Expect To See America’s Best In Kobe At The World Championships

Qualifying for a Para track and field world championships means an athlete is truly one of the best on the planet in their respective event.

This year, however, the group of American athletes that will compete at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships May 17-25 in Kobe, Japan, have the chance to complete an unprecedented double as a world and Paralympic champion in the same year.

Last summer, the U.S. brought 45 athletes to compete in the world championships in Paris — where the Americans returned with 10 gold and 39 overall medals.

This year, with the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 looming at the end of August, the U.S. roster for worlds has been trimmed down to 30 athletes. Earning a spot on the U.S. team led to an ultra-competitive U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships this past March. Now with the roster set, those athletes will look to rack up medals at worlds, which kicks off on Friday.

Here are five U.S. athletes to keep an eye on in Kobe.

Breanna Clark and Roderick Townsend

When it comes to dominant sporting performances in the 21st century, thoughts of Tom Brady routinely lifting the Lombardi Trophy or Katie Ledecky cruising to 800-meter freestyle gold medals may come to mind.

In the world of Para track and field, few athletes have been as unstoppable as Breanna Clark or Roderick Townsend in the past decade.

Clark’s era of greatness started at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. At that meet, the Los Angeles native won gold by more than a second in the women’s 400 T20. Since that triumph, Clark, 29, has won gold at every major race in that event. She’s done more than just win her last two races, though. Clark broke her own world record at the Tokyo Paralympics (55.18) and then broke it again at the world championships in Paris last summer (55.12).

Townsend has been on a tear since the 2015 world championships in Doha, Qatar. That year, he comfortably won his first world title in the men’s high jump T47 by outleaping his competition by 0.15 meters. The Stockton, California, native has gone on to win gold at the ensuing two Paralympics and three world championships. Like Clark, Townsend broke his own world record while winning gold in Tokyo and Paris. The 31-year-old also boasts two Paralympic and four worlds medals in the men’s long jump T47.

Will anyone be able to put an end to Clark or Townsend’s dominance?

Arelle Middleton

If Arelle Middleton would’ve competed in Paris last summer, there’s a chance she’d already have a world title to her name. However, last July, Middleton had just finished her freshman year of high school in Rancho Cucamonga, which saw her win a California state title in the shot put.

Middleton’s state-winning throw of 12.02 meters would’ve been enough to win gold in the women’s shot put T64 in Paris. The 15-year-old, who U.S. Paralympics Track & Field named as its High School Female Field Athlete of the Year for 2023, now has a chance to test herself against elite competition in her worlds debut in Kobe.

Justin Phongsavanh

After not competing in the world championships last summer, Justin Phongsavanh made the trip to Santiago, Chile, for the 2023 Parapan American Games last November. At that competition, the Des Moines, Iowa, native took home a silver medal in the men’s javelin F54.

The 26-year-old — who will turn 27 on Sunday while he’s in Kobe — has kept a busy schedule this spring. He won the national title in the javelin F54 in March. Then he made history in April, as he and U.S. teammate Beth Grauer became the first seated throwers to compete in the Drake Relays. At that meet, Phongsavanh’s best throw traveled 30.06 meters, which was 0.92 meters farther than his fourth-place throw at the 2019 world championships.

That’s not Phongsavanh’s best, as he won a Paralympic bronze in Tokyo with a throw of 31.09 and set a world record of 33.29 meters a few months prior at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials. Still, it’s a promising sign ahead of his anticipated return to the world stage.

Hunter Woodhall

Given Hunter Woodhall’s recent results, there’s no telling what he could have in store in Kobe. The Syracuse, Utah, native competed in the Arkansas Twilight — a meet for the collegiate and professional athletes at the University of Arkansas — on May 3. Competing at his alma matter must have created some comfort for Woodhall, as he broke his own Americas record in the 400 T62 by 3.48 seconds with a time of 46.39.

Later that night, the 25-year-old participated in the men’s 4x400 and ran his split in 44.88.

If that wasn’t enough, Woodhall also set a new Americas record in the men’s 100 T62 at nationals this year when he ran the race in 11 seconds flat. Only time will tell if the three-time Paralympic medalist can break even more records in Kobe.

Luke Hanlon is a sportswriter and editor based in Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to usparatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.