Sports

Donavan Brazier, Josh Hoey go from track wilderness to national championships spotlight

Published

5 months ago

August 1, 2025

Donavan Brazier went nearly three years away from racing, spending more time on Planet Fitness ellipticals than in track spikes.

For even longer, Josh Hoey was in his own running wilderness: six different coaches since turning pro out of high school in 2018.

Their stories collide in the men’s 800m, arguably the most compelling event at this week’s Toyota USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

The meet starts Thursday, with the 800m final on Sunday (live on Peacock).

National champions and world championships team members will be determined in Eugene, Oregon.

Donavan Brazier’s injury history and return to 800m

The top three in most events, including the men’s 800m, likely make the team for September’s World Championships in Tokyo.

The three fastest two-lappers in American history are entered: Bryce Hoppel (fourth at the 2024 Olympics), Hoey (fourth at the 2024 Olympic Trials, missing the team by one spot) and Brazier, the only American to win a world title in the event.

But that crown came way back in 2019. Six years was a generation ago in the men’s 800m, and in Brazier’s life.

After COVID-19 postponed the Tokyo Olympics by one year, Brazier broke the American indoor record for a third time in February 2021.

But that spring something didn’t feel right in his left ankle. Brazier, determined to race through it in an Olympic year, put off an MRI.

At the trials for Tokyo, he won his first-round heat, placed second in his semifinal and was in second place in the final with 200 meters to go, having won all of his meets since May 2019.

He began looking down at his legs every handful of strides. Six men passed him. He faded to last place (2.32 seconds behind the field). He limped after finishing.

He alluded to an injury minutes afterward in a virtual mixed zone — “some things bugging me, but there’s things that champions overcome, and I couldn’t overcome them,” he said.

Two or three days later, a photo on fellow runner Craig Engels’ Instagram story showed Brazier in the background wearing a protective boot and holding crutches.

The post-trials MRI had revealed a fracture in the ankle. He underwent surgery and returned for the early 2022 indoor season.

But then Brazier needed another surgery — this time on his right foot to repair Haglund’s deformity, a bony growth on the heel where the Achilles’ tendon attaches.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone switches events, while Noah Lyles goes for a record-tying U.S. 200m title.

He underwent three total procedures for Haglund’s between July 2022 and late 2023. He didn’t race in 2023 or 2024.

“Single most difficult time?” Brazier asked, repeating an interview question. “I think it’s just the cumulativeness of the unknown, not knowing if you’re going to come back or not. In my brain, I always thought I was going to come back, but there definitely was lingering things like, if I did retire, the sport’s moved on without me.”

Brazier tried to keep running, but only in what he called “little stints” and not enough to merit counting his weekly mileage.

When his foot couldn’t take the pounding, Brazier biked, swam and mounted an arc machine to stay in shape. He became a Planet Fitness member to use gyms in his native Michigan and in Florida, where his fiancée, Ally Watt, plays for the Orlando Pride.

“I tried to almost trick myself into not missing it (track), you know what I mean?” Brazier said. “But then once you come back, you kind of realize how much you did miss it.”

He came back this spring. Brazier flew to Flagstaff, Arizona, a runners’ hub due to its elevation, and trained under coach Mike Smith.

By June, having been relatively pain-free for three months, Brazier was ready to race for the first time since July 2022.

His return meet: the Toad Fest in Brentwood, Tennessee. Brazier called it nostalgic.

He boarded an airplane not to see a doctor or visit a friend, but to compete. He reacted to a starting gun for the first time in years. He won — in 1:44.70, a time that would have made the 2024 Olympic Trials final.

“A lot of it felt natural, kind of like the good old times a little bit,” he said.

The first-place prize was a small statue of a toad sitting on a mushroom. It came from a Wal-Mart. Brazier was told he didn’t have to keep it, but he insisted on bringing it home.

“It was one of the cooler trophies I’ve gotten,” he said. “It’s one of the most meaningful ones, too.”

From there, Brazier went faster on June 15 (1:43.81) and July 19 (1:43.08).

He goes into nationals ranked third in the U.S. in 2025 by best time behind Hoey and Hoppel. If he’s top three on Sunday, he makes the world team.

“I was just trying to (qualify to race at) USAs,” he said, “but now I feel competitive enough to kind of reach out there and say I would like to try to qualify for teams. Obviously, I know the 800m is no slouch of an event right now.”

Josh Hoey breaks through in 800m in 7th year as pro

Back in 2018, Hoey turned pro out of high school. He was the second male distance runner to do so after Drew Hunter in 2016, according to track media.

