The startlist for the United States men's 4x400-meter relay team was announced shortly before the start of the heats phase at the 2023 World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday (Aug. 26).
On that startlist was former Ashland University multiple-time All-American
Trevor Bassitt in the first leg – and the result was a first-place finish in the first heat in 2:58.47, good for a spot in Sunday's (Aug. 27) finals at 3:37 p.m. East/9:37 p.m. local. Team USA had the best overall time in the men's 4x4 prelims.
For the second consecutive year, Bassitt earned a gold medal in the men's 4x4 despite not competing in the finals for Team USA, as the American quartet crossed the finish line first on Sunday in 2:57.31.
Bassitt, competing with Matthew Boling, Chris Bailey and Justin Robinson, gave the Americans the lead after the first leg on Saturday.
"Just executing the race plan. The crowd was incredible," Bassitt said in a CNBC interview following the heat. "Just running hard, and then when you get to 250, leave everything you have at the finish."
On Wednesday (Aug. 23), Bassitt took sixth place in the worlds men's 400-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 48.22 seconds.
In July at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., Bassitt took third in the finals of the men's 400 hurdles in a then-season-best 48.26 seconds. He set a new lifetime outdoors PR on Monday (Aug. 23) in Hungary at 47.38 seconds.
According to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), Bassitt is the all-conditions NCAA Division II record-holder in the men's 200-meter dash indoors (20.40 seconds) and men's 400 dash indoors (45.27 seconds), and has the top all-time out-of-season mark in the men's 400 hurdles outdoors (47.39 seconds).
Bassitt, 25, concluded his Eagle career with 10 D-II national championships and 21 D-II All-American honors individually, and as a key cog in three D-II team national titles. In 2022, he won a World Athletics outdoor gold medal in the men's 4x400 relay, and a World Athletics outdoor bronze medal in the men's 400 hurdles.
