Citius Mag Podcast

Newly minted Olympian and 5x NCAA champion Parker Valby joins us live in Eugene after her runner-up finish in the 10,000m and 4th place finish in the 5000m. Parker shares about how she almost decided not to contest the Olympic Trials 10,000m, how she’s been able to stay mentally composed with how often she’s raced this year, what it’s been like racing among the pros at the Olympic Trials, what her training has looked like the past month while in Eugene, why she goes off the grid on social media before races, and what she’s looking forward to most in Paris.  Parker also chats with us about her love for kombucha and her favorite music. Hear more from Parker and what’s ahead for her in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Karen Leciewicz | @kara_les on Instagram  Guest: Parker Valby | @parkervalby on Instagram _________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

“It’s bigger than me. It’s about my purpose and what I want to show in track and field, what I want to show people who are watching, and the younger generation. It’s about that. If you get caught up in, ‘I need to prove to everyone that I belong here and deserve this,’ it’s not really about that.” 2x Olympic medalist and 2x world medalist Gabby Thomas joins us live in Eugene after defending her Olympics Trials 200m title to secure her spot on another Olympic team. Gabby walks us through the sequence of her 200m rounds, why she decided to go all-in on the 200m for the Olympic Trials, how she handles the pressures of racing, her purpose for competing, her goals for Paris, and how she hopes to inspire the next generation. Hear more from Gabby and her incredible journey in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram + Anderson Emerole | @atkoeme on Instagram + Katelyn Hutchison | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@_kxnaomi on Instagram Guest

“We see upsets all the time in this sport. Anything can happen to anybody on any given day. Those two are just on a whole other level. It’s kind of motivating to me. They’re #1 and #2 of all-time. They are the best two in the sport. They are active, they’re in their prime right now… As a guy who’s a little bit of a peg down from them, it’s super motivating. I want to beat those guys more than anything – because if I'm able to beat them, I'm beating absolute legends of the sport.”  Payton Otterdahl joins the show after qualifying for his second Olympic Games in shot put. Payton shares about how he approaches head-to-head competition with shot put legends Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs, breaks down the depth of the shot put field that he’ll face in Paris, how his shot put practices compare to his actual competitions, how he uses the offseason to his advantage, and lots more. Hear more from Payton in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_

“Especially seeing people who were young and doing track now, to kind of be like, ‘Listen. You CAN do it, even if it takes you 20 years,’ because I’ve actually been doing track officially for 20 years.” Chari Hawkins joins us live in Eugene to share about her path to becoming one of the world’s best heptathletes. She chats with us about how she’s stayed patient while working her way to the top, the bond and sense of respect that she shares with other heptathletes, how she structures her season to optimize her world ranking, advice for younger athletes, and lots more. Hear more from Chari on her powerful story in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Eric Jenkins | @_ericjenkins on Instagram Guest: Chari Hawkins | @_charihawkins on Instagram _________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

“If you can't bet on yourself at the end of the day, then what the hell are you doing? I know if my life depended on it, I know I can show up… I can only lose to myself and that's when I'm not executing my race plan.” 5x world champion and world record holder Grant Holloway joins us live in Eugene after booking his ticket to another Olympic Games. Grant breaks down all three of his sub-13 performances in the Olympics Trials 110m hurdles, shares about his training group, his thoughts on Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track league, how he was able to regroup after the Tokyo Olympics, how he studies his competitors, and his perspective on the state of the men’s 110m hurdles in the U.S. Hear more from Grant and what’s ahead for him in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram + Katelyn Hutchison | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@_kxnaomi on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Anderson Emerole | @atkoeme on Instagram  Guest:

