Award by 400 metres legend Christine Ohuruogu MBE at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on Monday (18 December). She edged out para cyclist Archie Atkinson, 19, and BMX rider Freia Challis, 15, as they finished in second and third positions respectively.

“It’s a really good feeling and it’s great to have had this season’s achievements recognised!” said Yemi Mary shortly after being presented with the Award. “They caught me off-guard with my Award which was a lovely surprise. Christine has done amazing things, not only in the sport as a whole but in the 400 specifically, so just to have her recognise me and be able to be in a room with such great and successful people is exciting. I appreciated her being there for it.

“I feel like it sets me up for a great trajectory of success and hopefully I will follow in the footsteps of those before [who have won the One-to-Watch Award]. I feel like I’m already on the radar especially because of my first senior season, not only just competing but coming away with medals. The targets I had for the season were hit in the senior field and it solidified my position there and hopefully I can now go further next year.”

The One-to-Watch Award has gained a strong reputation for identifying the best up-and-coming prospects in Britain since its launch in 2006. Previous winners, including Tom Daley OBE, Hollie Arnold MBE, Jodie Williams and Alex Yee MBE, have already amassed over 50 senior medals from Olympic and Paralympic Games, World and European Championships, and Commonwealth Games.

Yemi Mary, who dabbled in many sports from gymnastics to MMA when growing up, only started properly competing on the track in 2019. The University of Southern California student has been supported by SportsAid for the last two years and is now determined to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games having made such an impression on the world stage at senior level in 2023.

“Olympics year, Paris has to be my first and biggest target,” added Yemi Mary. “Obviously performing in the NCAA’s season as well will be key to making sure I appear on the senior scene on an individual basis as well as in the relays. I just need to keep on doing what I have been doing and ramp it up. It’s been working pretty well so far….so just doing that, times 10. I don’t like to put a lid on my goals by giving one specific number or title but I’m definitely wanting more medals, more golds, more Olympics, more records even. I want to grow as an athlete and a person.”

The top 10 for this year’s One-to-Watch Award were selected from around 1,000 rising British stars supported by SportsAid across more than 60 different sports. Athletes are nominated by their sport’s governing body on the strength of their talent and potential, as well as their recent achievements, before a judging panel, led by Sarah Winckless MBE, identifies the winner, runner-up and third place.

The remaining shortlisted athletes – equestrian Alice Casburn, fencer Amelie Tsang, canoeist Greta Roeser, weightlifter Isabella Brown, squash player Jonah Bryant, golfer Kris Kim, and para athlete Madeline Down – have had their achievements celebrated with in-person visits from SportsAid. The charity’s staff has travelled to their training environments to gain further insight into how they balance sport with their day-to-day commitments.

Each of the top 10 athletes are receiving a cash boost in recognition of their incredible feats. Yemi Mary is being awarded £1,000 as the winner with Archie receiving £750 and Freia benefitting from £500. Alice, Amelie, Greta, Isabella, Jonah, Kris and Madeline will each be given £250. They have also been provided with gift packages focused on nutrition, mental wellbeing, sleep and recovery.

SportsAid alumna Christine was delighted to present the One-to-Watch Award to Yemi Mary and predicted a bright future for each of the top 10. Christine, who was crowned Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion while accumulating over 20 international medals during her senior career, has high hopes for Yemi Mary having seen the potential she has demonstrated in the 400m discipline.

She has also been impressed by how the USC athlete balances her sport with her Economics studies – alongside the time she spends as a committed volunteer at a homeless shelter. Yemi Mary, who has taken inspiration from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s Pocket Rocket Foundation, hopes to build a similar legacy of her own while inspiring young girls to pursue their sporting ambitions.

“I think Yemi’s fantastic,” said Christine. “I am really blown away by how young she is and how much she does, not just on the track, but outside track. I think it’s a great inspiration for her peers, and for older people, that you can juggle the two successfully. I’m hoping that this Award will continue to inspire her to keep reaching and wanting to be the athlete that causes a stir and mixes things up.

“I think the 400 metres in this country is in a really great place both in the men’s and the women’s. And I think that’s what’s great about Yemi – she does really keep the girls on their toes. And not only that, I’ve also noticed that it inspires the other younger athletes. Because when you see someone else who is new and young coming through, it gives other people the opportunity to believe that they can do the same thing and that they can create an impact. I think she should be really proud of herself.”

Christine added: “I was a recipient of a SportsAid award not too long ago….a very, very, very, very many few years ago! The sports world can get very, very crowded, and very, very noisy. So the athletes are working away, often in their own pockets around the country, and they can sometimes feel like they’re doing all this hard work and nobody cares. I think that it’s really nice for the athletes to feel like they’ve been seen, they’ve been recognised and that their hard work hasn’t gone in vain.”

