Track & Field Worlds Wrap Up With Records, Hayward Magic

Oregon22, the World Track and Field Championships, wrapped up this past weekend and was by most measures a tremendous success. Athletes from around the globe competed, world, Championship and national records were broken and large crowds of spectators witnessed some truly incredible performances. Hayward Field and Eugene were presented in their best lights. In a report generated several years ago, the event was estimated to generate about $200 million in local economic impact. Potential traffic problems never materialized. Because the Meet was televised worldwide, visibility of the Eugene area and Oregon in general was dramatically increased.

The US team had a better Worlds than were perhaps expected, winning 13 Gold Medals and 33 Medals overall, the best result among the participants. Just behind the US, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Kenya each finished with a total of 10 Medals with Ethiopia gaining 4 Golds. Forty-Five Nations ultimately won at least one Medal.

The Ducks had 15 alumni and 2022-season athletes scheduled to attend Oregon22, some as alternates. Not all ended up competing. Here is a breakdown of how Oregon’s competitors did:

Jessica Hull - Australia - In the 1500 Meters, Hull finished 2^nd in her heat and advanced to the semi-finals. Hull advanced to the Final with a 3^rd place finish in her heat, running a 4:01.81. In the Final, Hull ran a 4:01.82 and finished 7th.

Jillian Weir - Canada – Weir qualified for the Women’s Hammer Finals out of Group B with a throw of 72 meters. She improved slightly in the Final, throwing 72.41 meters and finishing 5^th overall.

Tristan James - Dominica - James hit a Long Jump of 7.72 meters in his qualifying heat, finishing 13^th and failing to qualify for the Final.

Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Shana Grebo* - France – Grebo and her French teammates qualified for the 4 x 400 Final by finishing 3^rd in their heat with a season’s-best time of 3:28.89. In the Final, France finished 5^th despite improving their time by more than 3 seconds to 3:25.81.

Emmanuel Ihemeje* - Italy - Ihemeje qualified 2^nd out of his initial group with a Triple Jump of 17.13 meters, a season’s best. He set another personal mark in the Final, jumping 17.17 meters, which was good for 5^th place overall.

Kemba Nelson* - Jamaica – Nelson competed in two events. In the Women’s 100, she qualified for the semi-final with a 3^rd place finish in her heat in a time of 11.10 seconds. She failed to advance from the semi-final, however, finishing 6^th and running a time of 11.25. In the 4x100 relay, Nelson and her Jamaican teammates ran a season-best 42.37 seconds in their heat, good for 2^nd place behind Great Britain’s 2022 world’s best 41.99. In the Final, Nelson ran the first leg, and Jamaica again bettered their best time with 41.18, finishing just behind the US team and winning a Silver Medal.

Devon Allen - United States – Competing in the 110 Meter Hurdles, Allen had perhaps the most controversial trip through the Oregon22 Meet. He won his heat in 13.47 seconds and came 2^nd in his semi-final heat at 13.09. In the final, Allen was deemed to have had too quick a reaction time after the starters gun and was disqualified. Allen’s reaction was less than the 0.10 seconds allowed under current international “false start” rules. Track and Field has struggled a bit with its false start rules, rewriting them several times and the current rules do not allow for quick reactions such as Allen’s. It seems unfair that an athlete can be disqualified for leaving the blocks after the gun has sounded - even if his or her reaction time is faster than some artificial limit set by international track officials.

Johnny Gregorek - United States - Gregorak qualified for the semi-final out of the 2^nd heat in the Men’s 1500, finishing 6^th in a time of 3:35.65. He failed to qualify for the final, running a 3:37.35 in the semi-final, good for 8^th place.

Alaysha Johnson - United States - In the Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles, Johnson hit the first two hurdles in her qualifying heat and was disqualified.

Jenna Prandini - United States - Prandini finished 2^nd in her 200 Meter heat with a time of 22.38 seconds. In her semi-final, she missed qualifying for the finals by 0.03 seconds after running a 22.08. Prandini had much better success as a member of the US 4 x 100 Relay team. The US team won their heat in 41.56, bettering the 2022 world-leading time set by Great Britain only moments before. In the Final the US again lowered this time, winning the Gold Medal in 41.14.

Raevyn Rogers - United States – Rogers won a close victory in her Women’s 800 qualifying heat, running 2:01.36 and leaning in for a 0.01 second win. She then qualified for the Final on time, running 1:58.77 in her semi-final. In the Final, Rogers again improved her time – to 1:58.26 – but ended up finishing 6^th.

Galen Rupp - United States – Rupp ran a season-best 2:09:36 in the Men’s Marathon, but the time was only good for a 19^th place finish overall.

Cooper Teare - United States - Teare came into this Meet still recovering from a stress reaction in his left tibia, which prevented him from competing at his best. He was knocked out of Men’s 1500 Meters competition after a 13^th place finish in his heat. Teare’s time of 3:41.15 was almost six seconds off his personal best in the race.

*Athletes who competed for Oregon in the 2022 season

Other results

Prevented from running her specialty, Caster Semenya failed to make the Finals of the Women’s 5000 meters, finishing 13^th in her heat with a time of 15:46.12.

World Records

Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) – Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles – 12.12 seconds

Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) – Men’s Pole Vault – 6.21 Meters – 20.37 feet

Sydney McLaughlin (USA) – Women’s 400 Meter Hurdles – 50.68 seconds

World Championships Records

Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) – Men’s Marathon – 2:05:36

Gotytom Gebrelase (Ethiopia) – Women’s Marathon – 2:18:11

Alison dos Santos (Brazil) – Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles – 46.29 seconds

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) Women’s 100 Meters – 10.67 seconds

Shericka Jackson (Jamaica) Women’s 200 Meters – 21.45 seconds

Ryan Crouser – (USA) – Men’s Shot Put – 22.94 Meters – 75.26 feet

Norah Jeruto (Kazahkstan) – Women’s 3000 Meter Steeplechase – 8:53.02

Kristjan Ceh (Slovakia) – Men’s Discus Throw – 71.13 Meters – 233.36 feet

Kimberly Garcia (Peru) – Women’s 35km Walk (Road) – 2:39:16