World Athletics Championships 2025: Meet the Former NCAA Track & Field Athletes

The 2025 World Athletics Championships will feature hundreds of former NCAA track & field alumni. Some of the athletes you should watch out for are listed below.

The World Athletics Championships: What are these events?

Every alternate year, a track and field competition called the World Athletics Championships (previously the IAAF World Championships) takes place. The World Athletics Championships are the top track and field competition outside of the Olympics.

The 2025 World Athletics Championships’ venue and dates

Tokyo, Japan will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships from September 13–21.

Notable Athletes

Team USA track’s former NCAA athletes

Here are a few previous track event standouts who began their careers in the NCAA.

Event	Athlete	College
Men’s 100 meters	Trayvon Bromell	Baylor
Men’s 100/200 meters	Courtney Lindsey	Texas Tech
Men’s 100 meters	T’Mars McCallum	Tennessee
Men’s 200 meters	Robert Gregory	Florida
Men’s 400 meters	Christopher Bailey	Arkansas
Men’s 400 meters	Jenoah McKiver	Florida
Men’s 400 meters	Khaleb McRae	Alavama
Men’s 400 meters	Vernon Norwood	LSU
Men’s 400 meters	Jacory Patterson	Florida
Men’s 800 meters	Donovan Brazier	Texas A&M
Men’s 800 meters	Bryce Hoppel	Kansas
Men’s 1500/5000 meters	Cole Hocker	Oregon
Men’s 1500 meters	Jonah Koech	Texas Tech
Men’s 1500 meters	Ethan Strand	North Carolina
Men’s 5000/10,000 meters	Grant Fisher	Stanford
Men’s 5000 meters	Cooper Teare	Oregon
Men’s 5000/10,000 meters	Nico Young	Northern Arizona
Men’s 10,000 meters	Graham Blanks	Harvard
Men’s 10,000 meters	Ahmed Muhumed	Florida State
Men’s Steeplechase	Daniel Michalski	Indiana
Men’s Steeplechase	Nathan Mountain	Virginia
Men’s Steeplechase	Kenneth Rooks	BYU
Men’s 110 hurdles	Dylan Beard	Howard
Men’s 110 hurdles	Trey Cunningham	Florida State
Men’s 110 hurdles	Grant Holloway	Florida
Men’s 110 hurdles	Ja’Kobe Tharp	Auburn
Men’s 110 hurdles	Cordell Tinch	Pittsburg State
Men’s 400 hurdles	CJ Allen	Washington STate
Men’s 400 hurdles	Rai Benjamin	Southern California (USC)
Men’s 400 hurdles	Caleb Dean	Texas Tech
Men’s 400 hurdles	Chris Robinson	Alabama
Men’s 4×100 relay	Ronnie Baker	TCU
Men’s 4×100 relay	Christian Coleman	Tennessee
Men’s 4×100 relay	Maurice Gleaton	Georgia (commit)
Men’s 4×100 relay	Kyree King	Oregon
Men’s 4×400 relay	Bryce Deadmon	Texas A&M
Women’s 100/200 meters	Melissa Jefferson-Wooden	Coastal Carolina
Women’s 100 meters	Sha’Carri Richardson	LSU
Women’s 100 meters	Jacious Sears	Tennessee
Women’s 100 meters	Twanisha “Tee Tee” Terry	Southern California (USC)
Women’s 100/200 meters	Kayla White	North Carolina A&T
Women’s 200 meters	Anavia Battle	Ohio State
Women’s 200 meters	Brittany Brown	Iowa
Women’s 200 meters	McKenzie Long	Ole Miss
Women’s 400 meters	Aaliyah Butler	Georgia
Women’s 400 meters	Lynna Irby-Jackson	Georgia
Women’s 400 meters	Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone	Kentucky
Women’s 400 meters	Isabella Whittaker	Arkansas
Women’s 800 meters	Nia Akins	Penn
Women’s 800 meters	Maggie Congdon	Northern Arizona
Women’s 800 meters	Sage Hurta-Klecker	Colorado
Women’s 800 meters	Roisin Willis	Stanford
Women’s 1500 meters	Nikki Hiltz	Arkansas
Women’s 1500 meters	Sinclaire Johnson	Oklahoma State
Women’s 1500 meters	Emily Mackay	Binghamton
Women’s 1500 meters	Heather Maclean	UMass
Women’s 5000 meters	Josette Andrews	Georgetown
Women’s 5000/10,000 meters	Elise Cranny	Stanford
Women’s 5000 meters	Shelby Houlihan	Arizona State
Women’s 5000/10,000 meters	Weini Kelati Frezghi	New Mexico
Women’s 10,000 meters	Emily Infeld	Georgetown
Women’s 10,000 meters	Taylor Roe	Oklahoma State
Women’s steeplechase	Kristlin Gear	Arkansas
Women’s steeplechase	Lexy Halladay	BYU
Women’s steeplechase	Kaylee Mitchell	Oregon State
Women’s steeplechase	Angelina Napoleon	NC State
Women’s 100 hurdles	Kendra Harrison	Kentucky
Women’s 100 hurdles	Alyasha “Lay Lay” Johnson	Texas Tech
Women’s 100 hurdles	Masai Russell	Kentucky
Women’s 100 hurdles	Grace Stark	Florida
Women’s 400 hurdles	Anna Cockrell	Southern California (USC)
Women’s 400 hurdles	Akala Garrett	Texas
Women’s 400 hurdles	Jasmine Jones	Southern California (USC)
Women’s 400 hurdles	Dalilah Muhammad	Southern California (USC)
Women’s 4×100 relay	Tamara Clark	Alabama
Women’s 4×100 relay	English Gardner	Oregon
Women’s 4×100 relay	Jenna Prandini	Oregon
Women’s 4×400 relay	Alexis Holmes	Kentucky
Women’s 4×400 relay	Britton Wilson	Arkansas
Mixed 4×400 relay	Rosey Effiong	Arkansas
Mixed 4×400 relay	Quanera Hayes	Livingstone
Mixed 4×400 relay	Justin Robinson	Arizona State
Mixed 4×400 relay	Demarius Smith	Oklahoma

