Hayward Field will host the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Elite athletes from around the globe will descend upon TrackTown, USA for fierce competition, glory and the opportunity to etch their names in the world record books.
It can be difficult to keep track of around 2,000 athletes from over 200 different nations. Here are a few notable athletes likely to break a world record and have a stellar meet in July.
The United States’ Sydney McLaughlin has broken the 400m hurdle record three times in the last year. McLaughlin shaved 0.7 seconds off the record time in last year’s Olympics. At the USA Track and Field Championships on June 25, the 22-year-old two time Olympic gold medalist beat her previous record with a 51.41. She seems to get better every time she steps off the block.
Oregonian Ryan Crouser will be looking to win his first World Championship in shot put. Crouser has two Olympic gold medals and two World Championship final qualifications, but has yet to place first at the Worlds. He holds the world record in both indoor, 22.82m, and outdoor, 23.37m, shot put, 22.82m and 23.37m, respectively. The outdoor record was set at Hayward Field in January 2022. Crouser comes from a lineage of track greatness. His uncles, Dean and Brian Crouser, were the first siblings to win NCAA titles in different events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The two brothers combined for three national championship titles for the University of Oregon in 1982.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran the fastest mile in the last 21 years in early June with a time of 3 minutes, 46.46 seconds. The Norwegian took home gold from the Tokyo Olympics in the 1500m and currently holds the 1500m indoor world record, 3:30.60. Ingebrigtsen will have to trim 2.38 seconds off his personal best to set an outdoor world record, 3:26.00, that has been standing for 24 years.
Armand Duplantis has broken the indoor and outdoor pole vault record six times in the last two years. He topped his last outdoor record by a centimeter in Stockholm on June 30. The Swedish international was born in Louisiana, and is on a 15 meet win streak. At 22-years-old, Duplantis’ potential seems limitless. Duplantis also stems from a track family. His mother and father, Helena and Greg competed on the international stage. Greg Duplatis placed fifth in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1992, and Helena Duplantis competed for Sweden in the Heptathlon.
History will be made at Hayward Field this summer. Lifelong dreams and awesome displays of athleticism will be achieved by the aforementioned athletes and the nearly 2,000 others competing. 20,000 estimated daily spectators will roar as these athletes give their all.. The Track and Field World Championships will take place from July 15 to 24.
