At the USATF Golden Games on Sunday, Cravon Gillespie won the men’s 100 meters in 9.96 seconds, edging Isiah Young in a highly competitive race at Mt. SAC.
The former Oregon Duck bounced back after finishing sixth two weeks ago at the USATF Grand Prix at Hayward Field, and Gillespie said he is excited that things are coming together with the Olympic trials fast approaching.
Even though Gillespie had a strong showing, most of the social media reaction was about the event’s second qualifying heat, in which Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf made his professional sprinting debut. He finished last in his heat and 15th out of 17 overall in 10.37.
“He actually competed very well, I would say,” said Gillespie. “You know a lot of people had him coming in, running 10.6 or 10.7. To to come out here and run 10.3, I don’t think a lot of people had him coming out here running that fast.”
Even though the NFL star didn’t make it to the finals, he was happy with the results of his debut.
“These are world-class athletes — they do this for a living,” Metcalf said. “It’s very different from football speed, from what I just realized. I’m just excited to be out here.”
Metcalf, 23, has been the center of social media debates since he chased down Arizona’s Budda Baker from one end of the field to the other to make a tackle, briefly reaching a speed of more than 22 mph.
Metcalf knows how hard and different sprinting on a track is from sprinting down a field to tackle.
“This was totally different from football speed training,” Metcalf said. “This is very technical. It was something I was trying to hone in on in the last couple of months. You know, football training is just out there being a dog. It’s just really one on one.”
As the gun went off, he held his own with a strong start and stayed close to the field for about the first 70 meters. However, in the last 30 meters, Metcalf couldn’t push through to keep up with the leaders.
Even though a lot of attention went to Metcalf, Gillespie was happy to compete with the football star.
“Everybody was talking about it, so it gives track and field a bigger platform for us,” Gillespie said. “I was getting tagged on Twitter and things. So it was definitely good having him here and having him around.”
And what’s next for Metcalf?
“Get back to football,” he said. “It’s time for minicamp.”
