Joshua Shelton Suggested Team Go For Record And They All Agreed; Taylor-Nicole Overton Subs In For Final And Runs Blistering Second Leg to Break The Race Open

By Lori Shontz For DyeStat

Keith Webber Photos

INTERVIEWS

EUGENE – Joshua Shelton was the first to verbalize the goal – a U20 world record in the mixed 4x400 relay. “Manifestation,” he said, “is key.”

His U.S. teammates were quick to agree. They went into Wednesday night’s final at the World Athletics U20 Championships at Hayward Field expecting to set that record, and then they dominated the event just as they planned, setting the world and championship record of 3:15.31, nearly three seconds ahead of the field.

Shelton, Taylor-Nicole Overton, Jaelen Hunter and Olivia Harris ran more than two seconds faster than the previous record, set in 2022 by the U.S. team at U20s in Cali, Colombia.

And they put together the performance despite terrible conditions, with the Air Quality Index of 260, with winds bringing wildfire smoke into the area.

“What we did was, we blocked that out,” Shelton said. “Everyone has to go through it. Once again, it matters who the dog was.”

The U.S. team led the entire race, with Shelton splitting 46.22, and Overton, who will be a freshman at Tennessee, broke open the race with a split of 51.70. She was the only member of the team who hadn’t run the morning prelim; 400 hurdler Natalie Dumas ran the earlier race.

“It was a good sub, I think,” Overton said. “I took her spot, but I still tried to make sure we kept the group together, still good chemistry.”

Hunter extended the lead with the fastest leg of the race, 45.57, and Harris anchored in 51.82.

“I’m a little tired,” Harris said. “But I did what I had to do to bring us home strong and win.”

The next five teams set national records, led by runner-up Czech Republic, which moved from sixth to second on the last lap as anchor Linda Botkova ran 51.59, the fastest female split of the event. The team ran 3:18.16, just ahead of Australia (3:18.45, also an Oceania area record) and Jamaica (3:18.78).

Great Britain finished fifth in 3:20.50, and South Africa was sixth in 3:21.48.