Citius Mag Podcast

This week in track and field, Chris Chavez and Anderson Emerole recap some of the highlights from New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia, where we saw Quincy Wilson run 45.13 in the open 400m, Drew Griffith break 4:00 for the first sub-4 in NBN history, Sadie Engelhardt closed a 4:37 mile with a 61s final lap, Christian Miller dropped a 9.95s in the 100m and more. We baked in our interviews with Quincy, Sadie and Christian at the end of this episode. We dive into Part I of our U.S. Olympic Trials previews by tackling the sprints. We hit every top storyline in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles and some field events. Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Anderson Emerole | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@atkoeme on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

"You never know what you can do until you're going out and doing it. You have no shot at running fast unless you give yourself an opportunity to run fast. If you go out in a race slow, how are you going to run fast if you’re already not going out hard enough? I think that’s just kind of given me the confidence that, ‘You can do it.’" The University of Virginia star stole the show on the final day of the NCAA Championships with a crazy kick in the 800 meters. Cohen went from last to first in the final 100 meters, clocking a personal best of 1:44.97. Cohen’s journey is nothing short of inspirational. Just a year ago, he was virtually unknown, running for Division II University of Tampa and struggling to regain his form after a stress fracture in his femur. Despite a personal best of 1:48, he never broke 1:53 in six 800-meter races last spring. With results like these, Division I interest for his fifth year wasn’t extreme. But University of Virginia coaches Vin Lananna and Trevor Dunbar saw somethi

"It means a lot to me. Especially to all my teammates and my leadership in the Army. If you make the Olympics while you are in the Army, it's a huge accomplishment. Making these Olympics is not only for me. It's about people serving in the Army. All those people in the Army. Also, it's about my teammates. When I make the team I know my teammates will also want to make the team because I am one of the leaders in our platoon. If you see the leader making the team, you want to make it too...It's not about me. It's about representing other people who are looking up to me. I'm so happy. I'm grateful. I can't wait to represent Team USA and represent the Army too." Finally! After four months of stress and uncertainty, Leonard Korir is heading to the Olympics. Just last week, World Athletics added one universality place and four rankings places to the Olympic marathon field on Tuesday. With that, Korir gets the United States’ final spot – thanks to CJ Albertson’s ranking unl

We just wrapped up a jam-packed weekend with track and field taking place in Eugene with the NCAA Championships, Portland for the Portland Track Festival, Rome for the European Championships and New York City for the NYC Grand Prix. NYC GRAND PRIX Lots of action to recap including Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone giving the 400m American record a scare; Noah Lyles clocked a 19.77 into the wind, Eric Holt goes viral after taking 2022 world champion Jake Wightman to the line in the 1500m, Elaine Thompson Herah may be seriously injured after pulling up after the 100m. But the biggest story was 2022 World champion Fred Kerley and his sponsor Asics decided to part ways. Kerley came out onto the track wearing a competitor's product. Kerley did not end up racing after slipping in the blocks twice. He was not disqualified but elected not to race. NCAA Championships From McKenzie Long and Parker Valby to Shane Cohen and Parker Wolfe, we look at some of the collegiate stars who could be poised for a breakthrough to make

"I think anyone who has run, who has made running a part of their life, knows that it really does transform us as people. No matter what it is that we want to accomplish in life, we think that it makes everybody better by creating that habit of being physically active, moving your body, whether it's physical health or mental health. So we're hoping that this new way of talking about our mission and what we do will draw more people into the sport, into our community, and get people moving." My guest for this episode is NYRR Rob Simmelkjaer, who also has a podcast of his own – Set The Pace. We’re at a point where we’ve got his boom happening. More than ever before, people are getting into running, joining clubs/crews/teams/training groups. NYRR puts on countless events in the city. I’m biased and think it’s got the best running community in the world. So let’s take a look at the state of running and how someone like Rob and NYRR are striking that balance to accommodate so many people. Plus, w

Recapping all of the biggest results from the Edwin Moses Legends Meet, Oslo Diamond League, Stockholm Diamond League and Racers Grand Prix. Highlights and Topics Include: – World Athletics officially announced the 2026 global championship that they’ve been teasing for a while. It will be called the World Athletics Ultimate Championship and is offering up $10M in prize money with $150,000 going to the winners of each respective event. Think of it as a more compact World Championships – semis and finals for the track events / straight finals for the field events with more money and over less days. The inaugural version of the championships will be three evening sessions from Sept. 11 through Sept. 13, 2026 in Budapest. It will be every two years after that. Read more here: https://citiusmag.com/articles/world-athletics-ultimate-championship-2026-what-you-need-to-know – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is back over hurdles and looks like she never left with the easiest-looking 52.70 in Atlanta. Anderson was on-site a

"I basically started my comeback then and said, let's try to get as much fitness as we can until October. I had this whole theory. You know how Norwegian threshold training is so ‘in’? I was like, this basically is threshold training because the only thing [the doctors] tell you is, ‘don't get your heart rate over 85%.’ So I was like, ‘I'm just the pregnant Jakob.’ I'm glad I kind of tempered it. I didn't actually do double threshold, but we did a lot of threshold work… My theme was like, ‘Well, I would never in my career otherwise have two years to do threshold training, so why not now?’" Kate Grace is in the midst of what most mid-30-somethings with a young child could only dream of – a late-career resurgence as a professional athlete. After a 2021 outdoor campaign that saw her go on a sub-two tear across the Diamond League circuit after just missing an Olympic team, Grace’s training and racing was derailed by a bout of injury and long Covid. She then became a mother, giving bi

Chris Chavez and Anderson Emerole chat it up on Memorial Day to bring you a recap of all the sprints + field events action that took place at the Prefontaine Classic. Among the highlights: – Sha'Carri Richardson took down a STACKED field at the Prefontaine Classic and puts any doubts about her early season form to rest with a decisive 10.83 victory in the women’s 100m. Richardson looked smooth while Olympic champ Elaine Thompson-Herah struggled, finishing 9th in 11.30. – Joe Kovacs puts the world on alert with the first 23-meter throw of the season, launching a 23.13m effort in the final round of the men's shot put competition to set a new world lead. – Grant Holloway keeps his incredible 2024 going with a world-leading 13.03 victory in the 110m hurdles. USA puts 3 in front of Olympic champ Hansle Parchment with Daniel Roberts (13.13) and Freddie Crittenden (13.16) rounding out the top spots. – Christian Coleman runs his best 100m of the season, holding off Ferdinand Omanyala 9.95 to 9.98 to clock his

It was a race for the ages. The Prefontaine Classic Bowerman Mile delivered on the hype with 9 men breaking 3:50 and reigning World champ Josh Kerr taking down reigning Olympic champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen 3:45.34 to 3:45.60. No amount of trash talk can trump results, and Kerr has not lost to Ingebrigtsen since June of last year. Chris Chavez, Mac Fleet and Karen Lesiewicz had to record a podcast about it immediately after. We also talk about: – Keely Hodgkinson shows the world why she’s the one to watch in the women’s 800m, clocking a world leading 1:55.78 and defeating reigning World champ Mary Moraa. – Diribe Welteji clocks her fourth sub-4 of the season with a 3:53.75 victory in the 1500m, leading 6 athletes under 4 and holding off a hard-charging Jessica Hull (3:55.97, Australian record). – Elle St. Pierre keeps her incredible 2024 season rolling with a big 3:56.00 personal best in the 1500m, good for 3rd place. St. Pierre moves up from #6 to #2 on the U.S. all-time list. More takeaways from the 1500m. SUPPO

LIVE from Eugene, Oregon! Chris Chavez and Karen Lesiewicz are on-stage at Hayward Field for the 2024 Prefontaine Classic. We'll be previewing some of the day's best races, chatting with some of the athletes and doing fun giveaways with fans. Our coverage kicks off with the Pre-Show on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel at 9:30 am PT on Saturday and 10 am PT on Sunday! Read our full preview of the meet here: https://citiusmag.com/articles/prefon... The TV window for Prefontaine is 4pm-6pm E.T. on Saturday, May 25 across NBC, CNBC and Peacock. Special thanks to TrackTown USA and the Prefontaine Classic meet organizers.