“I feel like there’s moments where you’re like, ‘Should I go or should I not go?’ after such a big loss. Go. That’s the best time you can go and do something after a big loss. Let’s do it, let’s try again. The most important thing you can always do is just try again… Just because you had a loss doesn't mean you can’t pick yourself up and try again.”  World Championship medalist Brittany Brown joins us live in Eugene after qualifying for her first Olympic team. She never won an NCAA title and didn’t sign a pro contract out of college, but she continued to bet on herself and it paid off big time. Brittany shares about her perseverance through setbacks to get to this point in her career, other women who inspire her, how she uses her 400m training to help her grow stronger in other events, what her training group is like, and more. Hear more from Brittany and her incredible path to the Olympics in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Anderson Emerole | @atkoeme on Instagram + Katelyn Hutchison | ⁠⁠⁠

“Every time I felt like I was going to fall off, I said, ‘No, I’m not going to let it happen. Mentally I am way stronger than this…’ I talked to myself in the last minute. I said, ‘No. I am mentally struggling, this is not hard. I’ve been running a lot faster than this during practice, so I can do this.’ That helped me to come back again.” 2x U.S. champion Weini Kelati joins us live in Eugene after winning the Olympic Trials 10,000m and qualifying for her first Olympic team. Weini shares about why she went all-in on the 10,000m at the Trials, how she fine-tuned her training to prepare for the 10,000m, what she tells herself during the toughest parts of races, what it means to her to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, and what message she hopes to impart to the millions of people who will be watching her compete at the Olympics. Hear more from Weini and her path to the Paris Olympics in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram + M

“After the 100, you could see I was really ticked off because I knew I should have won that and I lost it. But with the 200, there was a lot of upside and I was happy to see the performance because I was like, ‘Hey I was there and I let off the gas because I had to, but Paris is what matters and I know I'm going to be ready.” 2x Olympian and 3x World Championship Medalist Kenny Bednarek joins us live in Eugene after his runner-up finish in the Olympic Trials 100m – his first national team in the event. Kenny breaks down the 100m rounds at the Trials, his thoughts on who should be on the 4x100m relay, and more. Hear more from Kenny and what’s ahead for him in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Anderson Emerole | @atkoeme on Instagram  Guest: Kenny Bednarek | @kenny_bednarek on Instagram _________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

“It was a very, very low point and I feel like track wasn't loving me like I was loving it. I was ready to be done. Every athlete has their own story. Every athlete gets to a point where it's like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this…’ Going through that, it's very motivational to be in a place like this. I never thought I would be here, I never thought I was going to be on an Olympic team.” Olympic Trials 110m hurdles runner-up Freddie Crittenden joins us live in Eugene after qualifying for the Paris Olympics. Freddie shares about the hardships he went through in 2021, where he almost quit the sport completely, and how he was able to build off those low points to become an Olympian. Freddie also shares about what it’s like training with Grant Holloway and how he was able to step up at the Olympic Trials when it mattered most. Hear more from Freddie and what’s ahead for him in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Katelyn Hutchison | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@_kxnaomi on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

“After the (2012) Olympics, it just was such a big boost because for so long you're scrapping and fighting. I was 5th, 6th, 7th in a lot of these races and I kept saying, ‘This is going to be the year I'm going to get over the hump.’ For it to finally happen was just such a big moment for me, for my own confidence. After that I knew that I belonged and could really compete with all these guys.” 2x Olympic medalist and 12x U.S. champion Galen Rupp joins us live in Eugene to catch us up on life since the Olympic Marathon Trials in February. Galen reflects on his favorite races from his career, his experience competing for the University of Oregon, what his training was like during the peak of his career, the support he’s received from his wife and family, how he stays looped into the running community, and what it’s been like recovering from surgery a few months ago. Hear more of Galen’s updates in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chave

Last one, fast one?! The final day of the Olympic Trials was one for the history books. In every. single. event. that took place on the tracks yesterday afternoon, the Olympic Trials meet record was broken. In multiple events, simply qualifying for Team USA meant you had to produce a performance that ranked in the U.S. top-10 of all time. 12.37 in the 100m hurdles, 3:56.75 in the women’s 1500m, and 1:44.12 in the men’s 800m were only good enough for fourth place. The mantra of “iron sharpens iron” normally applies to training groups, but it certainly also applies to American track and field right now. When being top 10 in the world is not a guarantee of being top 3 in the U.S., the choice is simple: you elevate your game or you go home. The afternoon began with the 5000m final, where last year’s U.S. champ Abdi Nur and this year’s 10,000m champ Grant Fisher treated the fans to an epic duel over the final few laps. It took a sub-4 1600m to break the rest of the field, and in the final strides, Fisher was able

