Tate Taylor Anchors World U20 Record In 4x100 Relay To Claim Third Gold Medal; Jayden DeLeon, Quincy Wilson Work Together To Win 4x400; Taylor-Nicole Overton Anchors U.S. Women In 4x400

By Lori Shontz For DyeStat

Keith Webber and Tim Healy Photos

INTERVIEWS

EUGENE – Take the fourth-place finisher in the U20 100-meter final, a high school sophomore with a wind-aided personal best of 9.92, the 200-meter U20 world silver medalist and – as if that isn’t enough – add the only American man to win the 100 and 200 at the World Athletics U20 Championships.

What do you get?

A world U20 record in the 4x100 relay.

Blake Hamilton, Dillon Mitchell, Kyler Brown and Tate Taylor ran 38.16, which smashed the previous mark of 38.51, set by South Africa in 2021.

The closest anyone could come was runner-up Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who finished in 38.90, an area record. Jamaica finished third in 39.01.

“This is a blessing,” Mitchell said. “I knew I was going to come here and it was going to be something special.”

Hamilton took control from the beginning, splitting 10.54. Mitchell took the baton and ran 9.17 down the backstretch. (He’s 16 years old.) Then Brown ran a 9.70 around the turn, and Taylor was all alone down the frontstretch. His split: 8.75.

“All glory to God,” said Taylor, who’s going home with three gold medals. “He gave me the vision earlier this week. I understood that I would be able to achieve it – I just had to trust in Him and trust in His plan.”

The runners said they were actually hoping to run a 37, but it’s the end of a five-day meet, and they were tired. Taylor had already run six rounds. Hamilton and Mitchell had run three.

The United States ended the meet with victories in both 4x400 relays, both in world U20 leading times.

Ashtyn Lewis, Olivia Harris, Clara Adams and Taylor-Nicole Overton ran 3:29.15 to win the women’s race, with third leg Adams taking the lead on the front stretch of her final lap and Overton stretching the margin of victory.

Australia finished second in 3:31.39, and Great Britain & Northern Ireland finished third in 3:32.08.

Australia had the lead when Adams took the baton, and she said the key was staying patient and not worrying about the gap. “She was in front of me, but I’m going to get there when it matters, when it’s important,” Adams said. “I’m going to get my anchor the baton first.”

Which is exactly what she did, taking the lead with about 25 meters left in her leg.

“I’m proud of myself for keeping a strong mental (outlook) considering the (individual) 400 didn’t go in my favor,” Adams said. “But I knew I had this last event to do. … And I couldn’t let the team down.”

Harris and Overton picked up their second gold medals after being part of the mixed 4x400 team on the meet’s first day.

“This team is amazing,” Harris said. “The mixed relay was amazing. But I think finishing with another gold, it means a lot to us.”

Quincy Wilson, Cameron Tucker, Alexander Osayemi and Jayden DeLeon won the men’s event in 3:01.39 to end the meet and bring the U.S. medal total to a record-breaking 24.

South Africa finished second in an area record 3:02.76, with anchor Leendert Koekemoer, the individual bronze medalist, splitting a 44.35. France finished third in a national record 3:04.80.

“I always knew we were gonna win it,” Osayemi said. “Just do it better than anybody else, and that’s what we did.”

Wilson opened with a 45.78, .01 behind France, and then Tucker ran 45.84, Osayemi ran 45.19 and DeLeon, the 400 individual champion, closed with a 44.57.

Wilson won the last gold medal of his high school career, and he said they all have different feelings attached to them.

“This is for the team,” he said. “It’s always better when you go with the team, when you do hard work with a group of people. Once you see their hard work and the sacrifice they put into our success, I feel like it means a lot.”

And in the women’s 4x100, Shanoya Mikalia Douglas finally got her gold medal, anchoring the Jamaicans to victory in 42.89, ahead of Switzerland (43.35) and Belgium (43.91, a national U20 record). Jamaica led the whole way, and Douglas’ anchor leg was 10.04.

Douglas finished with silver medals, behind Mia Maxwell of the U.S., in the 100 and 200 meters.