Another jam-packed weekend of results unpacked by Chris Chavez and Anderson Emerole. This Week In Track and Field – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Rai Benjamin Dominated At The LA Grand Prix – Noah Lyles ties the American record in the 150m at the Atlanta City Games + highlights – The Rabat Diamond League was a bit of a dud – Kenenisa Bekele Has Been Named To The Olympic Marathon Team For Ethiopia – What We’re Looking Forward To The Most At The Prefontaine Classic Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Anderson Emerole | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@atkoeme on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

"That Olympic stamp on my running resume didn't really change anything. That's why 2022 was so hard for me. I had built up these expectations and I felt that I still had to prove to myself because it seemed like it wasn't enough. That pressure didn't bode well for me. I suffered injuries and sickness...At the end of the day, World Championships and Olympics are just another race. If you're racing just to make the team, you're not going to be happy because someone else could get that spot. That's when I changed my mindset. I don't know if you've seen the show Fallout but in the first episode the ghoul says, 'I do this shit for the love of the game.' That's kind of how I feel." Val Constien is a professional runner for Nike and was a member of the 2021 Olympic team in the steeplechase. We had her on the show in the spring of 2021 and it was a memorable episode because she announced herself to the U.S. as a contender to make the team and then backed it up

"I feel like I was underlooked a little bit on social media. Everyone was talking about Cam (Myers) and Olli (Hoare) and Stewy (McSweyn), but I think that kind of worked in my favor. There's no pressure – I had everything to gain and nothing to lose. So I was like, “Alright, let's go out here and have a crack at it.” I think it was kind of a blessing in disguise almost." Wisconsin's Adam Spencer is the Australian 1500m national champion. He was the runner-up in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships back in March. In Adelaide, he just narrowly beat out fellow Badger legend and Olympic finalist Olli Hoare. It was widely considered the best 1500m field in Australian history and it delivered with a tactical race that came down to the final 100 meters. Adam has the Olympic standard from his 3:31 personal best at last summer’s London Diamond League. Now, he’s just got to prove his fitness to selectors and he’ll be squared away to make his Olympic debut in Paris. He did represent Australia

Chris Chavez and Anderson Emerole dissect all of the biggest performances from the Doha Diamond League, Sound Running's Track Fest, SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Jamaica Athletics Invitational + some other underrated performances. SEC Championships – Arkansas won the men’s team title for their 23rd in school history. On the women’s side, LSU won the women’s title over Arkansas for their first SEC title since 2012. We break down why this meet rocked. Jamaica Athletics Invitational The biggest performance was Zharnel Hughes beating Fred Kerley in the 200m. He ran a 19.96, which a good sign for this early in the season. Plus more highlights. Sound Running's Track Fest This was supposed to be a meet where people targeted Olympic standards, especially in the women’s 5000m and 10,000m but no one got any. What's this mean for U.S. women's distance runners? What's Up With Leonard Korir? We’ve summed up some of the latest developments after World Athletics’ updated Road To Paris qual

“It's through storytelling that I keep myself going… I've been blessed to be able to stick with it all these years. I had a partial knee replacement in the middle of COVID and we waited until I found a surgeon who told me that I'd run again… When you set your sights on something, it's hard to let go. I always try to finish what I start. I was on that six-star journey and I wanted to complete it.” Joan Benoit Samuelson is a legend in our sport. The first-ever Olympic women’s marathon champion, two-time Boston Marathon champion (1979 & 1983), 1985 Chicago Marathon champion and former American record holder is still running and inspiring at 66 years old. In March, she finally received her Abbott World Marathon Major six star medal after completing the Tokyo Marathon in 3:38:37. Before the pandemic, Benoit Samuelson was looking to extend her sub-three hour marathon streak across six decades. She ran 3:02:21 at the 2019 Berlin Marathon and then underwent a partial right knee replacement surgery

