By David Melly
November 13, 2024
You may not know the name Alica Schmidt (unless you’re one of her 5.7 million Instagram followers – yes, you read that right), but earlier this week, the German 400m runner sparked an interesting conversation with her announcement that she’ll be shifting her focus to the 800m in 2025. After the Paris Olympics, Schmidt dabbled in the longer distances, and given that she ran 1:24.88 in the 600m in September (behind Mary Moraa’s world best in Berlin), the potential is there.
But Schmidt’s 800m ceiling isn’t a hypothetical that gets group chats a-buzzing. Following an Olympic year where several gold medalists had no trouble repeating or even threepeating and some events were very top-heavy with talent, the question that naturally emerges after someone has maxed out their potential in their specialty event is “where to next”? The most obvious one has already been tried, and although Sanya Richards-Ross’s 400m American record lived to see another track season, it’s at best a lukewarm take to suggest that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone can and will find more excellence in the flat event soon.
But what about some more off-beat options? If we give the deck of track and field stars a good shuffle, what new combinations are most promising? Here’s a few suggestions:
Marileidy Paulino to the 200m: Paulino is the World and Olympic champ at 400 meters, but the 48.17 runner with seemingly invincible strength down the homestretch “only” has a 22.36 PB in the 200m. Now, it’s a little unfair to say she hasn’t given the shorter event a shot as she’s the reigning Pan Am Games champion, but focusing on her speed might give her a fun new challenge in an event with no clear top dog.
Grant Holloway to the 400H: The 110m hurdles Olympic champion has made no secret of his desire to run the 4x400m for Team USA and used to split sub-44 in his days as a Florida Gator, so why not combine your skill over barriers and strength around the oval to give Rai Benjamin a run for his money and strengthen your case for a relay spot?
Britton Wilson to the 800m: It was a bit of a season to forget for the 2023 NCAA champion, who has dealt with injuries for much of the past year and ended her season in April. Given that she’s run 2:02.13 in the 800m without much focused effort and long-sprints training has taken its toll on her shins, a shift to the middle distances might be just what the doctor ordered.
Mondo Duplantis to the decathlon: It feels highly unlikely that the greatest pole vaulter the world has ever seen would walk away from an endless string of appearance fees and bonus paychecks to take up nine other grueling events, but given his undeniable athleticism and willingness to try new things with the right audience, an exhibition decathlon against other multi-talented stars (Warholm again? Miltiadis Tentoglou? JuVaughn Harrison?) would certainly be entertaining television.
Keely Hodgkinson to the 1500m: Hodgkinson has always been a speed-based 800m runner: a 51.61 400m PB from May 2024 and a 4:30.00 1500m from September 2017 really says it all. But the 22-year-old Brit is still coming into her prime as an athlete and it wouldn’t be a total stretch of the imagination to suggest that the Olympic champion could put in a few base miles this fall, try and stick on someone like Georgia Bell or Jemma Reekie in a domestic meet, and then see what kind of damage her epic footspeed can really do. Maybe Hodgkinson will one day be the kryptonite to Faith Kipyegon’s Superwoman – because no one else has been yet.
Drew Hunter to the marathon: You might be thinking, “Didn’t Drew Hunter barely even try the 10K? Shouldn’t he focus on that for a while?” And you wouldn’t be wrong, but the track 10,000m is a brutally unforgiving event with a fairly narrow path to international success (and prize money). The marathon, on the other hand, is rich in cash and opportunity, and the 2015 Foot Locker XC champ has always shown signs that the 1500m is on the shorter end of his capabilities. Maybe we compromise on a half marathon debut in 2025, but one way or another, the roads are calling.
Nafi Thiam to the high jump: Like Paulino, this shift is also hardly groundbreaking as Thiam, the 3x Olympic heptathlon champ, already has the world multi best in the high jump at 2.02m, set in 2019. But given that Thiam is 30 years old and 6’2”, focusing on one-seventh of her specialty could be a way to stretch out her career another decade, put a little less wear and tear on her body, and still accomplish amazing things on the infield.
Ryan Crouser to the discus: There’s quite simply not a lot left for the 3x Olympic shot put champ to accomplish. World records? Check. Global championships? Check, x6. But the Oregon native started his career as a two-event thrower, and it might be time to dust off the disc and put his 10-year-old PB of 63.90m to bed. He’s still got the American high school record, is the coach of reigning Olympic discus champ Rojé Stona, and the highly-unpredictable event has podium spots up for grabs.
With the World Athletics Super Duper Ultimate Extravaganza World Championship set for 2026, there are no more “off years” on the schedule, and so the best time to try something new is now right at the start of an Olympic cycle. Worst case, you play with fire and get burnt, then retreat back to the comfort of your main event and pretend like nothing happened. Best case, you find out your “main event” was actually a stepping stone on the way to greater things – just ask former decathlete Karsten Warholm or junior sprint star Mary Moraa. You never know until you try.'
David Melly
David began contributing to CITIUS in 2018, and quickly cemented himself as an integral part of the team thanks to his quick wit, hot takes, undying love for the sport and willingness to get yelled at online.