Hoey ran at outdoor U.S. trials meets in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and never made it out of the first round.

He had no success with coaches, either, going through five over five years. There were injuries, disagreements on training philosophies and little improvement on his best times as a high schooler outside Philadelphia.

“I’ve had a lot of previous coaches and other people in the community that have said, ‘He’s done. He was good in high school, but he’s kind of cooked,’” he said on the Running Effect podcast.

By late 2023, Hoey stared at the last year of his Adidas contract in 2024 and, possibly, his last year as a professional runner.

Hoey trained in the morning on a track built during the pandemic on an old equestrian field at his family’s farm. Then he dressed up to intern during the day with his dad’s investment firm.

“It had seemed to me (in fall 2023) that I’d missed my window of opportunity, and the past five years of many mistakes and disappointments had run their course,” Hoey once posted on social media. “Despite this, I continued to train because it’s what I’m best at and what I know.”

For his last hurrah, Hoey decided to come up with his own training plan. Then fellow 800m runner and family friend Will Sumner made a suggestion for coach No. 6: his own coach, Australia-based Justin Rinaldi.

Hoey was reluctant. He did his mom a favor and made the call.

“A lot of the ideas that I had about training, that I was going to try and implement for myself, (Rinaldi) elaborated in much better detail,” he told Citius Mag.

Hoey and Rinaldi started a remote working relationship in late 2023.

At the 2024 Olympic Trials, Hoey finished fourth — one spot off the team, by 15 hundredths. Two hours later, he laughed about a placement that many would cry over.

“It felt so ironic, to have come that far and then to get that close, it was ridiculous,” he said of recording a personal best by 1.23 seconds. “I would say it was a really motivating experience, because going into that, there were still a lot of questions about if I was able to compete nationally and especially outdoors. That really kind of confirmed our talent level.”

Hoey re-signed with Adidas through 2028.

After the season, he spent fall 2024 in Flagstaff, altitude training he now credits for success so far in 2025: the world’s second-fastest indoor 800m in history in February and the world indoor title in March.

Team USA’s Hoey captures men’s 800m gold

Josh Hoey of the United States does just enough to win gold in the men’s 800m, securing his first global championship at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

In the spring outdoor season, he recovered from norovirus to lower his outdoor personal best twice more.

His 1:42.01 in Monaco on July 11 is the second-fastest time in U.S. history behind Hoppel’s 1:41.67 from the Paris Olympics. It also makes him the world’s second-fastest performer in 2025 behind Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the Olympic champion.

“I definitely don’t think that we’ve hit our goals in the 800m this year,” Hoey said, adding he’s eyeing a world outdoor championships medal.

Hoey first met Brazier in 2018, after he turned pro and signed with the same agency.

This week, they could line up in the same outdoor race for the first time since the 2019 USATF Championships — when Brazier was the soon-to-be world champion and Hoey was trying to find his footing as a teenage pro.

“I don’t want to speak for Donovan’s experience, but I definitely understand what it’s like to feel lost and kind of ostracized from competition, and I understand how humbled and focused that can make you,” Hoey said.

Brazier drifted from the sport during his years away. He said he felt no animosity or bitterness, but that he didn’t want to be too involved in case his body wouldn’t let him return to this level.

“It obviously kills me, knowing that I haven’t even made an Olympic team up to this point in my career,” he told Citius. “I think that’s kind of what keeps me up really at night. … If I had made an Olympic team at this point, I might have not even tried to come back. I definitely have certain goals and aspirations I still want to hit, but number one is really just trying to be an Olympian.”

Paris 2024 Olympic Games - Day 11 - Athletics

Cole Hocker wants to become the second American man to win a world 1500m title, but that’s not his only 2025 goal.

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Sports

Why On Is Entering Football

Published

4 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Hi everyone, welcome back to SportsVerse, my twice-weekly newsletter that tells stories you can’t find anywhere else about the intersection of sports, fashion, business, and culture. This will be the final SportsVerse edition of 2025 (unless I decide to put a special edition out in the event of big industry news, which often happens around this time of year). I wanted to say thank you again to everyone who has engaged with this newsletter since January. It’s been so much fun seeing it grow and grow and grow. I’ll catch you all in 2026 for more. And if you need best-in-class sports culture analysis and fun content in the meantime, be sure to sign up for OffBall’s daily newsletter, written by the incredible Ashtyn Butuso, edited by yours truly. Peace.

