Citius Mag Podcast

"I didn’t do anything yet. I only made the Olympic team. I made the Olympic final. I only ran 19.4. I’m not saying that like it’s slow. I didn’t medal yet. I don’t have a world record yet. It’s not over. I don’t think this is the highest point." Erriyon Knighton is just 18 years old but has already shattered some of Usain Bolt’s junior sprint records. He also turned pro as a high schooler and signed with Adidas. Back in April, he ran a wind-legal 19.49 at a meet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to become the fourth-fastest man in history. Only Bolt, Yohan Blake and Michael Johnson are ahead of him on the all-time list. Knighton ran 19.84 for the previous U20 record in the semifinal of the Olympic Trials. He made the team and was the youngest U.S. male track Olympian since Jim Ryun in the 60s. He finished fourth at last year’s Olympics and you’ll hear just how much he wants a piece of hardware. My colleague Mac Fleet and I traveled to Tampa earlier this month to spend some time with Erriyon and his coach Jonathan Ter

“I went into NCAAs thinking, ‘I need to perform for my team.’ In those times that you’re doubting yourself, that’s partly why our team is so special. I see how hard my teammates work and I think, ‘OK. I owe them my best performance.’ Even if I don’t think I can pull it out for myself, I can pull it out for them.” You can make the case that Anna Hall is the best athlete on the University of Florida campus, which is wild considering all their sports teams. She won the heptathlon and finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships. It was one of the most impressive performances. That’s seven events and two rounds of the 400m hurdles all out. I’m tired just thinking about it. She is also the U.S. champion from the USATF Combined Events Championships in May and has qualified for Team USA for the upcoming World Championships. She’s been a multis star since high school. We go back to those days, why she gravitates towards challenging things, how she overcame disappointment from getting injured at

Happy Friday! This is the 10th edition of Track Snacks – a mini-series taking you into the weekend where Chris Chavez and a CITIUS MAG staffer or friend share the story of an athlete who they're excited about right now that you can expect to see compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (July 15–24, 2022). For this episode, we're joined by David Melly to discuss the brilliance of Faith Kipyegon. She is the two-time Olympic 1500m champion from Kenya. Last summer, she also ran 3:51.07 to lower her own national record and move in to the No. 4 slot on the all-time list. We go through her upbringing in Kenya, how she's been successful through the youth and junior global scene, her rise against Genzebe Dibaba and how she's been an amazingly positive figure and model example for mothers in the sport. Track Snacks is presented by Hayward Magic. Everyone knows how much all of us in the CITIUS MAG family love track & field, and how much we enjoy sharing that love with you all. Well, we’ve got a few big

"I never want the one-liners or personality to outweigh the analysis. That's kind of the focus I took in football. You want to tell the players' story and tell it the right way. I kind of just took that same thing over to track and told the athlete's story the right way. Talk about their accomplishments. Talk about what they're working on. The trick is – and I'm not giving away any secrets because you know this because that's what you're supposed to do in the broadcast – to get in and get out. Be able to tell the story quickly in 10-15 seconds...You can tell stories in football that can track the whole game. In track and field, you can't do that. As soon as the 100 is done, you have the hurdles. As soon as the hurdles are done, you've got the 400, then the 800. You have to work on your timing and how to tell those stories in the right way while also engaging the viewer." Robert Griffin III (RG3) is a former 400m hurdler from Baylor, former Big 12 conference champion, the third-place finisher and All-American

"Becoming a champion is a byproduct of becoming a team player. Everyone has to play a role and do their own part." This past weekend, Florida's Joseph Fahnbulleh won the 100 and 200 meters at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. He won the 100 meters in a personal best of 10 seconds. He won the 200 meters in 19.83 seconds, which is the fourth-fastest in collegiate history. Florida won the team title with 54 points. Last summer, Fahnbulleh competed for Liberia at the Tokyo Olympics. We touch on all of that, his roots as a distance runner in Minnesota, his goals for the World Championships and much more including your listener questions. He also addresses the internet coaches who still hate on his 100 meter start. SUPPORT THE SPONSORS GARMIN: Music. Training. Data. The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is my favorite running partner. You do the running. This GPS running smartwatch does the thinking. It even gets to know you and your body better, mile after mile and song after song. Get one for yourself here >&g

