This week, NCAA 400m national champion Talitha Diggs took to the track at Hayward Field for her World Championships debut, competing against some of the fastest sprinters around.
Just two years ago, Diggs was still in high school, racing in her final junior competition at the 2020 AAU Junior Olympic Games.
And similarly to how she has dominated collegiate sprinting in 2022, Diggs put together a youth career marked by nation-leading times and championship wins, even during the pandemic-striken 2020 outdoor season.
As a senior in 2020, the Saucon Valley (PA) talent closed out her prep days in impressive fashion.
Diggs swept the short sprint events in the 17-18-year-old division in her last-ever Junior Olympics experience, clocking 11.60w for the 100m win and 23.79 in the 200m.
The 200m race showcased Diggs' top-notch closing speed that she surely puts to good use now as a 400m specialist. Coming off the final curve, the senior quickly began to pull away from the rest of the field over the final homestretch and secure her final AAU Junior Olympics title.
Despite the uncertainty brought into the realm of athletics by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no question that Diggs' performance marked the end of an impressive AAU career and the beginning of her rise to the top of the national and world sprint rankings.
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