Kentucky track and field freshman Kendall Muhammad placed 30th in the 1,500 meters preliminary round while competing for the United States at the International Association of Athletics Federations’ World Under-20 Championships, on Tuesday.
Muhammad was eighth in his heat, finishing with a time of 3:51.27. Muhammad got a full taste of international competition as he was presented with first-hand evidence of just how aggressive international competitors can be when fighting for track positioning.
Bumped around at multiple times over the first few laps, he still found a way to get in place to make a move at the bell. Then as Muhammad began to commit energy toward surging forward, a competitor tripped in front of him as they were crossing 1,100m forcing him to try and dodge out of the way and eventually stop so as to not run the fallen rival over.
The freshman still gave qualifying a go as he kicked during the last lap, but the hill that had been created proved too steep.
“I just knew I came to Poland for a reason,” Muhammad said. “I was trying to get that goal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do it. It kind of took my momentum away.
“I had a tough freshman season with some injuries, but the World U20 Championships was out there and I said ‘I’m going to do it,’ but then I thought I don’t know. There’s a lot of competition out there. As we got closer to the summer I started running some better times. I ran a 4.03 mile in Memphis in early-June.”
Muhammad ran a personal-best 3:47.69 in the final of the U.S. U20 Championships three weeks ago in Clovis, California to finish second and qualify for the World U20 Championships.
Muhammad made his U.S. National Team debut.
The IAAF World U20 Championships were previously known as the IAAF World Junior Championships before undergoing a rebranding heading into 2016. The last World U20 (then known as Junior) Championships was held in Eugene, Oregon in 2014.
| TV/Streaming Schedule – IAAF World U20 Championships | |||||
| Date | Day | Start (ET) | End (ET) | Network | Notes |
| 7/20/2016 | Wednesday | 9:00 PM | 10:00 PM | UniHD | Day 2 |
| 7/21/2016 | Thursday | 8:00 PM | 9:00 PM | UniHD | Day 3 |
| 7/22/2016 | Friday | 9:00 PM | 10:00 PM | UniHD | Day 4 |
| 7/23/2016 | Saturday | 11:00 AM | 2:15 PM | NBC Sports App | Day 5 |
| 7/23/2016 | Saturday | 9:00 PM | 10:00 PM | UniHD | Day 5 |
| 7/24/2016 | Sunday | 10:00 AM | 1:10 PM | NBC Sports App | Day 6 |
| 7/24/2016 | Sunday | 9:00 PM | 10:00 PM | UniHD | Day 6 |
—
The most up-to-date coverage of the UK track and field program is available via @KentuckyTrack handles onTwitter, Instagram and Facebook.
‑ GO CATS –
Jake Most
