(Tempe, AZ) A half-dozen Sun Devils are ready to make their marks in the coming days at the World Athletics World Championships in Budapest. Chris Benard ’13 (USA), Maggie Ewen ’18 (USA), Beatrice Llano ’22 (Norway), Dubem Nwachukwu ’23 (Nigeria), Justin Robinson(USA) and Turner Washington ’20, G’ 23 (USA) are all slated to compete. Brittany Garcia, a former athletic trainer with Sun Devil Track & Field and Cross Country for two years, now works full-time with USA Track and Field and will also be at the championships. Competition runs August 19-27 at the 35,000-seat National Athletics Centre, and fans in the U.S. can follow the meet via NBC.
Robinson is still enrolled at ASU, while Nwachukwu graduated this past spring and Washington recently wrapped up an illustrious career that featured him earning five NCAA titles and nine All-America honors. All three are entering their first senior-level world championship meet. Benard has now made three USA world championship teams for five total senior teams including his two trips to the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ewen is featuring in her fourth consecutive USA senior world team, and Llano is on her second Norwegian senior world team.
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Budapest ’23 Qualifiers by Country
Full Meet Schedule
USA Championships Recap: Washington, Robinson, Ewen, Beard Punch Tickets to World Championships
“Hats off to these two young men,” head coach Dion Miller said at a going away reception for Robinson and Washington – Nwachukwu wasn’t present for the party due to being in Texas with family. “We finished fifth at the NCAA Championships and we couldn’t have done it without Turner and Justin. Just to speak about Justin – he took a chance on us and he was highly vetted when he came here. For Justin to just be a sophomore and make the world championship team – that’s the Olympic team in a non-Olympic year – that’s a tremendous accomplishment. He finished fourth at the national meet and then came back and finished fourth at the USA Championships. We’re really proud of him.”
Throws coach Ryan Whiting said coaching Washington in this moment is a full-circle moment for him.
“I got to do the same thing when I was coming out of college and it’s good to be able to take someone through this experience – it’s fun. Our goal is to take it one stage at a time and first make the final. We throw on the 19th and if we finish top-12 we throw on the 21st so that’s the first step and what we’re thinking about right now. Past that, we’ll reformat those goals as we get into the final. He has an outside chance at getting a medal but the biggest thing is experience and executing what we’ve been working on at practice.”
ASU Competing Athletes & Schedules (local times):
Chris Benard, USA – triple jump | Q Saturday 19th 19:35 , F Monday 21st 19:40
Maggie Ewen, USA – shot put | Q Saturday 26th 10:25 | F Saturday 26th 20:15
Beatrice Llano, Norway – hammer | Q Wednesday 23th (A, 19:00), (B, 20:35), F Thursday 24th 20:15
Dubem Nwachukwu, Nigeria – 400m, 4×400 relay |
400m: Heats Sunday 20th 10:25, Semi final: Tuesday 22nd 21:00 | Finals: Thursday 24th 21:35
Mixed 4×400: Heats Saturday 19th 11:05, F Saturday 19th 21:47
Justin Robinson, USA – 4×400 relay | Heats Saturday 26th 19:30, F Sunday 27th 21:37
Turner Washington, USA – discus | Q Saturday 19th 19:10 or 20:40, F Monday 21st 20:30
Brittany Garcia, USA – USATF Athletic Trainer
Q = qualifying, F = finals
Robinson and Washington are both excited for the moment but were even keeled as they talked about preparing to compete.
“I’m focusing on just going out there, representing Team USA, and having as much fun as possible,” Robinson said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity. It’s been a real big year and a turning point for me. Last year I didn’t even make the NCAA finals but this year I did. I was one of the top guys picked to win the 400m, and I obviously didn’t end up doing it, but I still had a nice personal record and used all of that as fuel going into the USA Championships to motivate and dominate as well. I finished fourth and made the relay pool so it’s been a good big year for me. USA is always the top dog in the 4×4 and the mixed relay as well, so just going out there knowing I have to do so well is exciting by itself so I’m pumped and ready to get the gold medal.”
Washington echoed many of Robinson’s sentiments.
“Going into Worlds is amazing,” Washington said. “This is the meet we’ve been training for all year, and ever since I started college the goal was to make one of these USA championship teams at a major meet. To finally get here in my last year of college is special and everything came to close like I wanted. Like I was telling my mom yesterday, this is the first meet where I don’t feel stressed because there’s no expectation. The NCAAs are built like ‘he’s a four-time national champion up against this,’ but now it’s my first experience at this level and I have a lot of great people – from Coach Ryan to my dad and other training partners – who have given me the lowdown on what to expect and helped me prepare for the moment. Going into this meet I know what I can do and I know my training so it’s really just going out there and doing what I need to do. At the end of the day I’m still in Europe – in Budapest – and I’m going to have a fun time.”
How to Watch the World Championships
NBC Sports is the exclusive rights’ holder of the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the U.S.
Track and field fans in Europe can follow and watch the action through Warner Bros. Discovery. The broadcaster signed a deal with World Athletics to air the event live in more than 45 European countries (excluding the Nordic region) on its channels Discovery+, Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, and the Eurosport App. Athletics fans in the UK can watch it on the BBC.
Streaming will be available on Discovery+ in Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, UK and Ireland.
In Australia, all the sessions will be broadcast live on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand, while CBC has the rights in Canada.
SuperSport and TVMS have the rights in pan sub-Saharan Africa.
Sony Liv app and the website will live stream the championships in many countries in South Asia.
The championships will be available for free on JioCinema in India.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Will Edmonds
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