FAYETTEVILLE — Only Team USA beat Team Arkansas when it came to winning medals in track and field at the Paris Olympics.
The United States, with former University of Arkansas All-Americans Stanley Redwine as the men’s head coach and Amy Yoder Begley as an assistant for the women’s team, won 34 medals with 14 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze in events at the Stade de France.
Team Arkansas — comprised of current and former Razorbacks and athletes who train at the UA — won 11 medals in track and field to tie Kenya, which finished with second most among countries.
Great Britain, with an assist from former Razorback Amber Anning, won 10 medals to rank No. 3 among countries.
“It’s an unbelievable phenomenon that happened for Arkansas in Paris,” said Chris Bucknam, the Razorbacks’ men’s coach. “It was a great week for Razorback track and field, no question.”
Team Arkansas claimed five gold medals, a total surpassed only by Team USA.
“I looked at the talent that was here throughout the year training and there were definitely possibilities to win a lot of medals at the Olympics,” said Arkansas men’s assistant Doug Case, who coaches former Razorback All-American Chris Bailey — a gold medalist on the U.S. men’s 1,600-meter relay. “But it’s pretty amazing what these guys and girls from here did in Paris.
“You can’t take the kind of success they had at the Olympics for granted. To get all those medals, you have to be at the top of your game that day, that minute, that second.”
Here are the gold medalists with Arkansas ties in addition to Bailey:
• Kaylyn Brown, a freshman at Arkansas this year who ran on the women’s 1,600-meter relay.
• Former Razorback Roje Stona, who won the men’s discus for Jamaica.
• Arkansas volunteer assistant Ryan Crouser, who competed for the U.S. and became the first man to win three consecutive Olympic shot put titles.
• Tara Davis-Woodhall, who trains at Arkansas and won the women’s long jump for the U.S.
• Arkansas volunteer assistant Shamier Little, who ran two races for the U.S. women’s 1,600-meter relay.
• Alexis Holmes, who trains at Arkansas and ran on the women’s 1,600-meter relay.
Brown and Little also won silver medals on the U.S. mixed 1,600 relay.
Wayne Pinnock, a Razorback senior this year, won a silver medal in the long jump for Jamaica and Anna Cockrell, who trains at Arkansas, won silver in the 400 hurdles for the U.S.
Team Arkansas included 32 athletes with 22 current and former Razorbacks and 10 professionals who train at the UA.
“We have great athletes training at Arkansas, but I think all the success they had in Paris also is about our coaches — with the men’s and women’s programs — and all of their expertise,” Bucknam said. “The amount of time and effort that our coaches put in matches the time and effort that the athletes are putting in.”
Bucknam said top-notch facilities, including John McDonnell Field and the Frank O’Mara High Performance Center along with the Randal Tyson Indoor Center, also are a big part of Team Arkansas’ medal haul in Paris.
“The O’Mara Center has been transformational,” Bucknam said of the facility on the south end of McDonnell Field that features locker rooms, a training room, weight room and lounge area. “We have everything we need all in one place, and that helps us attract future Olympians.”
Cockrell, who competed collegiately at Southern Cal, moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to Fayetteville to keep training with Arkansas assistant Boogie Johnson, who joined his brother, Razorback women’s Coach Chris Johnson, last year.
“I wanted to continue being coached by Boogie, but there’s also a lot of benefits to training at Arkansas,” Cockrell said before the Olympics. “The facilities really are phenomenal.
“Fort Worth was great, but we didn’t have an indoor facility, so during the winter there were a lot of training days we had to modify — going on a treadmill — because it was just too cold and windy to be outside. So having an indoor track here is a big draw.”
Cockrell said the pace of life in Fayetteville also is a plus.
“Speaking as someone who lived in LA for five years, it’s very easy to get swept up in a city, and that can be really fun and exciting,” Cockrell said. “But it’s nice to be in Fayetteville, especially in an Olympic year.
“It’s easy to get everywhere. You’re not sitting in traffic all the time. Being here makes it easy for the goals of training and treatment and recovery.”
The Razorbacks were among current and former SEC athletes who combined to win 39 Olympic medals in track and field in Paris with 16 gold, 14 silver and 9 bronze. Including SEC newcomer Texas, 11 of the conference’s 16 schools had an athlete win at least one Olympic medal.
