BUDAPEST, Hungary (Aug. 18, 2023) – The 2023 World Athletic Championships will be held in Budapest, Hungary this year and seven different Gamecock Track & Field athletes will be representing their countries on the world stage. The World Championships will compete from Aug. 19-27. Five of the seven student-athletes are former Gamecocks, while two of the competitors on the track are current members of the squad.
Three of the seven Gamecocks will be representing the United States: Josh Awotunde (shot put), Makenzie Dunmore (4x400m, mixed 4x400m) and Quincy Hall (400m). Awotunde will kick things off tomorrow with the preliminary round of the shot put at 4:30 a.m. (ET). Awotunde is the reigning silver medalist from this year’s USATF Outdoor Championship, throwing a season-best distance of 22.10m. The former Gamecock and 12th-ranked shot putter in the world finished bronze in last year’s World Championship in Eugene, Ore. Dunmore will be a 4x400m relay and Mixed Relay candidate for the United States, having earned her way to the World Championships after finishing sixth at the USATF Outdoor Championships in July. The mixed 4x400m relay will begin tomorrow at 5:05 a.m. (ET), while the women’s 4x400m relay will run on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 1:55 p.m. (ET). Hall punched his ticket into the 400m race for the United States when he punched his ticket with a time of 44.41 at the USA Championships in July, finishing as the bronze medalist. Hall will run his preliminary round on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 4:25 a.m. (ET).
Two current Gamecocks will be running in Budapest, Silan Ayyildiz (Turkey) and Anass Essayi (Morocco). Each of the current Gamecocks will be running in the 1500m races with Ayyildiz starting tomorrow at 7:15 a.m. (ET) and Essayi running later in the afternoon at 1:02 p.m. (ET). They each captured the 2023 SEC Outdoor Championship in the 1500m and will now take on the World Championships. Ayyildiz won the Turkish Championship with a season best time of 4:11.62 and followed that performance up with a win at the Balkan Championships (4:17.52) and a bronze finish at the World University Games on Aug. 6 after running 4:17.26. Essayi ran a season best time of 3:32.87 on July 8 while in France, winning the French National Championship.
The final two competitors are former Gamecocks Aliyah Abrams (Guyana) and Eric Favors (Ireland). Abrams will be competing in the 400m and enters the World Championship ranked 26th overall. The Guyana native will run on…