“Road to TrackTown” Video Series Returns For Fourth Season
The Emmy-nominated series will feature U20 athletes this season
TrackTown USA’s original video series “Road to TrackTown” returns for a fourth season, delivering an all-access look at athletes’ journeys to the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Previous seasons of “Road to TrackTown” earned industry recognition by receiving a Northwest Emmy Award nomination in the category of “Sports Story - Short and Long Form Content” and making the Hashtag Sports Award shortlist in the category of “Best Original Film or Series: Long Form.”
Athletes to be featured in the 2026 season of “Road to TrackTown” include:
Tate Taylor (San Antonio, Texas) – Tate is one of only four high school boys to ever run the 100m in under ten seconds, and he is the only one to do so as an underclassman. His 9.92 from last spring’s Texas State Championships placed him second on the all-time U20 100m list of performances. In March, Taylor ran 20.46 to break Noah Lyles’s American high school record for the indoor 200m. When Tate isn’t on the track, the 2025 National Track & Field Athlete of the Year loves to bowl. Taylor has committed to Texas Tech University.
Natalie Dumas (Voorhees, New Jersey) – Natalie is a generational middle-distance runner who is the only high schooler to post all-time top 25 times in three different events (400m, 400m hurdles, and 800m) before her senior year. At last spring’s New Jersey State Championships, Natalie tied the state record in the 400m held by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. A month later, she broke that record in a national meet where she also won the 400m hurdles and 800m for a national ‘Triple Crown’. Natalie bakes pastries for her family’s coffee shop in her spare time. Dumas has committed to the University of Arkansas.
Lyla Belshaw (Colchester, England) – Lyla won gold in the 1500m at the 2025 European U20 Championships (Tampere) and 2024 European U18 Championships (Banská Bystrica). Belshaw’s personal best in the 1500m is 4:09.13. At 15, she won the Mini London Marathon with a time of 8.26 for the 2.6 km course. Belshaw was recently selected by United Kingdom Athletics for its Olympic Futures Programme. Lyla has committed to the University of Louisville.
Tumi Ramokgopa (Pretoria, South Africa) – Tumi earned gold in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles at the 2023 South African U18 Championships. Ramokgopa repeated that golden performance by topping the podium at the 2023 African U20 Championships. Earlier this season, Tumi ran 13.32 in the 100m hurdles, which was the fastest U20 time in the world at the time. That mark also placed her seventh on South Africa's all-time list for the discipline. She has also added the 200m to her repertoire this season and has already hit the U20 Championships qualifying standard. Known on social media as “Battle Braids”, Ramokgopa is known for her fashionable hairstyles in her races.
The trailer of this season’s first episode can be viewed at RoadToTrackTown.com. The first full episode will air on Friday, April 30 with new segments every week on TrackTown USA’s Facebook, YouTube, and website. Promotional content for episodes can be found in the lead-up to each air date on TrackTown USA’s Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, and website.
The first three “Road to TrackTown” seasons can be viewed in full here.