Elija Godwin (born July 1, 1999) is an American athlete who specialises in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

Career

Early career

From

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, its population 14,113. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the United Stat ...

and a student at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Initially, Godwin only ran on the track to condition himself for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Then, once he began to train more seriously he would run mostly

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

. This was until his coach Kevin Barnes looking at his split times and suggested he run an open

400m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

race. Godwin ran 47.40 for the 400m at his first race.

Javelin injury

On May 7, 2019, Godwin suffered a serious injury during a training session when he was impaled by a

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

whilst running backward sprints at Georgia track and field practice, prior to the 2019 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 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.

2021

On May 15, 2021 he ran a personal best 44.61 at the Cushing stadium in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

at the SEC Outdoor Championships to meet the Olympic qualifying standard. At the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Outdoor Championships, Hayward Field,

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

he finished fourth in his heat in a time of 46.18. He qualified for the final of the USA men’s Olympic Trials 400m race, running 44.81 and 45.10 in the heats. In the final he placed sixth and qualified for US men’s relay pool for the 4x400m at the

2020 Summer Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. At the Olympics he won a Bronze medal as part of the American

Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay The mixed 4 × 400 metres relay is a 4 × 400 metres relay in which teams field two men and two women, in whatever order they choose. It was introduced at the 2017 IAAF World Relays and was then held at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in ...

team.

2022

Indoors, Godwin finished 7th in his heat of the 400m at the SEC Championships and did not make the final, but returned to anchor the

's 4x400m team with a winning 44.95 leg. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, he finished 4th in his heat of the 400m and anchored Georgia to 4th in the 4x400m final. Outdoors, Godwin was the runner-up at the SEC Championship meet in 44.81, behind Champion Allison of Florida who ran 44.74. At the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Godwin placed 3rd in a personal-best 44.50 behind Allison (44.41) and defending champion Randolph Ross (44.13) of North Carolina A&T. Competing for the United States at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

Godwin won bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay and then gold in the men’s 4x400m relay, completing the first leg in a team also consisting of Michael Norman,

Bryce Deadmon Bryce Deadmon (born March 26, 1997) is an American track and field athlete. In July 2023, he became US national champion in the 400 meters. Career A student at the Texas A&M University, Deadmon was the 2021 SEC Outdoor championship 400 m ...

and Champion Allison.

Personal life

His mother, Ginger Luby, was working her job as an administrator in a doctor’s office when she received the call that Elija had been injured by the javelin in 2019. Godwin has one brother, Okon Godwin and a sister, Kyaundra Ward. He graduated from Newton High School in

in 2018. Godwin received special recognition from Covington’s city council by way of a proclamation that made 10 September 2022 “Elija Godwin” day.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, Elija 1999 births Living people American male sprinters People from Covington, Georgia Georgia Bulldogs men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field 21st-century African-American sportspeople World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners