It was just a month ago, as I sat in the stands in Eugene, at Hayward Field , at the house that Phil and Penny Knight built.
The crowd was mediocre on the last day of the championships. It was more about Eugene exhaustion, not the performances, because the 800 meter men’s race may have been the finest 800 meters ever run in North America.
And the race was full of surprises!
Josh Hoey had gone through the 400 meters around 49 seconds, and parked right on him were Donavan Brazier, fresh off a 1:43.08, and Brandon Miller and Isaih Harris of the Brooks Beasts TC, who looked poised for something big.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July 31 – August 3, 2025, photo by Kevin Morris
Bryce Hoppel, the World Indoor Champion in 2024, and the 4th placer in the Olympic 800 meters, had set the current American record.
But as the finest 800 meter runners in the U.S. came down the final 100 meters, Donavan Brazier started to get aggressive, passing Hoey, Hoppel, and Miller, and running the fastest that Donavan had run since his World Championships win in 2019!
In fact, Donavan Brazier ran 1:42.16, his PB. Just two months prior to the US Championships, Donavan had not finished an 800 meters in two years! His injuries surely challenged his demeanor, yet with the support of his coach, his family his training partner, Craig Engels and Donavan’s fiance, Ally Wyatt, Donavan came back from two years of disappointment.
In the Mixed Zone, after his victory, Donavan told this writer, : ” I just want to enjoy my racing as long as I can.”
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July 31 – August 3, 2025, photo by Kevin Morris
Donavan Brazier had set the AR of 1:42:34 in the final of the Doha World Champs 800 meters in October 2019. Brazier broke the AR of Johnny Gray, set in 1985, with his masterful run in Doha, where Brazier took off with 300 meters left and did not look back?
What will Donavan Brazier do in Tokyo?
The 800 meters is red hot and Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the Olympic champion, looks incredible.
Do you believe in miracles?
Because in Eugene, Oregon in the Men’s 800 meters, on August 3, 2025, Donavan Brazier took out the very best in the 800 meters, including this sixteen year old Wunderkid, Cooper Lutkenhaus.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July 31 – August…
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