Shamier Little is draped in the American flag at the World Championships (Shamier Little photo credit)
Every two years track and field celebrates the IAAF World Championships. Beijing, China served as the host to nearly 100 nations. I think the average fan sometimes forgets that professionals compete into late August and sometimes September. The United States team itself seemed at times like they forgot that their toughest competition was in peak performance mode. Kenya and Jamaica really showed off in the distance and sprints arena by racking up seven gold medals apiece. The US had six. But America won the overall medal count with 18 to Kenya's 16 and 12 for Jamaica.
I know that we are a spoiled country and it was evident from my perspective as well as from a few of my friends that we underachieved. Once again the US men dropped the baton in the 4x100m relay. How about the men's distance races? We did not earn a single medal. I was for sure that my homie Evan Jager was going to grab at least a silver medal in the steeplechase. He actually finished sixth and lost to a teammate. If you know Evan he will not enjoy the off-season at all. He will be crazy determined to snap off in Rio next summer for the Olympic Games. Book it!
Locally, we had a lot to cheer about with Chicago's very own Shamier Little. The former Lindblom superstar and now of Texas A&M University continues to amaze, going for broke in the Women's 400m Hurdles. Despite coming into the games with the #1 time in the world, Little was the last qualifier into the final. If you have ever watched Khalia run, you know that she sometimes gets out very conservative only to motor home in time amid heart stopping efforts time after time. Her semi-final race was no different. Shamier came through when it counted and that was the wake up call she needed.
Congrats to Shamier Little, the pride of Chicago Public School track and field, for winning a silver medal at the World Championships. Next year at this time hopefully we will be talking about a gold medal in Rio!
Here is Shamier's silver medal performance