Abby Steiner shines at Hayward Field, captures 200m title at USATF Championships
Kentucky’s Abby Steiner celebrates after running a lifetime best 21.77 to win the 200m national title at Hayward Field. Photo by Tim Healy
By Joe Zochert
In her debut in the U.S. Championships, Kentucky’s Abby Steiner captured her first ever national title in the women’s 200 meters with a personal best and world leading time of 21.77 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Steiner set the track on fire on a hot 90° day as she set a personal best and got the world lead just hours earlier in the semifinals with a 21.80.
After the race, Steiner talked about her approach in each round over the past two days and how it helped her put together multiple personal-best performances.
“I think the biggest thing was just taking it one round at a time and executing each race and not getting too far ahead of myself,” said Steiner. “So yeah, just doing what I needed to do coming out of prelims to get the preferred lane and then just attacking it in the final.”
The 200m collegiate record holder has had a long track season as she competed both indoor and outdoor for Kentucky this season. Just two weeks ago, Steiner competed at the NCAA Championships and captured the 200m title and played an integral part of Kentucky winning the 4x400m relay.
“I think the biggest thing is just to not put limitations on yourself and I completely trust my coach,” she said. “I know that his training cycles will have me ready for these meets.”
Steiner has not put any limitations on herself this year and has seen success as a result. For the 22-year-old, this year’s success comes on the heels of missing most of last year, including NCAA’s and the Olympic Trials, due to Achillis tendonitis.
“We always said, the way that last year ended that delay doesn't mean denial,” said Steiner. “And you know, God has a great plan for you.”
“I think just trusting in that, and knowing that, although last year was the end of a chapter, it wasn't the end of my story.”
At the USATF Championships, Steiner concluded her chapter with Kentucky as she competed in her last meet. She reflected on her time and the wild ride of learning the sport from her coach, Tim Hall.
“I came into Kentucky as a two-sport athlete who really didn't know that much about track,” said Steiner, who also played soccer her freshman year before focusing on sprints. “I didn't have a fall training my freshman year at Kentucky and it was a struggle my freshman year there was a lot to learn.”
“Just really trusting the process and my coach and you know, going through those progressions and to now you know, fulfilling that vision. So it's been a really special journey. A lot of ups and downs along the way, but this is a special up.”
With her chapter at Kentucky closed, Steiner shifts her focus toward the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in July. She couldn’t be more excited to have it at Hayward Field.
“I'm excited to come back to Eugene after being here twice. It's a familiar environment,” she said. “So just really looking to take it one round at a time since it's my first World Championships.”
“I don't have a lot of expectations for myself, but hoping to kind of come out of the round similar to how I treated them this weekend and just go from there.”
At Worlds, Steiner will be competing against some of the best as she could potentially face off against Jamaica’s Sherika Jackson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah. On Sunday night, Jackson ran the world-leading time of 21.55 after Steiner set it just hours earlier.
Even with the challenge of facing the best in the world, Steiner is taking in all the excitement of competing on the world stage.
“I'm really excited,” she said. “I'm excited to be on a world stage for the first time and being able to represent my country. It's really special.”