National record secures World silver medal for Owens-Delerme

TOKYO – Arkansas alums totaled three medals – gold and two silver – on the final evening of the World Athletics Championships held at Japan National Stadium on Sunday. Overall, Razorbacks totaled 10 medals on the world stage with three gold, four silver, and three bronze.

Ayden Owens-Delerme broke his Puerto Rican national record to claim silver in the decathlon. Isabella Whittaker ran on the United States 4 x 400m championship record performance and Nickisha Pryce ran anchor leg as Jamaica finished runner-up in the 4 x 400m relay.

A trio of Razorbacks earned medals for participating in the prelims of the 4 x 400m relay. They included Rosey Effiong and Britton Wilson with gold medals with the United States women’s team as well as Chris Bailey with the USA men’s team.

Owens-Delerme scored 8,784 points as runner-up by 20 points to Germany’s Leo Neugebauer, who won with a total of 8,804. American Kyle Garland produced 8,703 points for bronze. The previous national record for Owens-Delerme was 8,732 points.

“I didn’t know it was the national record,” said Owens-Delerme. “I was just running my heart out in the 1,500m and I hadn’t run that fast in three years. I didn’t know I had it in my legs, I just went out there and gave it my all.

“I thought I had the gold medal, but it’s not over until it’s over. I’m just glad I came away with my first World Championship silver medal. I’m proud of myself.”

Starting day two of the decathlon with the 110m hurdles, Owens-Delerme led the field with a 13.65 which scored 1,020 points to match his total in the 100m with a 10.31 on day one.

Tossing the discus 151-4 (46.12) added 790 points. In the pole vault, Owens-Delerme matched his PR of 16-8.75 (5.10) for 941 points. Still in third place after eighth events, the gap to Neugebauer closed to 31 points while Garland led by 53 points.

In the javelin, Owens-Delerme hit a mark of 192-10 for 720 points to remain in third place with 7,958 points. Neugebauer moved into the lead at 8,072 with Garland second with 8,057.

Attempting to win all four running events after sweeping the 100m, 400m, and 110m hurdles, Owens-Delerme clocked 4:17.91 to finish as runner-up in the 1,500m and secure 826 points. Neugebauer countered with a career best of 4:31.89 for 732 points.

That left Owens-Delerme 20 points shy of Neugebauer and 81 points ahead of Garland. It’s the smallest winning margin in World Championship history for the decathlon. The previous margin was 32 points in 2007.

“I was trying to win the 1,500m and sweep the running events,” noted Owens-Delerme. “The good thing is my day two was so much better. Usually, I’m a day one guy. But I want to change the narrative and I had a day two PR. I was really proud.”

After placing fourth in the 2023 World Champions, Owens-Delerme earns Puerto Rico’s first medal in the World Championships decathlon. Puerto Rico becomes the 12th nation to collect a silver medal in the event.

Whittaker ran the opening leg of the 4 x 400m relay for USA, splitting 50.12, as the American ran 3:16.61 to break the Championship record of 3:16.71 set in 1993 when the meet was held in Stuttgart, Germany.

It’s second to the American record of 3:15.27 and ranks as the No. 5 performance on the world all-time list.

The rest of the USA line-up included Lynna Irby-Jackson (48.71), Aaliyah Butler (49.96), and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (47.82). The team that held the previous meet record included Gwen Torrence, Maicel Malone, Natasha Kaiser-Brown, and Jearl Miles Clark.

Pryce split 48.50, the second fastest in the final, to lead Jamaica to a silver medal finish in 3:19.25 over the Netherlands (3:20.18), with Femke Bol supplying a 49.10 anchor leg, and Belgium (3:22.15), with a 49.71 anchor from Helena Ponette.

Racing during a downpour, the American men finished second in the 4 x 400m relay with a time of 2:57.83 with a foursome of Vernon Norwood (44.60), Jacory Patterson (44.22), Khaleb McRae (44.61), and Rai Benjamin (44.40).

Botswana won gold with a 2:57.76 as the anchor leg split 44.14 to chase Benjamin and pass him at the line. South Africa came very close to silver as they also ran 2:57.83 to match the Americans, with a separation of 0.002 in favor of the USA.

Bailey ran the 4 x 400m prelim twice as a runoff between the United States and Kenya on Sunday morning resulted in a win for USA and advancement to lane 1 in the final.

Razorbacks | Tokyo World Championships

10 medals | 3 Gold | 4 Silver | 3 Bronze