Elija Godwin

From Covington, Georgia and a student at the University of Georgia. Initially, Godwin only ran on the track to condition himself for football. Then, once he began to train more seriously he would run mostly 100m and 200m. This was until his coach Kevin Barnes looking at his split times and suggested he run an open 400m race. Godwin ran 47.40 for the 400m at his first race.[2]

On May 7, 2019, Godwin suffered a serious injury during a training session when he was impaled by a javelin whilst running backward sprints at Georgia track and field practice, prior to the 2019 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[3] The accident left Godwin with wounds to his back and shoulder and collapsed his left lung. Emergency services attended to him and ground off part of the javelin before he was taken to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Centre, where the rest of it was removed by surgeons.[4]

On May 15, 2021 he ran a personal best 44.61 at the Cushing stadium in Texas at the SEC Outdoor Championships to meet the Olympic qualifying standard.[5] At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon he finished fourth in his heat in a time of 46.18.[6]

He qualified for the final of the USA men’s Olympic Trials 400m race, running 44.81 and 45.10 in the heats.[7] In the final he placed sixth and qualified for US men’s relay pool for the 4x400m at the 2020 Summer Games.[8] At the Olympics he won a Bronze medal as part of the American Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay team.[9][10]