Trevor Bassitt made up a lot of ground in the last 100 meters of the 400-meter hurdles at the World Athletics Championships. He was in sixth place at 300 meters, but Bassitt passed two men in the homestretch. Then in the final step, he inched ahead of Wilfried Happio of France to win the bronze by 0.02 seconds.
Alison Dos Santos of Brazil won the race in dominant fashion in 46.29, and American Rai Benjamin was second in 46.89. Bassitt, 24, ran a personal best of 47.39.
Karsten Warholm of Norway, the world record holder, started out in the lead but faded to seventh. Warholm had suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the season, which hampered his preparation.
It was Bassitt’s first time at an outdoor global championship, and he didn’t let nerves get the best of him. In fact, he feels like he belongs.
“I feel like I’ve established myself,” he said after the race. “I don’t think it’s the big three anymore [Warholm, Dos Santos, Benjamin]. I think it’s the fantastic four—or whatever alliteration you want to use—but I feel like I belong in that group.”
Here’s what we learned about Bassitt’s unusual journey to world bronze medalist.
He starred in Division II
Bassitt just finished his fifth year at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, a town of 20,000 people between Cleveland and Columbus. Pole vaulter Katie Nageotte, who won gold at Worlds two days earlier, is also an alumna.
Bassitt lost his coach, Jud Logan, in January
Logan, a four-time Olympian in the hammer throw, was the head coach at Ashland. He had been undergoing treatment for leukemia when he contracted COVID. Bassitt keeps a text message from Logan pinned on his Twitter profile. “You will be in that final at Eugene next year at Worlds,” Logan wrote. “I believe.”
The loss of Logan was tough on Bassitt and the rest of the team. “He’s with us every day in everything we do,” he said. “It’s up to us to carry his legacy. That’s what I try to do every time I step on that track.”
Since graduation, he has been cobbling together his training with remote help
He’s still living in Ashland, and he’s working remotely with Ernie Clark, a former Ashland coach who is now at San Jose State. Since the U.S. championships, Clark has been writing Bassitt’s training, and they text every day after Bassitt’s workout. His fiancée, Harlie Gregory, comes out to hold the stopwatch and to take video, and former Ashland teammates jump into parts of workouts with him. But he’s mainly been doing his training on his own—which was good enough to make him third in the world.
Meanwhile, Gregory is not exactly a couch potato. She runs marathons and ultras, and she finished the 2022 Boston Marathon in 3:25. They have an October wedding planned.
Bassitt is so far unsponsored. But that should change soon
His agent is Karen Locke, one of the few women agents in track and field. Bassitt will likely have the support of a sponsor soon. Since graduating, he’s been living cheaply in Ashland with roommates off of his savings from summer jobs.
He woke up on Tuesday morning and learned that he had been selected as the recipient of a $30,000 grant from the USATF Foundation, funded by financier Stephen A. Schwarzman. “I’m so thankful, that’s an incredible foundation,” Bassitt said. “They make these performances possible.” He was one of 50 athletes receiving either $30,000 or $20,000 from Schwarzman. An additional 50 athletes are receiving $8,000 apiece from the USATF Foundation.
Benjamin has been singing Bassitt’s praises all week
When Bassitt’s name flashed on the Hayward Field scoreboard in third, Benjamin ran over and jumped on him in celebration.
“Given that this is a major world championship, everyone tends to focus on themselves because of the individuality of the event and the sport,” Benjamin said. “But talking to him all week, just hearing his story, how Trevor has been writing his own workout plans with the passing of his coach, he has a hell of a story. I couldn't be more proud of him. Last night, we had a conversation. We talked about going out there and sweeping it. We came pretty close. He got third in a hell of a run from lane eight. And I was like, ‘Dude, you just got to send it, it's gonna be a send.’ That's exactly what we did.”
He would love to run on the 4x400-meter relay
He knows it’s a long shot. Team USA has plenty of 400-meter runners who have fresh legs. “I could give a 44-mid split, but they have a lot of guys who can do that,” Bassitt said. “I would love to be on it. I never turn down a 4x400.”
Running Shoes - Gear is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World CA Notice at Collection, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