Here’s more information on the top three for this year’s One-to-Watch Award….

Winner

Yemi Mary John
Athletics
20, from Woodford, Essex

• Gold in the women’s 400m at the European Athletics U23 Championships
• Silver in the 4x400m mixed relay at the IAAF World Athletics Championships (senior)
• Bronze in the 4x400m women’s relay at the IAAF World Athletics Championships (senior)

Runner-up

Archie Atkinson
Para Cycling
19, from Heaton Moor, Greater Manchester

• Gold in the men’s C4 Scratch Race at the UCI Cycling World Championships (senior)
• Bronze in the men’s C4 Road Race at the UCI Cycling World Championships (senior)
• Fifth in the men’s C4 Individual Time Trial at the UCI Cycling World Championships (senior)

Third place

Freia Challis
BMX
15, from Halstead, Essex

• Gold in the women’s race at the UCI BMX Racing World Championships (15 years)
• Gold in the women’s race at the UEC BMX Racing European Championships (15 years)
• Gold in the women’s race at the UEC BMX Racing European Cup (15/16 years)

And here’s the seven athletes who made the top 10 alongside Yemi, Archie and Freia….

Alice Casburn
Equestrian
21, from Norwich, Norfolk

• Seventh place at the Burghley International three-day event (open age group)
• Seventh place at the Thorsesby Park 4* International (open age group)
• Eighteenth place at the Badminton International 5* three-day event (open age group)

Amelie Tsang
Fencing
17, from Bromley, Greater London

• Gold in the women’s individual foil at the World Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships
• Gold in the women’s individual foil at the British Fencing Championships (senior)
• Silver in the women’s individual foil at the EFC Cadet Championships (Cabries event)

Greta Roeser
Canoeing
18, from Guildford, Surrey

• Gold in the women’s K1 5,000m at the ICF Junior Canoe Sprint World Championships
• Silver in the women’s K1 Long Course (17.7km) at the ICF Junior Canoe Sprint World Championships
• Gold in the women’s K1 Short Course at the ECA Junior Canoe Marathon European Championships

Isabella Brown
Weightlifting
19, from Ashford, Middlesex

• Bronze in the women’s 76kg category at the EWF European Junior and U23 Weight Lifting Championships
• Silver in the women’s 76kg category at the British Weight Lifting Championships (senior)
• Ranked third in Europe and eighth in the world in the 76kg category at junior level

Jonah Bryant
Squash
18, from Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex

• Gold in the men’s singles event at the ESF European U19 Individual and Mixed Team Championships
• Gold in the mixed team event at the ESF European U19 Individual and Mixed Team Championships
• Silver in the men’s singles event at the British Junior Open Championships

Kris Kim
Golf
16, from Worcester Park, Greater London

• Won the Junior Ryder Cup with Team Europe by a record margin (Kris won 3.5pts from 4)
• Won the R&A Boys’ Amateur title (U18)
• Won the EGA European Boys Team Championships (U18) and set new course-record

Madeline Down
Para Athletics
16, from Selly Oak, West Midlands

• Gold in the women’s T38 100m at the Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Youth Games
• Gold in the women’s T38 long jump at the Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Youth Games
• Gold in the women’s T38 100m and long jump at the England Athletics National Championships (U17)

Brynn King Breaks NCAA Pole Vault Record

December 7, 2023 by Tara S

ROBERTS WESLEYAN Athletics

AKRON, Ohio – The indoor track and field season started off with a bang for Roberts Wesleyan pole vaulter Brynn King as the grad student broke the NCAA Division II pole vault record with a clearance of 14-feet 5-1/2-inches.

King broke the 14-year old NCAA record in her first-ever meet with the Redhawks while at the Akron Haynes Lancaster Open on Friday evening hosted by the University of Akron. The record was previously held by Katelin Rains of Minnesota State set on Feb. 21, 2009 with a vault of 14-feet 5-1/4-inches. King is now the top vaulter in NCAA DII and has the second-best mark in any division of the NCAA.

“I felt great going into the meet today,” King said. “I have been seeing a lot of technical improvement in practice and was ready to go out, have that meet atmosphere and excitement and see what kind of bars I could jump. It is really exciting to have the D2 record now, we had set that as a goal for me this year and it is really exciting to be able to cross that off the list.”

King, who is a transfer student from Duke University came to Roberts to train under Olympic gold medalist Jenn Suhr. The coach and athlete duo have their expectations set high for both the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.

“I have been jumping some big bars in practice and didn’t execute as well as I wanted to this meet,” King said. “So we have some high expectations for the rest of the season and am planning on much bigger bars coming real soon.”

Roberts track and field will travel to Grand Valley State on Dec. 8 for the GVSU Holiday Open.

SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON NAMED 2023 USATF FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

December 5, 2023 by Tara S

Danteé Ramos | Blavity

A significant award was given to LSU track star Sha’Carri Richardson at the 2023 USATF Night of Legends on Saturday in Orlando in conjunction with the USATF Annual Meeting. The night honored several athletes and their remarkable performances this year.

Richardson was named USATF Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year. For women, the top honor bestowed by USATF is the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year award. Since its inception in 1981, the award has been given yearly to honor the most exceptional female athlete. Votes from the media and fans are combined to choose the winner.

“With the God that I serve, everything happens when it’s supposed to happen. So when I stand here today as the world champion, that’s because now was the time for that to happen. Now is the most impactful it would be, the most powerful it would be, and the most sincere it would be,” Richardson said in her acceptance speech.

“I understand the influence that I have, I understand the responsibility that I have to USATF and as a top female USA athlete, and to my country, and to my black family, to my beautiful women, to everybody that has been misunderstood for trying to be their best selves and not be put into a category because they do track and field and have been put in a bubble,” she added.

Throughout the 2023 season, the 23-year-old had 12 wind-legal sub-11 times in the 100 meters. Her best result came in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, when she won gold in 10.65 seconds, placing her fifth on the list of all-time performers worldwide, according to 710 Keel.

Richardson won the 100-meter championship at three different Diamond League events this season, and she also took home the 10.82 USATF Nike Women’s 100 title.

Richardson became the first American woman to win a medal in both the 100 and 200-meter sprints at the World Athletics Championships since Carmelita Jeter won gold and silver in 2011. Richardson also claimed bronze in the 200.

The 23-year-old is proof that everything will happen when it’s supposed to. She also serves as an example for other young people to keep going despite failures.

Noelle Malkamaki Has Fully Embraced Being A Para Collegiate Athlete

August 22, 2023 by Tara S

LELA MOORE | USA Paralympics Track and Field

When Noelle Malkamaki broke the world record in the women’s shot put F46 for the first time, she didn’t even realize it.

It was earlier this summer, while competing at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in Chula Vista, California. Malkamaki said she wasn’t having her best meet and ended up not feeling the thrill she thought she would.

The circumstances were different when she broke her own world record two months later. In fact, Malkamaki set a new record three separate times during last month’s World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, with the official record of 13.32 meters coming on her final throw. That was more than enough to secure the gold medal in Malkamaki’s world championships debut.

“The energy was better, and I enjoyed the performance personally,” Malkamaki, 22, said.

Her journey to the world record has been a short and fast one, although, she said, it did not seem like it would ever begin at the outset.

The Decatur, Illinois, native, whose right hand never developed due to amniotic band syndrome, began throwing in middle school and earned a scholarship to DePaul University in Chicago. Two years into her NCAA career, her coach brought up the Paralympics.

With no concept of how many classifications existed in Paralympic competition and what qualification entailed, Malkamaki was hesitant.

“I was a complete outsider,” she said. “It wasn’t even like I was looking in from the outside; I just didn’t have the information.”

Malkamaki initially worried, she said, that she was not “disabled enough.”

“Those were the words that I used because I didn’t have any idea or understanding of how everything worked,” she said.

There were many steps to the process of getting classified, and many times when she wondered if she was going about everything correctly.

She eventually received her national classification, followed by her international classification. And finally, she said, “the ball really started moving.”

For a while, Malkamaki felt like she was living in two different worlds. She was a Division I athlete, attending meets against able-bodied athletes one day, then she’d be competing as a Para athlete the next.

After a year of pursuing Para competition, Malkamaki said, “it’s weird living in these two spheres, but the more I think about it, I’m realizing that there are ways that these two things can be the same.”

Malkamaki had a successful senior season at DePaul, where she throws discus and hammer in addition to the shot put. She took fourth place in the shot put at the Big East outdoor championships.

With one year of eligibility left at DePaul (granted because of the COVID-19 pandemic), Malkamaki has started to feel more comfortable competing in college and on the Para international stage.

“I don’t have to be two different athletes,” she said. “I’m one athlete that takes up space in both, and that’s OK.”

Her experience in Paris helped Malkamaki become more accepting of that, as she was able to interact with other athletes who have similar experiences. She quickly discovered she was not the only one struggling mentally with the dichotomy.

“Among the other athletes on the U.S. Para team who are also in college sports, we’re all able to talk to one another and make each other feel secure,” she said. “We can all tackle this together and work through some of these confusing feelings together.”

One of Malkamaki’s closest friends on the national team is Liza Corso, who won a silver medal in the women’s 1500-meter T13 in Paris. The visually impaired distance runner will be entering her junior year this fall at Lipscomb University in Nashville.

“She was the first person I talked to about, ‘Hey, am I normal for feeling this way?’” Malkamaki said of Corso.

The two women supported each other throughout training and watched each other compete in Paris.

