By McKenzie Days, University of Oregon SOJC Track Bureau
Upon first glance, it seemed that Trevor Bassitt would not make it. It was the home stretch, and he was in sixth place in the final of the 400-meter hurdles on Tuesday night at the World Athletics Championships. But Bassitt’s final big kick carried him from sixth into potential medal position.
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos cruised his way into first place, and Bassitt’s teammate, Rai Benjamin, grabbed second. At the finish line, Bassitt leaned side by side with France’s Wilfried Happio, who tumbled. It was a fierce fight by all competitors at the end.
While the first two finishers were unmistakable, uncertainty between who won the bronze medal, Happio or Bassitt, had the athletes and the rest of Hayward Field tense as they awaited the result.
When Bassitt’s name appeared on the stadium’s screen, the crowd roared and Benjamin, in sync with the crowd’s ecstasy, tackled his teammate to the ground. Bassitt smiled in response as the two celebrated on the track.
“Big Q energy turns into big podium energy,” said Bassitt, who two days before was simply happy to have finished second in his semifinal, giving him an automatic berth in the final. “I mean, obviously I got third, but I feel like in an event like the 400 meters hurdles in the World Championships, if you get on the podium, there’s no losing. It’s a special thing.”
“Like if you guys hear this guy’s story it’s like mind blowing,” Benjamin said. “I was more happy for him than I was for me. He’s been coaching himself this entire season. He writes his own workout plans. I mean, the kid’s just, like, amazing. And I’m just happy to be–you know his teammate and bring him alongside. I mean, he ran a hell of a race.”
A small town in the midwest could not have fathomed that it housed a future 400-meter hurdles medalist. Bluffton, Ohio, has a population of 4,024. Bassitt graduated from Bluffton High School in 2017.
Bassitt’s high school times were notable, but not groundbreaking; he ran 55-second races. But no Division I schools were interested, so he went to Division II Ashland University.
“I ended up at Ashland mainly because of Coach Clark and Logan Judd,” Bassitt said in a Citius Mag article. “The culture was unbelievable. … At Ashland, I knew I could develop.”
In August 2021, Logan texted Bassitt that he believed “he will be at the final in Eugene next year at Worlds.” He said that “it’s his destiny.” Unfortunately, Logan passed away on Jan. 3 this year.
Bassitt continued to chip away at his time as he improved in his collegiate years. He started to run 50.80. When he reached the apex of his senior year at Ashland, he was running 48.80 and secured a spot in the Olympic Trials in Eugene.
Unfortunately, Bassitt suffered an injury shortly afterward.
“I thought 48.30 was the number I’d need to make the team,” Bassitt told Citius Mag. “But at practice that following Tuesday, I had this shooting pain in both ankles. It turned out to be tendinitis — the tendon and sheath were both inflamed.”
Although Bassitt tried to combat his injury by doing exclusively bike workouts leading up to the Olympic trials, he placed eighth.
Bassitt’s disappointment compelled him to turn his 2022 season around.
He started with a strong indoor season. He won the gold medal in the men’s 400 meters at U.S. indoor championships in Spokane, Washington, in February, which qualified him for indoor worlds. Then, in March in Serbia, he won the silver medal in the men’s 400 meters.
Outdoors, he finished second at the U.S. championships in June with a time of 47.47 to qualify for worlds.
Bassitt emphasized the importance of hard work in his journey and ignoring the traditional rules of following a prestigious route.
“You can come from a small town and small school,” Bassitt said. “If you work hard and trust your coaches, have faith in God, you can really progress up the ladder. However, you don’t have to go to a power five. You don’t have to do all these crazy things.”
Bassitt said he is next looking forward to a “cookies and cream” ice cream cake and seeing Mowgli, his mini goldendoodle, when he returns home.