When On first entered the tennis category after attracting investment from Roger Federer in 2019, it became clear that the brand had ambitions far greater than dominating just the running footwear market where it first made a name for itself. When the Swiss sneaker company began branching out into high-end fashion collaborations with the likes of Loewe, Beams and Post Archive Faction, it also became apparent that the brand had intentions far greater than simply producing performance shoes and apparel for sports.

Very early on, the brand’s founders and executive team set out a strategy that, if executed correctly, would see the once-niche disruptor brand from Zurich transform itself into a bona fide sportswear powerhouse, taking its place alongside the likes of Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and others.

For years, I’d wondered which sport the brand would look to for its next expansion. Naturally, I asked all the On executives and co-founders whenever I came across them in meetings or interviews, but they all remained tight lipped (a wise decision) while adding that the brand was always assessing new sports or categories for potential growth.

I’d been told that a lot of (very serious) golfers compete in the On’s training and running shoes, so I wondered if it could be that. But late last week, On gave the biggest indication yet of its next big move, with its surprise signing of Sydney Schertenleib, a fast rising star of FC Barcelona and the Swiss national team.

The 18-year-old is joining On specifically as an ambassador to promote the brand’s training and lifestyle collections, meaning we won’t be seeing On products on the football pitch just yet. It also doesn’t mean that two years from now, On will be churning out football gear and boots (cleats) for athletes or the general public. But make no mistake, On’s signing of Schertenleib — the first deal of any kind for On in football — was a very intentional play and a major indication of its trajectory.

Yes. Signing Schertenleib presents a perfect opportunity for On to begin lightly introducing its brand to the football world, opening the door to scores of fans and consumers who may not have bought products from — or even heard of — the brand so far. It’s relatively low risk and low cost, since it’s not like On will be investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into R&D to develop and market football products, given she will simply be endorsing the brand’s training and lifestyle clothing, which already exists. Schertenleib is expected to continue wearing Adidas boots in-game.

This is a key growth category for On. Training and lifestyle essentially = sports-inspired fashion gear for everyday use, either in the gym, around the house or out and about. It’s the category that generates the lion’s share of sales for sportswear powerhouses, which is helping scale On from a specialist footwear maker into an all-round sportswear giant that will generate over $3 billion in annual revenue this year. It’s the reason why the brand has pushed hard into popular culture and lifestyle over the past 18 months, signing big-ticket ambassadors from Zendaya to FKA Twigs to Burna Boy, splashing out on multi-million dollar Super Bowl ads.

Schertenleib is clearly an outlier when placed against the above names. But her signing makes a lot of sense. She’s a generational talent with the footballing world at her feet. On is getting in early, backing her while she’s still a young talent and hoping to benefit tenfold from the association down the line. She is also the first athlete to be signed to specifically promote training and apparel, rather than a sport like tennis or track and field. This is a smart move: it’s all well and good using famous actors or music stars to promote lifestyle and training gear, but no one underscores the authenticity and credibility of sportswear better than an elite, highly marketable athlete.

Yes. She fits the profile that On is looking for when it comes to assembling its next-gen roster of ultra-marketable Gen-Z athlete talent.

For many years now, On has been executing a strategy to find elite sporting talent who may have been overlooked or undervalued by other brands in the market. These athletes represent major upside potential for a brand like On, making it a very mutually beneficial partnership. The brand is building a unique roster of the next

We saw it happen with Ben Shelton, who has publicly admitted he never wanted to be one of 30 other tennis players in Nike’s roster, and has steadily grown to represent On’s ambitious brand building in the world of tennis as his own stature in the game — and wider culture — has grown. 23-year-old Swiss hurdler Ditaji Kambundji signed for On in January this year, again helping the brand speak to a younger audience through her compelling social media content, and providing an instant return in a sporting sense with her gold medal showing at the World Championships.

Sydney Joy Schertenleib on Instagram: “BTS archives, loved it! …

Schertenleib aligns with both the age profile and the style of athlete that On is looking for right now — young, highly marketable and with the world at her feet. At just 18 years old, she has amassed over 460,000 followers on Instagram alone, and has already started promoting the brand with collaborative content on the platform. Her choice to sign with On is a reflection of her savvy ambitions for her own personal brand, knowing she will get far greater marketing focus at a brand like On rather than Adidas or Nike.

That’s that for today, friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

See you next time,

DYM

Also, shoutout to Cherry Beagles and her incredible platform, The 400 Club, for including SportsVerse in the holiday season’s “gift ideas for the sports girl.”