"(In 2016), I thought it was cool to be in Eugene for the Olympic Trials. I was still young. I was not a fast athlete in the field. I just had a good experience after that race and from there, I was like, 'OK. I want to be better. I want to be the top athlete. I want to make Team USA.' I started playing with my mind like that and just reminding myself I can be one of those guys." My guest for this episode is Biya Simbassa. We recorded this back in late March. Bear with us since we had a couple of microphone and audio issues that kept this episode pent away for the past couple of weeks. We did our best to repair it and still wanted to share his story with you all. Biya is a professional runner for the newly rebranded Under Armour Mission Run Dark Sky Distance team based in Flagstaff, Arizona and coached by Stephen Haas. Biya was last year’s USATF Running Circuit champion with solid performances week after week on the roads including personal bests in distances from 5K to the half marathon. He also finished sev

"We want to prepare for the World Championships, run fast before the World Championships to get confidence and then try to win the World Championships." Happy Friday! This is the eighth edition of Track Snacks – a mini-series taking you into the weekend where Chris Chavez and a CITIUS MAG staffer or friend share the story of an athlete who they're excited about right now that you can expect to see compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (July 15–24, 2022). For this episode, we're joined by Brazilian hurdle star Alison Dos Santos after he won the Prefontaine Classic men's 400m hurdle race in a world-leading time of 47.23. Last summer, he was part of one of the greatest races in track and field history – the Olympic 400m hurdle final. Norway's Karsten Warholm made history by becoming the first person to break 46 seconds with his victory (45.95). Rai Benjamin went 46.17 for the second-fastest time in history and the silver medal. Dos Santos rounded out the podium with a 46.72 for the bronze medal.

We recorded this on Global Running Day, which is perfect because Hellah Sidibe is someone who gets the most joy out of the sport. He just recently celebrated his five-year run streak so we take a trip back to 2017 when and why it all began for the former MLS player. We also discuss his amazing 3061-mile run from Los Angeles to New York, which he accomplished in 84 days and made history as the first Black man to run across America. My co-host for this episode is my good friend, Zac Clark. He is a big fan of Hellah’s charitable work and his attitude toward running so I invited him on to kick it on the pod. SUPPORT THE SPONSORS GARMIN: Music. Training. Data. The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is my favorite running partner. You do the running. This GPS running smartwatch does the thinking. It even gets to know you and your body better, mile after mile and song after song. Get one for yourself here >> https://bit.ly/3Pcu0qo ADIDAS: The Adizero Adios Pro 3 is here! Adidas' latest edition of their super shoe bui

"We have never liked the way that track did business. They’re only focused on business and not the athlete. I feel like we want to change that. It’s athlete first and business second. I want to change that and we are changing that." – Tara Davis "I think that we want to do that in two steps. One is being that person and those athletes making the change. It’s also trying to do things on our own to make that more accessible to athletes. I think it’s easier said than done a lot of times because those resources aren’t available to athletes. A lot of times there isn’t someone there teaching athletes what to do or how to market themselves and how to use these platforms to grow their brand to be able to connect with brands and support themselves." – Hunter Woodhall U.S. Olympic long jumper Tara Davis and Paralympic sprinter Hunter Woodhall are two of the most fun personalities in the sport. You may remember Davis celebrating making the U.S. Olympic team and rocking a cowboy hat and then celebrating by running into W

“It was very nerve-wracking…You just have to be attentive to everything that’s happening & thinking how can I put myself in the best position to kick for this team” Hear from Olympian and On Athletics Club star Joe Klecker the morning after he won the USATF 10,000 meter championship race in 28:28.71 over American record holder Grant Fisher. With the victory, Klecker has secured his spot on Team USA for the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon this July. This is his second U.S. national team after qualifying for last year's Tokyo Olympics and finishing 16th at the Games in the 10,000 meters.  Catch Klecker's first appearance on the podcast from last summer here: https://apple.co/3NGaxNc SUPPORT THE SPONSORS GARMIN: Music. Training. Data. The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is my favorite running partner. You do the running. This GPS running smartwatch does the thinking. It even gets to know you and your body better, mile after mile and song after song. Get one for yourself here >> https:/

