One thing that Trevor Bassitt doesn’t lack is confidence.
Bassitt, who won the bronze medal at the World Championship last year in Eugene in the men’s 400m hurdles always seems to rise to the occasion when it matters most. Regardless of any circumstance that he might face, his faith and confidence helps him perform at his best when it really counts.
“It’s just always having that belief and that confidence in myself, in my coaches in our training, and then trusting that God’s going to carry me through the finals,” he said. “It’s just like, we’re just going for it. We got our race model – no doubt we’re full sending it. And we’re just gonna see what happens. I’ve always kind of looked at it from a perspective of, I’m going to run the finals, and l I’m going to run that race as hard as I can. And whatever happens happens. If they have to peel me off the track, that’s fine, but that’s what I’m going to leave. I know my coaches have put me in a good spot training wise, I’m in great shape. And if it’s my day to run fast, God’s going to let me run fast. If not, I’m not going to. So it’s just kind of that going into it. We got nothing to lose.”
The confidence and perspective that Bassitt carries has helped him overcome different obstacles this season, while also giving him hope for what’s to come at the World Championships in Budapest.
Bassitt made the move to Gainesville before the season started to train under the legendary coach Mike Holloway and his team at the University of Florida. While his season has had its ups and downs, Bassitt is excited about where he is at this point in his season.
“It’s not exactly going how I thought it would,” he said. “But it’s just been adjusting to everything, adjusting to the Florida heat, adjusting to a new training group, a new coaching system, being a professional athlete. So it’s just kind of been a lot of adjusting and kind of a transition phase for me. But all in all, I mean, we made the US team and have gone 48.2 so far. And we know we have a much faster time in the tank, it’s just a matter of executing on race day. So I’m pretty happy where it’s at, I’d say I’d give my season like a B plus, as of right now if I had to give it a grade.“
The adjustment from Ohio to Florida has been unique for Bassitt. In addition to enduring the heat and humidity that Florida has to offer, he saw a gator for the first time, and has seen a countless amount of lizards. He was also blown away by the facilities at the University of Florida and the snacks that they have in the weightroom. During the challenging parts of his adjustments, he’s leaned on his faith to get him through the hard times that he’s faced this season.
“It’s just been difficult at times,” he said. “I mean, I’ve never been this far away from family and like most of my friends for so long. I haven’t been home to Ohio since Christmas. So that kind of has made things difficult from time to time, but being able to lean on my faith and knowing that God’s got a plan for me, especially my season hasn’t gone great. I didn’t run great in the Doha Diamond League. I didn’t run great in Oslo. I just kind of know that God has a plan for me, I’m going to do what I can. I’m going to control what I can control essentially. And being able to lean on my faith really kind of helps me do that. And not think too much about all the small things that are necessarily out of my control.”
Finding a smooth race pattern hasn’t been easy for Bassitt this season. He admitted that in all of his races this season, something has gone awry, especially when it comes to his steps between the hurdles. He and coach Holloway have made the proper adjustments to the issue, and Bassitt is actively adapting to the new race pattern.
“So we were trying to do 12 steps to hurdle four, and hurdle five, really use my stride length to my advantage,” he said. “But it’s just been so inconsistent this year – it’s been so hit or miss that it just hasn’t been worth doing. So we’re ditching that and we’re just going 13 strides, which is the standard at this level and just being really competent and really aggressive with that.
Bassitt will face the best of the best in the men’s 400m hurdles in Budapest in a little over a week, including world record holder Karsten Warholm and American record holder Rai Benjamin. Bassitt welcomes the challenge, and is excited about what he can bring to the table at the championships.
“So we’ve really just been nailing down our rhythm, our stride pattern on the backstretch, really getting confident and aggressive with it,” he said. “So things have been going great. I mean, I was going into USA’s a little beat up, a little nicked up with my hamstring. Now I’m healthy. I’m feeling great. I’m really excited for Budapest. And I think we’re going to shock some people.”
I love to hear people’s stories and what drives them to want to succeed. Excited to see what’s in store for Trevor Bassitt and Team Usa Track and Field.