The 400 Club on Instagram: “Gift ideas for the sports girl ✨”

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Sports

Slekis Announces 2026 T&F Slates & Staff Updates

Published

6 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

THIBODAUX, La. – Nicholls State University track and field coach Stefanie Slekis announced the 2026 schedule along with the hiring of assistant coach Cameron Bolt on Monday afternoon.

Nicholls will compete in two in state meets and two out of state meets for the indoor season. The teams will begin the season in Baton Rouge at the LSU Purple Tiger on Jan.16 followed by the McNeese Indoor II on Jan. 30. The Colonels will cross state lines to compete in the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Samford University on Feb. 13 before concluding the season at the Southland Conference Championship on Feb. 25-26.

The outdoor season is action packed with three out of state completion’s and four instate events. The Red & Gray will begin outdoor action at the Louisiana Classics hosted by Louisiana in Lafayette on March 20-21. Next, the squads will open the month of April in Austin, Texas at the Texas Relays on April 1-4. The Colonels return to the boot for the Pelican Relays (4/10-11), Strawberry Relays (4/17), and the LSU Alumni Gold (4/25). Nicholls will wrap up regular season action at Texas A&M’s Alumni Muster in College Station, Texas on May 1-2. The Southland Conference Championship is in Nacogdoches, Texas on May 14.

Coach Slekis is looking forward to the new season with some new opportunities for her student-athletes. Bolt joins the staff after coaching over 200 National qualifiers, 15 All-Americans, four National Champions. Additionally, he is the owner of Bolt Track and Field Club team that he started in 2023 and has had more than 20 National qualifiers.

We are so excited for our 2026 Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field schedule. For our schedule we changed up the second half of both our Indoor and Outdoor seasons from the past few years,” Slekis said. “Indoor we will head to Birmingham to compete at Samford’s Bulldog invitational which will give our team the opportunity to test themselves on the facility we will return to for the indoor championship. Outdoor we close out the season at two of the best SEC track & field programs in the country who have phenomenal facilities. Going first to LSU and then bringing full teams to Texas A & M for the Alumni Muster. Before we return to Texas for the Southland Championship hosted by SFA.”

Coach Slekis gave her overall thoughts on the addition of Coach Bolt and how he can help the team improve.

“We are changing things up a bit this year and I am also really excited to see how well our student-athletes perform this season especially our track & field only student-athletes who had the entire fall semester working with our new assistant coach Cameron Bolt,” Slekis said. “Cam comes with a wealth of knowledge as a young coach who founded his own track & field club and continuously worked to prepare himself for his first NCAA Division I collegiate coaching opportunity. His energy combined with his knowledge base make him a phenomenal hire. He understands how to develop student-athletes and maximize their potential. Through fall testing his event group has seen improvement across the board so it will be fun to see that hard work translate to their specific events this next semester.”

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Sports

Wisconsin volleyball beats Texas in four to reach Final Four

Published

7 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

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Four Zips Named to the 2025 Academic All-MAC Volleyball Team

Published

8 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced the 78 student-athletes placed on the Academic All-MAC Team for the 2025 volleyball season, as Martina Villani, Gabby Brissett, Vanessa Del Real and Sarah Bettis represented the University of Akron.

The Academic All-MAC honor is awarded to a student-athlete who has excelled in both athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests in that sport.

Martina Villani, Junior Criminology and Criminal Justice, 3.861

Gabby Brissett, Senior, Biology, 3.745

Vanessa Del Real, Junior, Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, 3.81

Sarah Bettis, Junior, Biomedical Science, 3.363

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Five Rockets Receive Academic All-MAC Honors

Published

8 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women’s volleyball team had five student-athletes named to the Academic All-MAC team for the 2025 season, the league office announced on Monday.

Senior Macy Medors led the Rockets, tallying a 3.989 GPA as she earned her third conference honor. Anna Alford and Sierra Pertzborn received the honor for a second-consecutive season. Grace Freiberger and Olivia Heitkamp were named honorees for the first time.

To qualify, student-athletes must be a sophomore or higher academic standing, have maintained a 3.20 cumulative GPA or higher and competed in 50% of contests during the 2025 season.