A fitting theme for the penultimate day of competition at the 2024 Olympic Trials: it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Just ask Monae’ Nichols, who sat in fourth place in the final of the long jump competition. Nichols has a 6.97m personal best from 2022, but heading into Trials she was one centimeter shy of the Olympic qualifying standard with a 6.85m season’s best. In her last jump of the competition, Nichols came up clutch in multiple ways, jumping her way from 5th into 3rd and improving her season’s best to the 6.86m auto-qualifier. The long jump was full of drama, with eventual champion Tara Davis-Woodhall needing a mark in the third round just to keep jumping and eventually pulling out a 7.00m leap in the fifth round to defend her national title. And three different women held the third position in the final round of competition, with Lex Brown starting the round in third at 6.77m, then Quanesha Burks landing a 6.80m jump, and finally Nichols taking the critical final spot with her final effort. There’s plent

“The expectation was we want to chase this and put her on the line in a way to be able to compete. Physically, I think things went really smooth. This is probably the best build she’s had in the eight years I’ve coached her. Mentally, it probably wasn't the best build. There were some battles that she faced and the race never tells the whole story. Being someone that saw what she overcame to make this team is what I think is going to make this one really special.”  Newly minted Olympian Courtney Wayment and Coach Diljeet Taylor join us live in Eugene after Courtney finished runner-up in the U.S. Olympic Trials steeplechase. Coach Taylor shares about Courtney’s ability to overcome challenges as she worked towards the Trials and what it’s been like coaching Courtney for the past eight years. Courtney shares about having “the best support system in the world” at BYU with past and present teammates, her training partners, and family. She also shares about her progression over the past few years that’s helped

“We are going into a new phase of track and field. And with that new phase, there has to be a new element. The standard is shifting, it’s only a matter of time that the world record is in danger. I’m not saying by who, but I’m just saying that if the standard keeps on going lower… it’s only a matter of time before 19.9 will get you sixth.”  2x Olympian Joseph Fahnbulleh joins us live in Eugene after competing at the African Championships this past week. Joe takes us through his questionable experience at the African Champs, his journey traveling from Africa to Eugene to catch the last half of the U.S. Trials, his analysis on some of the sprinters + events to watch for at the Olympics, his prediction for the future of the sprints, and lots more. Hear more from Joe in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Katelyn Hutchison | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@_kxnaomi on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Anderson Emerole | @atkoeme on Instagram  Guest: Joseph Fahnbulleh | @joefahn.xi on Instagram ____

“I’ve spent a lot of my career getting outkicked in the last 400… The marathon is something people always wanted me to do, it was just a matter of when I was actually ready to do it. It’s a long way to run.” 3x Olympian for Australia and 2:07:45 marathoner Patrick Tiernan joins us live in Eugene. Pat breaks down his previous Olympic experiences, weighs in on the U.S. Trials qualifying system, why he chooses to base his training in the U.S. instead of Australia, his thoughts on the top Australian track and field athletes, why he decided to transition to the marathon + how his training changed, and more. Hear more from Pat in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Eric Jenkins | @_ericjenkins on Instagram + Mitch Dyer | @metchosketch on Instagram  Guest: Patrick Tiernan | @tiernan_pat on Instagram _________ CITIUS MAG LIVE From Eugene! will bring you daily interviews with athletes, coaches and notable folks in town at noon PT each day. Our guests for Day 9 of the Olympic Trials include Valarie Allman, Z