Malkamaki is grateful that she will have the support at DePaul as she competes through her fifth season while also training with an eye on next summer’s Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

“I really have a lot of trust in my college program right now,” she said.

Malkamaki will add in more plyometric exercises into her strength-training regime, she said, with the hopes of making her both stronger but also more explosive.

“I want to leave the college system with a bang because I’m really grateful for the time that I’ve had here,” she said.

Malkamaki knows that once she leaves college, her training will become much more single-minded. Ultimately, she hopes to break her own world record again, perhaps at the Paralympics. She has not taken a break since she began Para competitions, and she doesn’t plan to before Paris.

“Why mess with something that isn’t broken?” she said.

Sha’Carri Richardson stamps a comeback with a 100-meter world title

August 22, 2023 by Tara S

Peter Granitz | NPR

Sha’Carri Richardson ran past a heat of the fastest sprinters in the world Monday to win the women’s 100 meter at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest.

She ran from behind and past Jamaicans Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the defending world champion, to win with a time of 10.65 seconds.

Richardson’s run – from the disadvantageous outside lane – catapults her back into the elite ranks of women’s track and marks a major comeback after two years of disappointment.

“I would say never give up,” Richardson said after Monday’s race. “Never allow media, never allow outsiders, never allow anything but yourself and your fate to define who you are. I would say always fight. No matter what. Fight.”

Richardson was poised to contend in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, but after testing positive for marijuana, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended her from competition for a month, which prevented her from competing in the games.

Her suspension set off a debate over the fairness and equal application of anti-doping tests, a debate Richardson herself joined, after initially and immediately accepting her suspension. At the time, President Joe Biden said of her suspension, “The rules are the rules, and everybody knows what the rules were going in, whether they should remain the rule is a different issue.”

Richardson said she took marijuana in Oregon, where it is legal, after learning of the death of her mother. The ban marked the start of two years in the track and field wilderness.

She finished last in the 100 meters in her return after the suspension at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic. Then she failed to make last year’s worlds team.

But 2023 marked a new lap. In May, at the LA Grand Prix she said she “went through a tough time,” in track and field, and that in the previous years “It just was me that was standing in my way.”

There was little standing in her way in Monday’s finals.

The two Jamaicans were running from the middle and ran out of the blocks to an early lead. Richardson trailed until the final meters of the race and pulled far enough ahead to cross the line with outstretched arms.

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On Monday, she repeated a message she said she’s been saying all year.

“I’m not back. I’m better.”

CATARINA MACARIO, CHLOE KIM AND MORE: 20 FEMALE ATHLETES TO KNOW IN 2022

December 21, 2021 by Tara S

As 2021 comes to an end, it’s time to look forward to the year ahead in sports.

With the Winter Olympics in February, March Madness on the calendar and a landmark NWSL season to come, women’s sports fans are in store for an exciting year.

Here are the 20 athletes to know or get reacquainted with in 2022:

[Read more…]

VALARIE ALLMAN CONTINUES “MAGIC” SEASON, BREAKING OWN AMERICAN RECORD IN DISCUS

September 14, 2021 by Tara S

By Karen Rosen

After winning the Olympic gold medal and the Diamond League Trophy this year, Valarie Allman still longed to throw farther than one other person: herself.

Allman did just that Sunday, winning the women’s discus throw in Berlin at the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) meet.

Her first attempt flew 71.16 meters (233 feet, 5 inches), a personal best by a meter which held up for the victory.

The “AR” next to Allman’s name on the results sheet did not stand for American record – although it was certainly that, eclipsing her own mark of 70.15 meters (230-2) from 2020. Allman now has eight of the top 10 throws in Team USA history – and her 68.80 in the final round in Berlin would have given her nine if secondary throws in a series were counted on the official list.

No, this AR stood for Area Record, with Allman breaking the North & Central American & Caribbean record of 70.88 meters set by Cuba’s Hilda Ramos in 1992.

“This season, it’s been filled with so many magic moments,” Allman said. “The one thing I want to do every season is try to improve my best – 2021 was coming to the end and to have a PR feels so good! All the work paying off and to see that show up is really special.”

The 26-year-old Colorado native also shattered the meet record of 68.64 meters by Margitta Pufe of East Germany that had lasted since 1979.

And, finally, the mark was the longest throw in the world this year – surpassing Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands, who threw 70.22 in May — giving Allman the coved “WL” next to her name.

“HOLY MACARONI,” Allman posted on Instagram below a photo showing her and coach Zebulon Sion next to the scoreboard with the winning distance.

That was a fitting exclamation since Allman’s career began with pasta. Back in high school, the promise of a spaghetti dinner tempted athletes to try the field events. That led Allman, who had been a competitive dancer, to discover a new passion in life.

[Read more…]

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