More former NCAA athletes at World Championships

Here’s a look at some former standouts from other countries that got their start in the NCAA ranks.

Men
- Alabama — Jereem Richards, Trinidad and Tobago (400m)
- Alabama — Kirani James, Grenada (100m)
- Alabama — Samuel Ogazi, Nigeria (400m)
- Arkansas — Ayden Owens-Deleme, Puerto Rico (Decathlon)
- Arkansas — Carey McLeod, Jamaica (Long jump)
- Arkansas — Romaine Beckford, Jamaica (400h)
- Arkansas — Yaseen Abdalla, Sudan (Marathon)
- Auburn — Israel Okon, Nigeria (100m)
- Auburn — Kayinsola Ajayi, Nigeria (100m)
- Auburn — Makanakaishe Charamba, Zimbabwe (200m)
- Baylor — Nathaniiel Ezekiel, Nigeria (400h)
- California — Rowan Hamilton, Canada (Hammer)
- Duke — Simen Guttormsen, Norway (Pole vault)
- Eastern Kentucky — Ahmed Jaziri, Tunisia (Steeplechase)
- Florida — Joseph Fahnbulleh, Liberia (200m)
- Florida State — Adriaan Wildschutt, South Africa (10,000m)
- Georgia — Christopher Morales Williams, Canada (400m)
- Georgia — Johannes Erm, Estonia (Decathlon)
- Georgia — Karel Tilga, Estonia (Decathlon)
- Houston — Louie Hinchliffe, Great Britain (100m)
- Houston — Shaun Maswanganyi, South Africa (200m)
- Kentucky — Tapiwanashe Makarawu, Zimbabwe (200m)
- LSU — Armand Duplantis, Sweden (Pole vault)
- LSU — Claudio Romero, Chile (Discus)
- Minnesota — Charles Godfred, Nigeria (Long jump)
- Mississippi State — Marco Arop, Canada (800m)
- Mississippi State — Navasky Anderson, Jamaica (800m)
- Nebraska — Keyshawn Strachan, Bahamas (Javelin)
- Nebraska — Till Steinforth, Germany (Decathlon)
- New Mexico — Josh Kerr, Great Britain (1500m)
- Oklahoma — Ralford Mullings, Jamaica (Discus)
- Oklahoma State — Fouad Messaoudi (1500m)
- Oregon — Matthew Erickson, Canada (800m)
- Oregon — Mykolas Alekna, Lithuania (Discus)
- Princeton — Sondre Guttormsen, Norway (Pole vault)
- South Alabama — Kyle Rademeyer, South Africa (Pole vault)
- South Carolina — Anass Essayi, Morocco (1500m)
- South Florida — Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, Ghana (100m)
- Southern California (USC) — Aaron Brown, Canada (100/200m)
- Southern California (USC) — Andre De Grasse, Canada (100/200m)
- Stanford — Udodi Onwuzurike, Nigeria (200m)
- TCU — Chengetayi Mapaya, Zimbabwe (Triple jump)
- Texas A&M — Lindon Victor, Grenada (Decathlon)
- Texas Tech — Moad Zahafi, Morocco (800m)
- Texas Tech — Terrence Jones, Bahamas (100m)
- Washington — Kieran Lumb, Canada (1500m)
- West Texas A&M — Benjamin Azamati, Ghana (100m)
- Wisconsin — Abdullahi Hassan, Canada (800m)
- Wisconsin — Adam Spencer, Australia (1500m)