“The collegiate preparation leading up to the Olympics in regards to how competitive the SEC is really makes a difference,” Bucknam said. “In the SEC, track and field is a global sport because we have athletes from all over the world.
“You don’t have to go overseas to get international competition — you get that at the SEC Championships as well as the NCAA Championships.”
Anning, an Arkansas senior this year, anchored Great Britain to bronze medals in the mixed 1,600 and women’s 1,600 relays in Paris. She also finished fifth in the 400 final. Brittany Brown, an All-American at Iowa who trains at Arkansas, took bronze in the 200.
Team Arkansas came close to winning two other medals when former Razorbacks Jaydon Hibbert and Shafiqua Maloney finished fourth in the men’s long jump and women’s 800 finals, respectively, competing for Jamaica and St. Vincents and the Grenadines.
Bailey and Holmes each finished sixth in the men’s and women’s 400, respectively.
Other athletes with Arkansas ties who had top 12 finishes at the Olympics included Nikki Hiltz (seventh in the women’s 1,500 for the U.S.); Ayden Owens-Delerme (ninth in the decathlon for Puerto Rico); Ralford Mullings (ninth in the discus for Jamaica); Romaine Beckford (10th in the high jump for Jamaica); and Taliyah Brooks (11th in the heptathlon for the U.S.).
Former Razorback Ackera Nugent, competing for Jamaica, was among nine finalists in the 100 hurdles, but she hit two hurdles and didn’t finish the race.
Bucknam praised the extra work put in by coaches such as Chris and Boogie Johnson, Case and former Razorback assistant Travis Geopfert — who last month was hired as Kansas State’s head coach for the men’s and women’s programs — for their commitment to the Arkansas athletes who competed in Paris and to help them prepare for other U.S. and international meets beyond the college season.
“All those coaches are out there after the NCAA season coaching every day — and coaching hard — for U.S. Championships or Olympic Trials or Olympics or World Championships,” Bucknam said. “We don’t stop coaching after the NCAA meet.
“Our coaches are out there all summer long working with the athletes and are dedicated to helping them do their best.”
Before going to Paris, Cockrell was asked her expectations for Team Arkansas.
“If we were our own little country, I don’t know how many medals we’d win,” Cockrell said. “We’ll see when we finish the Games what the medal count looks like. But I think it’ll look really good.”
As it turned out, only Team USA’s medal count looked better.
2024 Summer Olympics medal count for track and field
Team USA — 34 total (14 gold, 11 silver, 9 bronze)
Team Arkansas — 11 total (5 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze)
Kenya — 11 total (4 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze)
Great Britain — 10 total (1 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze)
Australia — 7 total (1 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze)
Jamaica — 6 total (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)
Netherlands — 6 total (2 gold,1 silver, 3 bronze)
Canada — 5 total (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
Ethiopia — 4 total (1 gold, 3 silver, 0 bronze)
Germany — 4 total (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
Spain — 4 total (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
Norway — 3 total (1 gold, 0 silver, 3 bronze)
Team Arkansas Medals Breakdown
Gold (7 athletes, 5 events)
Chris Bailey (former Razorback, U.S.), men’s 1,600-meter relay
Kaylyn Brown (Razorback, U.S.), women’s 1,600-meter relay
Roje Stona (former Razorback, Jamaica), men’s discus
Ryan Crouser (UA volunteer assistant, U.S.), men’s shot put
Tara Davis-Woodhall (trains at Arkansas, U.S.), women’s long jump
Shamier Little (UA volunteer assistant, U.S.), women’s 1,600-meter relay
Alexis Holmes (trains at Arkansas, U.S.), women’s 1,600-meter relay
Silver (4 athletes, 3 events)
Wayne Pinnock (former Razorback, Jamaica), men’s long jump
Kaylyn Brown (Razorback, U.S), mixed 1,600-meter relay
Shamier Little (UA volunteer assistant coach, U.S.), mixed 1,600-meter relay
Anna Cockrell (trains at Arkansas, U.S.), women’s 400-meter hurdles
Bronze (2 athletes, 3 events)
Amber Anning (former Razorback, Great Britain), women’s 1,600-meter relay, mixed 1,600-meter relay
Brittany Brown (trains at Arkansas, U.S.), women’s 200 meters
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Publish date : 2024-08-11 20:06:00
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