The athletes from the United States put on an incredible performance at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary to lead all countries in the medal table with 12 gold and 29 total medals.
A total of 14 countries from the Americas medaled at the world’s premier athletics event, including five with new World Champions.
The United States leaves the World Athletics Championships with 12 new champions and a new world record to solidify themselves as the best country at the competition.
Team USA was led by sprinting stars Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson who each brought home multiple gold medals. Lyles became the first American male to win the 100m and 200m double at the event in 16 years before adding a third gold in the 4x100m relay. Richardson claimed the women’s 100m and 4x100m relay thrones while also finishing second in the 200m.
Their teammate Grant Holloway claimed his third consecutive world title in the men’s 110m hurdles, while Ryan Crouser defended his 2022 world title in the shot put by setting a new championship record of 23.51m.
While Richardson was the only woman from the U.S. to win a gold on the track, three of her teammates topped the podium in the field events with golds by Chase Ealey, Laulauga Tausaga and Katie Moon in the shot put, discus throw and pole vault events, respectively.
History was also made in the mixed 4x400m relay event as U.S. athletes Matthew Boling, Justin Robinson, Rosey Elfong and Alexis Holmes set a new world record of 3:08.80 in the event.
Canada also put up an impressive performance at the championships to finish second in the medal table with four golds and two silvers. The 800m champion from the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, Marco Arop, won his first world title in the event after finishing with the 800m bronze in 2022.
Team Canada swept the hammer throw events, as Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers both won gold in the men’s and women’s competitions. Canada’s athletes were also part of a continental sweep of the men’s decathlon, with Pierce LePage and Damien Warner finishing with the gold and silver followed by Lindon Victor of Grenada with the bronze.
While Canada finished in second on the medal table, the athletes from Jamaica led their country to a second place finish in the World Team event with their 139 points only trailing the 277 from the U.S. athletes.
Jamaica was led by the historic performance of Shericka Jackson, who after finishing with the silver in the women’s 100m proceeded to absolutely dominate the 200m with the second-fastest time in history of 21.41 to set a new championship record. She also helped Jamaica win the silver in the 4x100m relay alongside teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Fraser-Pryce was also able to win the bronze medal in the 100m race.
The athletes from Jamaica claimed two more gold medals on the track, with Antonio Watson winning the men’s 400m event and Danielle Williams winning the women’s 100m hurdles ahead of Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Kendra Harrison of the U.S.
Team Panam Sports Ambassador Marileidy Paulino also topped the podium for the first time in her career in an individual event, winning the women’s 400m gold for the Dominican Republic to give the country its only medal of the championship. Sada Williams of Barbados also represented the Americas on the podium of the event, earning the bronze medal.
Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela also claimed a gold medal, doing so in the women’s triple jump to successfully defend her title from 2022 in dramatic fashion. Rojas received several faults in the final but managed to clear the previous top mark by just eight centimeters on her final attempt to win her fourth world championship gold.
Other impressive performances from the athletes of the Americas include Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands winning the silver medal in the men’s 400m hurdles; Ecuador’s Brian Pintado setting a new South American record in the men’s 35km racewalk to win the silver medal; Cubans Lazaro Martinez and Cristian Napoles winning the silver and bronze in the men’s triple jump; Colombia’s Flor Ruiz winning silver in the women’s javelin; and Peru’s Kimberly Garcia winning silver in the women’s 35km racewalk event.
Panam Sports congratulates all of the athletes of the continent who competed in Budapest and look forward to seeing more great performances at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games this October and Paris 2024 Olympics next year.