Women
- Alabama — Doris Lemngole, Kenya (Steeplechase)
- Alabama — Meryline Chelangat, Uganda (Marathon)
- Arkansas — Ackera Nugent, Jamaica (100h)
- Arkansas — Amber Anning, Great Britain (400m)
- Arkansas — Nickisha Pryce, Jamaica (400m)
- Arkansas — Shafiqua Maloney, Saint Vincent (800m)
- Arkansas — Tina Sutej, Slovenia (Pole vault)
- California — Camryn Rogers, Canada (Hammer)
- California — Valentia Savva, Cyprus (Hammer)
- Eastern Kentucky — Bahiya El Arfaoui, Morrocco (1500m)
- Florida — Alida Van Daalen, Netherlands (Discus)
- Florida — Anthaya Charlton, Bahamas (100m)
- Florida — Gabrielle Matthews, Jamaica (200m)
- Georgia — Dejanea Oakley, Jamaica (400m)
- Georgia — Elena Kulichencko, Cyprus (High jump)
- Georgia — Lianna Davidson, Australia (Javelin)
- Georgia — Manuela Rotondo, Uruguay (Javelin)
- Georgia — Stephanie Ratcliffe, Australia (Hammer)
- Howard — Jessika Gbai, Cote D’Ivoire (200m)
- Illinois — Rose Yeboah, Ghana (High jump)
- Johnson C. Smith — Danielle Williams, Jamaica (100h)
- LSU — Thelma Davies, Liberia (100/200m)
- Maryland — Thea LaFond, Dominica (Triple jump)
- Michigan — Savannah Sutherland, Canada (400h)
- Michigan — Aasia Laurencin, Saint Lucia (100h)
- Minnesota State — Denisha Cartwright, Bahamas (100h)
- Nebraska — Axelina Johansson, Sweden (Shot put)
- Nebraska — Rhema Otabor, Bahamas (100h)
- New Mexico — Pamela Kosgei, Kenya (Steeplechase)
- North Florida — Smila Kolbe, Germany (800m)
- Ohio State — Leah Bertrand, Trinidad and Tobago (100/200m)
- Oklahoma — Pippi Lotta Enok, Estonia (Heptathlon)
- Oklahoma State — Gabija Galvydyte, Lithuania (800/1500m)
- Oregon — Jorinde Van Klinken, Netherlands (Shot put/Discus)
- Oregon — Klaudia Kazimierska, Poland (1500m)
- Oregon — Şilan Ayyildiz, Turkey (1500 meters)
- Oregon — Jessica Hull, Australia (800/1500m)
- Purdue — Devynne Charlton, Bahamas (100h)
- Southern California (USC) — Ashley Erasmus, South Africa (Shot put)
- Southern California (USC) — Yemi Mary John, Great Britain (400m)
- TCU — Irene Jepkemboi, Kenya (Javelin)
- Tennessee — Charisma Taylor, Bahamas (100h)
- Texas — Ackelia Smith, Jamaica (Long jump/Triple jump)
- Texas — Julien Alfred, Saint Lucia (100/200m)
- Texas — Stacey Ann Williams, Jamaica (400m)
- Texas A&M — Lamara Distin, Jamaica (High jump)
- Texas A&M — Tyra Gittens, Trinidad and Tobago (Long jump)
- Texas Tech — Rosemary Chukwuma, Nigeria (100m)
- UCF — Beyonce Defreitas, British Virgin Islands (200m)
- UTEP — Tobi Amusa, Nigeria (100h)
- Washington — Amina Maatoug, Netherlands (1500m)