“I think it’s important to have confidence in the plan that you choose, just going into the race and standing on the starting line knowing you did everything you could. I'm going to focus on my strengths and know I'm at the top.” 2x Olympian and American record holder Emily Sisson joins us live in Eugene to catch us up on how training has been going since qualifying for the U.S. Marathon team in February. Emily shares her thoughts on the Paris Olympics marathon course, adjustments she’s made to her training to prepare for the Olympics, why she likes switching up the distances she races, and her plans for post-Olympics. Hear more from Emily and what’s ahead for her in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram + Eric Jenkins | @_ericjenkins on Instagram Guest: Emily Sisson | @em_sisson on Instagram _________ CITIUS MAG LIVE From Eugene! will bring you daily interviews with athletes, coaches and notable folks in town at noon P

“As an athlete, you have those indicators that you look at, you track, you want to gain confidence from – and those have been going very well. But it’s also that belief that this is going to be a really good year. We’re going to accomplish our goals. We’re going to give it our best and feel proud of whatever that ends up being.”  Reigning Olympic Champion Val Allman and Coach Zebulon Sion join us live in Eugene after Val won the discus at the U.S. Olympics Trials and booked her ticket to Paris. Val breaks down the sequence of her throws at the Olympic Trials, shares about how she shifted her mindset after finishing second at the World Championships last summer, how she uses her competitors’ performances as motivation to elevate her own game, and what the next couple of weeks look like for her as she prepares for Paris.  Coach Zeb shares about how he helped Val reframe pressure as a positive, breaks down Val’s discus technique, and shares about the improvements Val’s been able to make in the weight room. Hear

The track is HOT. Okay, it’s actually quite pleasant by Eugene-in-June standards, with temperatures in the high 70s and a pleasant breeze that always seems to be a tailwind in Hayward Field. But the performances laid down last night in Day 8 of the Olympic Trials sure heated up the stadium — even in events where we’re not on finals yet. For the first time in history, three men broke 13 seconds in the same 110m hurdles race as Grant Holloway picked up his second national title, made his second Olympic team, and clocked the fourth-fastest performance in history ahead of Freddie Crittenden and Daniel Roberts’s lifetime bests. Five men broke 20 seconds in the 200m semifinals led by Noah Lyles’s wind-aided 19.60, and another epic battle between Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson is set up in the women’s 200m final. While middle-distance rounds can sometimes get tactical, they sure didn’t tonight. It took 4:05.36 to make the final of the women’s 1500m, and the “heavy hitters” heat did not disappoint with Nikki H

Did you miss us?! The U.S. Olympic Trials are back and better than ever in the second half of the 8-day program, with incredible drama, upsets, and underdog stories across the board. The race of the day (and perhaps the week?) was the women’s steeplechase, where a fast early pace and a topsy-turvy final lap ended with a whole slew of personal bests and rewriting of the record books. Tokyo Olympian Val Constien ended up on top thanks to a phenomenal final 400m, running 9:03.22 to PR by 11 seconds and land at #3 on the U.S. all-time list. Constien had ACL surgery last year and after a long road back is better than ever. We got our first peeks at the 400m hurdles crew, and the main takeaway from the first round is that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Rai Benjamin are looking like world beaters out for an easy jog. McLaughlin-Levrone in particular shut it down entirely over the final two laps and still ran 53.07, the third-fastest performance in the world this year behind her own season’s best and Femke Bol’s worl

“I will forever bet on myself no matter what. If my gut is telling me something’s going wrong, I'm going to make sure it’s going right. I'm always going to bet on myself no matter what… And that’s been paying off my entire career." Fred Kerley joins us live in Eugene after finishing third in the 100m at the U.S. Olympics Trials to book his ticket to another Olympic Games. From switching events to switching sponsors to trusting his fitness, Fred Kerley is always going to bet on himself. Fred shares about how he’s built unshakeable confidence in his abilities, what in his training indicated that he was capable of qualifying for the 100m, his goals for the Olympics, what he thinks it’ll take to win Olympic gold, and how he manages pressure. Hear more from Fred and what’s ahead for his career in this episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast. Host: Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Guest: Fred Kerley | @fkerley99 on Instagram ________