2025 Toledo Women’s Volleyball Academic All-MAC Team

Anna Alford, Senior, Public Health Management, 3.415

Grace Freiberger, Sophomore, Recreational Therapy, 3.909

Olivia Heitkamp, Sophomore, Early Childhood Education, 3.501

Macy Medors, Senior, Recreational Therapy, 3.989

Sierra Pertzborn, Redshirt Sophomore, Nursing, 3.558

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ESPN serves up NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Semifinals and Championship, Dec. 18 & 21

Published

8 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Kansas City field consists of No. 1 Kentucky, No. 1 Pitt, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 3 Wisconsin
Championship broadcast live on ABC for the third straight year; semifinals slated for ESPN, Thu., Dec. 18
All matches will also stream on the ESPN App

It all comes down to Kansas City as ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship culminates this week live from the T-Mobile Center with the National Semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 18, followed by the Championship match on Sunday, Dec. 21.

The stage is set as the final four teams face off in the semifinals beginning with No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh in the first semifinal on Thursday, Dec. 18, at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed 30 minutes later by No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 Kentucky. Both matches will be presented on ESPN and available on the ESPN App.

For the third consecutive year, ABC is home to the Championship match, broadcasting live on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 3:30 p.m. and for the first time, ABC will also air a dedicated 30-minute preview show ahead of the Championship’s first serve, beginning at 3 p.m. Both the preview show and the match will be available on the ESPN App.

On the Mic
For the fourth straight year, game action for all three matches will be called by play-by-play commentator Courtney Lyle, alongside analysts Holly McPeak (three-time beach volleyball Olympian) and Katie George (2015 ACC Player of the Year). For the second consecutive year, the trio is joined by sideline reporter and former FSU beach volleyball standout Madison Fitzpatrick.

Studio Coverage
Studio Coverage will originate from the T-Mobile Center as Christine Williamson, Emily Ehman (four-year Northwestern standout) and Mary Wise (three-time AVCA Coach of the Year) bring viewers pre- and post-game insights and analysis throughout the semifinals and Championship.

The trio will prep viewers for all they need to know ahead the National Semifinals and National Championship match, bringing additional insight and analysis as a champion is crowded.

Every Serve, Every Angle
ESPN has all the action in Kansas City covered from every angle, including exclusive and behind-the-scenes coverage. This year, along with 25-plus cameras and two dozen replay sources, ESPN will have new and enhanced telestrations, giving the fans an additional in-depth look at the Xs and Os of the game.

Additionally, the presentation will have multiple jibs, giving fans a sweeping view over the arena. ESPN will also use six state-of-the-art slow-mo cameras to give viewers a look at the action at the net.

For the first time at the National Championship, the broadcast will feature Bolt 6, showcasing enhanced technology that shows viewers serve speed, spike speed, spike height and other statistical facets of the game.

In addition to the traditional main telecast, an alternate “High End Zone” viewing option will be available on ESPN+/ESPN App for the semifinals and the Championship, giving fans the option to watch the match from the end zone angle.

Kansas City Bound
The National Semifinals boast programs that have made a combined 15 national semifinal appearances. Pittsburgh is making its fifth consecutive trip to the National Semifinal with a No. 1 seed behind them as the Panthers look to hoist their first NCAA trophy. The Wildcats are making their first trip back to the semifinals since the ’20-21 season in which they cut down the nets in Omaha. Storied program Wisconsin makes its seventh trip to the national semifinals, looking to win the program’s second national title (2021). Rounding out the field are the Texas A&M Aggies, who are on the quest to win the program’s first national championship.

2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Network
Thu, Dec 18	6:30 p.m.	No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George, Madison Fitzpatrick	ESPN ESPN App *
	Between Match Coverage	NCAA Women’s Volleyball Studio Christine Williamson, Emily Ehman, Mary Wise	ESPN ESPN App *
	30 mins after Semifinal 1	No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 Kentucky Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George, Madison Fitzpatrick	ESPN ESPN App *
Sun, Dec 21	3 p.m.	NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Preview Show Christine Williamson, Emily Ehman, Mary Wise	ABC ESPN App
	3:30 p.m.	NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George, Madison Fitzpatrick	ABC ESPN App *
	Following Championship match	NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Trophy Ceremony	ESPN App

* There will be two streams available on the ESPN App (Traditional Simulcast and High End Zone angle)

All of ESPN. All in One Place.
ESPN offers its full suite of networks and services directly to fans on the ESPN App, providing more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, including more than 47,000 live events per year, on-demand replays, industry-leading studio shows and original programming, and more. The ESPN App gives fans a unique viewing experience that includes multiview and synchronized two-screen viewing options, swipe-able vertical video and a personalized SportsCenter For You, as well as integrated game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, betting odds and information from DraftKings, sports merchandise, and more. These features are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a limited time offer for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months. For more visit stream.espn.com.

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