Isaiah Champion Jewett (born February 6, 1997) is an Olympic American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

who specialises in the 800m.

Career

On June 21, 2021, at the

United States Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. These events include: * United States Olympic Trials (curling) * United States Olympic Trials (d ...

held in

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 runner up with a personal best time of 1:43.85 behind

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medalist

Clayton Murphy Clayton Murphy (born February 26, 1995) is an American middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 2016 Olympic Games. He was the gold medalist in the 800-meter run at the 2015 Pan American Games. He ran collegiat ...

. It was particularly poignant for Jewett as the race was close to the anniversary of his brother Robert's death. Jewett had won the NCAA 800m title on the same Hayward Field track just 10 days previously. A student at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, Jewett had to finish a 10-page essay by midnight immediately after his Olympic-qualifying run because his professor did not grant an extension. His NCAA winning time of 1:44.68 took him to #1 on the USC all time list, ahead of Olympians Ibrahim Okash and

Duane Solomon Duane Renard Solomon (born December 28, 1984) is a retired American Olympic track athlete, primarily known for racing the 800 meters. He ran for his home country in the IAAF World Championships in 2007 and 2013 as well as in the 2012 Olympic G ...

. He holds the same position on the USC Indoor top 10 from earlier in the 2021 season as well as #5 in the

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

. While at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles, Jewett focused more on the 400 meters. He finished 7th at the 2015

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons at U.C. Irvine. In his first year of taking the 800 seriously, he went undefeated in the 2017 regular season and won the

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

Championship. Transferring to USC, he had to sit out the 2018 collegiate season, so he ran unattached in

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

events. Jewett ran in heat one at the 2020 Olympic Games 800 meters with a time of 1:45.07 to qualify for the semi-final. There, he collided with 2012 silver medalist

Nijel Amos Nijel Carlos Amilfitano Amos (born 15 March 1994) is a Motswana middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He won silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was Botswana's first ever Olympic medal. Early life Nijel Amos is from Ma ...

who tripped Jewett as both were about to kick for home. Jewett helped Amos to his feet in a sportsmanship scene that was later repeated in commercials. The two jogged across the finish line, Amos being granted a place in the final by the referee. Competing at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, in

, he reached the final of the 800m competition, where he finished fourth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewett, Isaiah 1997 births Living people American male middle-distance runners USC Trojans men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Inglewood, California Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States 21st-century American people 21st-century African-American sportspeople