"There's a fine line between knowing I was ready and confident to run a sub-two and then actually doing it. To see the 1:59 on the board really took so long to sink in because it was such an amazing feeling and something I had been wanting for so long. The fans and the atmosphere were an awesome feeling. I definitely would not have wanted to do this at any other meet." Juliette Whittaker rejoins the show. She is a senior at Mount De Sales Academy in Maryland and is committed to Stanford for next year. If you haven't listened to her episode from March, it takes a deeper dive into her story and rise as one of the top 800m high school stars in the country. We caught up this week to chat about her 1:59.80 to win the women's 800 meters at Trials of Miles' Track Night NYC. Only Mary Cain’s record of 1:59.51 from 2013 is faster in high school history. If you haven't seen the race yet, it's available on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel along with a full replay of the meet. Juliette takes us through that day, why this g

"Right after I ran it, there was so much commotion with people coming up to me and talking to me that for the first half-hour after the race, it didn’t settle in. I went on a cooldown by myself and it started to set in. Honestly, I started to tear up a little bit because it’s incredible to think of where I’ve come from. I knew I was in shape to run sub-four. I thought I could do it. It’s a big difference between actually going out there and doing it and just thinking you can do it. I realized the company that I’m in and it’s pretty surreal." Archbishop Wood High School (PA) senior Gary Martin joins the podcast. Earlier this month, Gary made headlines by becoming the 14th US high school boy to break four minutes for the mile by running 3:57.98 at the Pennsylvania Catholic League Championship. He is the fifth-fastest high school miler of all-time indoors or outdoors but he is the fastest high schooler to ever do it against high school only competition. He solo’ed the race and beat Jim Ryun’s 3:58.6 miles record

Happy Friday! This is the seventh edition of Track Snacks – a mini-series taking you into the weekend where Chris Chavez and a CITIUS MAG staffer or friend share the story of an athlete who they're excited about right now that you can expect to see compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (July 15–24, 2022). For this episode, Joshua Potts (Host of The 2BlackRunners Podcast) joins me to chat about Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder Mondo Duplantis. The New York Times called him "The Tiger Woods of the pole vault" as a high schooler. We dive into Mondo's childhood and how he got so good at a young age, dominated the high school scene and has literally propelled himself as one of the sport's biggest stars for the next decade. Duplantis owns the indoor and outdoor world records with a 6.20m jump indoors and a 6.15m jump outdoors. He's got the records and the Olympic gold medal but he's still missing a World Championship gold. That seems to be on the way in Eugene this summer. Can any

"Running has been super therapeutic for me these last couple of months. I've really taken time to heal and prioritize healing...When my own personal running isn't going well. I get so much joy out of watching my friends crushing it." Rachel Smith (née Schneider) is one of the nicest people in track and field. Last summer, she fulfilled one of her biggest dreams when she crossed the finish line in third place in the U.S. Olympic Trials 5000m finals and qualified for the Tokyo Games. She just missed out on making it into the final when she ran 15:00 in the first round of the Olympics. We got the chance to catch up a few weeks ago when we were both in Washington, DC for the Team USA athlete summit ahead of their White House visit. It’s been a very hard year for Rachel. Earlier this year, she had a bout with COVID in January. In February, she shared that she learned she had skin cancer and underwent surgery to treat it. In April, she opened up on Instagram about having a miscarriage. It’s very sad to hear and we

Happy Friday! This is the sixth edition of Track Snacks – a mini-series taking you into the weekend where Chris Chavez and a CITIUS MAG staffer or friend share the story of an athlete who they're excited about right now that you can expect to see compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (July 15–24, 2022). For this episode, Ali Feller (Host of The Ali On The Run Show) joins me to chat about Olympic 800m champion and U.S. record holder Athing Mu. Last year, she put together one of the best seasons of any athlete by running personal bests of 49.57 for 400m, 1:55.04 for 800m and winning two NCAA titles and the Olympic gold medals in the 800m and 4x400m relay. We discuss what impresses us the most about her talent, the excitement around her potential and the New Jersey pride that comes with it all. Oh, we also discuss her pug, Bentley.  Track Snacks is presented by Hayward Magic. Everyone knows how much all of us in the CITIUS MAG family love track & field, and how much we enjoy sharing that

"From the moment I step foot in this sport in 2011 in college, I had no idea what to expect. I always had heard of Trey Hardee, Dan O’Brien and Ashton Eaton so they were my role models. As someone who is so competitive at heart, I wanted to be like them and push my scores to get up next to them. The fact that I’ve passed a few and I’m getting so close to the others, I’m just honored. That’s the only word I can think of and I’m so blessed to have the path that they set for me to carry on this tradition.” This past weekend, Garrett Scantling secured his place for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon by winning the USATF Combined Events Championships. His 8,867 points not only gave him the victory but moved him up to No. 3 on the U.S. all-time list and makes him the 7th best decathlete ever in the world. He finished fourth at last year’s Tokyo Olympics but the most interesting thing about his path to success is that he took a break away from the sport. After finishing fourth at the 2016 U.S.

Happy Friday! This is the fifth edition of Track Snacks – a mini-series taking you into the weekend where Chris Chavez and a fellow CITIUS MAG staffer share the story of an athlete who they're excited about right now that you can expect to see compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (July 15–24, 2022). For this episode, Mac Fleet (CITIUS MAG's video specialist) joins me to chat about Bahamian sprinting and its current stars. Shaunae Miller-Uibo is the reigning Olympic champion in the 400m. Steven Gardiner is the reigning Olympic champion in the 400m and has not lost a race since earning silver at the 2017 World Championships. Both sprinters have been working on their one-lap craft for a decade and now they're the best in the world. In Tokyo, Miller-Uibo became the first woman since Marie-José Pérec in the 90s to win back-to-back Olympic 400m gold medals. Gardiner became the first man from the Bahamas to win Olympic gold in the 400m. In total, the Bahamas has won 25 medals – 8 gold, 9 silver and

"I never saw any of this as a way out. I just went through life and just survived. Whatever happens, happens. I never dreamt big. I just wanted to go to college and get a job like the typical college student. But it was never this. This came into the picture when I was 18 years old. After running a 55 in the 400m and then watching the Olympics in 2016, I was like, 'Pshh...I'm only like four seconds away. I can do this.'" Wadeline Jonathas' story is truly remarkable. She was bullied. She went to three different high schools. She was homeless. She found inspiration to get serious about track by watching the 2016 Olympics on TV which led to her to one of the most successful Division III careers at UMass Boston – where she initially walked onto the team. After sophomore year, she transferred to the University of South Carolina, where she truly blossomed into the star that she is now. She won the 2019 NCAA title, qualified for the U.S. national team and then finished fourth at the World Championships in 49.60.&nbs

Happy Friday! This is the FOURTH edition of Track Snacks – a mini-series taking you into the weekend where Chris Chavez and a fellow CITIUS MAG staffer share the story of an athlete who they're excited about right now that you can expect to see compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (July 15–24, 2022). For this episode, Dana Giordano (Host of the 'More Than Running' Podcast) joins me to chat about Sifan Hassan. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the 5000m and the 10,000m and the Olympic bronze medalist in the 1500m. Hassan burst onto the scene in 2014 as she started putting The Netherlands on the podium at European championships. In the last eight years, she's gone on to break world records in the mile, road 5K and one-hour run. She's got some of the best range in the sport and demonstrated it best at the 2019 World Championships in Doha where she became the first person to win gold in the 1500m and 10,000m. At the Tokyo Olympics, she attempted an unprecedented triple. We're excited to see

“One of my colleagues said this in a meeting, and I’ve heard this before, but it really had an impact on me during 2020/2021. It’s the Maya Angelou poem where she says, and I’m paraphrasing to a degree here, ‘You may not remember what I said. You may not remember what I did. But you’ll remember how I made you feel.’ That right there is it. That’s what we can all do in our own little space: have people feel amazing, have a great experience, walk away with a smile on their face.” Last year, Ted Metellus made history when he was named the race director of the New York City Marathon. Not only that, he became the first Black race director of any of the World Marathon Major races. In 2020, New York Road Runners faced criticism and allegations of discrimination and racism and vowed to make changes within its leadership roles and internal structure to make things better. The move with Metellus also came at a time when the running industry was coming back from a year full of cancellations and postponements for major r