While things didn’t go according to plan for Trevor Bassitt in the men’s 400m hurdles in Budapest, the future is still bright for the talented hurdler, and the chance of him winning a medal at this year’s World Championships is still in play.
Video by: Anderson Emerole
Bassitt ran in the qualifying round of the men’s 4×400 relay on Saturday, and his performance helped Team USA advance to the finals of the 4×400 relay that will take place on Sunday. Bassitt has had a chance to reflect on his performance in the men’s 400m hurdles that took place last Wednesday, where he finished sixth place. While he was disappointed with the result, one of his biggest takeaways from his performance was how important it is to be fully prepared for the big moments.
“It’s not necessarily the fastest person that wins,” he told Anderson Emerole after the 4×400. “Because there’s those three rounds, some people get fatigued usually in those. The person that wins is the person that makes the least amount of stakes on race day, and is the most prepared. And I wasn’t necessarily prepared as I needed to be, and that showed in my time. Honestly, I don’t know what I could have done differently. Because looking at the race and how the race felt, I couldn’t I couldn’t find anything. But sometimes, like (Rai Benjamin) said yesterday, that’s just how it goes – some days it’s just not your day.”
Bassitt and his coach, Mike Holloway, felt that Bassitt was ready to run a time that he’s never ran before, but is certainly capable of running. While he wasn’t able to put it together at the World Championships, Bassitt is still hopeful to go sub 47 seconds in the event before the season is complete.
“I felt like I had the best preparation coming to Worlds that I’ve ever had,” he said. “I thought I was ready to run a 46, Coach Holloway thought I was ready on 46. And you saw that in the semi final at (47.3), being relatively chilled on the backstretch. So we know it’s in the tank. I’m hoping between Zurich, Bellinzona and the Diamond League Final, we can get into that 46 and be the third American ever. but it’s just been really up and down – just just been trying to find some consistency in how we approach the race and getting those results that we want to see.”
Bassitt made the transition to Gainesville to train under legendary coach Mike Holloway after his historic career at Ashland University. Bassitt said that Holloway has helped how he views the race, which he believes will make him a better hurdler.
“It’s been really up and down,” he said. “Training has been phenomenal – it’s been the best year of training of my life. But it hasn’t translated in meets, which is, which has been super frustrating. We’ve really been kind of changing the way I approach the race mentally, because I used to approach it as a one time hurdle because that’s how I started. But Coach Holloway is trying to transition to look at it as a sprinter, and just getting on and off the heels as efficiently as we can. So that’s been different.”
While the season has had its peaks and valleys and hasn’t necessarily been what Bassitt envisioned, Bassitt credits his faith, his wife and others for helping him rise above the difficulties that the season has brought.
“It mainly has been three things: my training group, my wife and my faith,” he said “Understanding that whether I run fast or run slow, I’m still a Christian. I’m still God’s child. He loves me regardless. My wife’s always there for me. She’s always keeping me up. And in my training group, man, we’ve got so many high level athletes that have been there, done that. We all see what we go through, we all see the struggle. So they’re really able to help keep me up. Or if I need a little more of a push, they’re able to push me. So those three factors have just really helped me get through the season and make the best of it.”
Bassitt’s journey isn’t over where this year’s World Championships are concerned, as he could take home a gold medal for a second consecutive year at the World Championships due to his relay contributions. As far as the hurdles are concerned, Bassitt is excited about his future, as he’s now found stability in his professional career, which could lead to great things in the very near future.
“100%,” he said. “This upcoming season will be the first season in three years that I haven’t had either a coaching change, or move somewhere. So to have that consistency for two years straight, I’m very excited. I think we’re going to really surprise some people next year.”
