Month After Winning 400M at Home Soil, American Track and Field Star Suffers Major Blow in Budapest 2023

Track and field prodigy Bryce Deadmon won his first Olympic gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. However, his collective effort at the 4x400m relay event was not his only Olympic win. Deadmon went on to clinch a bronze medal as well for his efforts at the mixed relay event. More recently, the Texas A&M star became the 400m national champion at last month’s USATF Outdoor Championships.

Deadmon won the event in style with a personal best of 44.22. This was also an incredible feat since the track and field prodigy was coming into the tournament after recovering from an injury. The win at the U.S. Championships naturally made him a frontrunner to clinch the world championship medal in Budapest, but Deadmon has now suffered a major blow in Budapest.

Bryce Deadmon suffers a major upset

After becoming the 400m U.S. champion last month, everybody considered Bryce Deadmon as the favorite in Budapest.?But the reigning U.S. 400m champion will not advance after finishing last in his heat. Reports suggest that the track star claims he tweaked his hamstring in practice on Friday afternoon. This comes as a major shock for not just Deadmon but U.S. track fans, too. Earlier this week, the reigning 400m world champion Michael Norman revealed that after a difficult season, he will skip the World Championships in Budapest in order to focus on next year’s Olympics.

What comes as a shock to track fans is the fact that Deadmon finished last in his heat. It remains to be seen who will represent the United States in the 400m event in Budapest. While the reigning U.S. champion failed to qualify, the likes of Wayde Van Niekerk, Steve Gardiner, and Vernon Norwood have all secured a place in the semifinals of the 400m event. Norway’s Havard Ingvaldsen even bettered his own national record by putting in an impeccable time of 44.39.

400m semi-finals at World Championships 2023

The Heat 2 of the 400m in Budapest saw Wayde van Niekerk battling Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith. Van Niekerk, who also holds the world record in the event, set a time of 44.57 to secure first place while Hudson-Smith finished second. The South African looks ready to redeem himself after a disappointing run in the Tokyo Olympics that saw him unable to qualify for the finals. He also finished a low fifth in the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, where Michael Norman was crowned world champion.

Read more: Team USA Disqualified From Tokyo Olympics 2020 4x400m Mixed Relay Race

As all other athletes move toward the next round of competition, track fans will still be getting over Bryce Deadmon finishing last. As the track and field star aims to recover from his injury, fans will hope he comes back in next year’s Paris Olympics.

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