Chris Chavez chats with Anderson Emerole, who is still in the Bahamas after covering the 2024 World Relays. In this episode, they discuss: WORLD RELAYS TAKEAWAYS – 14 teams qualified for each of the five relay events at the Paris Olympics. We decide what we learned about the Olympic connection to World Relays and whether it's easy to understand. – Team USA's women swept the relay titles in the 4x100m and 4x400m to go along with the mixed relay title. – Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke was maybe the meet's MVP with her 48.45 to lead Ireland to a bronze medal in the mixed 4x400m relay. – Who is the ideal U.S. men's 4x100m relay squad for the Paris Olympics? EMMA COBURN TO MISS 2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS DUE TO BROKEN FOOT Three-time U.S. Olympian, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 world champion Emma Coburn has announced that she will miss next month’s U.S. Olympic Trials after breaking her right ankle in her season opener at the Shanghai Diamond League. Read more about it here: https://citius

"It's always good to get athlete feedback. You want athletes to feel confident when they step on the track so that they can execute the demands of where they're placed. So it’s two-way communication. An athlete tells me, I feel good at this leg, but the good thing about it is that their performance can speak for itself.  So, I'm an objective person when it comes to that. If they feel great about a certain leg, if they're executing it, it should correlate." Anderson Emerole reports from Nassau, Bahamas where he is covering the 2024 World Relays. Back in Thomas Robinson Stadium for the first time since 2017, this year's meet features a trimmed-down schedule focused on sprints action. The only races contested will be the 4x100m and 4x400m for men and women, as well as the mixed 4x400m. Despite the slim selection of events, there will still be plenty of stars out to play in the third of four global championship events this year. We had a chance to chat with Team USA's coaches Mec

"My name is “Sintayehu” which means “Someone who saw a lot”... With age, I'm more proud of the meaning of my name. It means what I’ve seen a lot and it's true from an Ethiopian orphanage to a beautiful life, adoption and a beautiful family and then I decided to go to Florida, Mississippi, and now I ended up here (in Boulder) with the best team, living the best life." Sinta Vissa is a member of the On Athletics Club and just opened up her season this past weekend at the Penn Relays. Before turning pro last year, she was the 2022 NCAA 1500m champion and has now competed at two World Championships for Italy. She was last year’s Italian 1500m champion and then had the bad luck of drawing one of the fastest heats in Budapest but did not advance to the semifinals. She did run a 4:01.66 personal best, which also got her the Olympic standard for this year. She’s in a good position to be selected by the Italian Athletics Federation with some good performances this season. What I like about Sinta is

Chris Chavez survived his bachelor party for a track-free weekend as Anderson Emerole updates him on his highlights from the 2024 Penn Relays + takeaways from the Shanghai Diamond League. PENN RELAYS – 16-year-old Quincy Wilson split 44s on the high school boys' 4x400m relay twice and put his Bullis Academy (MD) team in contention against some of the top Jamaican squads. – Harvard's women's team clocked the fastest collegiate DMR in history with a 10:37.55 to win the Championship of America and were anchored in 4:21 by Maia Ramsden. – Villanova's men destroyed the NCAA 4 x mile record of 16:03.24 by Oregon's 2009 squad as they led two other schools under 16:00. The Wildcats won in 15:51.91 capped by a 3:54.32 anchor from Liam Murphy. – Yared Nuguse opened up his outdoor season with a 3:51.06 mile victory and tried to get his teammate Olli Hoare under the Olympic standard but he finished in 3:51.28. SHANGHAI DIAMOND LEAGUE – South Africa's Akani Simbine beat Christian Coleman and Fred K

“I think it’s wide open. I think it’s hard to compete when you know that people have been at that level and they know what it takes to be at that level. That’s one thing that’s super hard about it. When you've been there before, you know it’s a little bit easier to get back there because you’re like, “OK. I know exactly what I need to show up and how I can do it.” But I haven’t been thinking about the big ‘few’ quite as much as maybe in 2021 when I was just starting to run the 800m at this level. I want to sort of like rely and think about ‘Who am I as a runner?’ as opposed to trying to play whoever else’s game or emulate someone. It’s what works best for me.” I really enjoy watching Sage Hurta-Klecker race because each time out, she’s going to put herself in the mix and take big swings. She’s done that each of the last three years since turning pro and joining the On Athletics Club in 2022. She’s fully committed to breaking through and make a U.S. team in the 800m, which is one of the toughest teams to m