August 10, 2024
Team USA has selected local resident and lawyer Matt Hamilton to compete as an athlete at the upcoming Track and Field World Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden August 20 – 25th.
The 2024 World Athletics Championships will feature national champions from over 100 nations. Over 20,000 people will converge on the Scandinavian city: athletes, coaches, and support staff, all striving for one goal…gold.
The World Track & Field Championship occurs every two years. Sweden previously hosted the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg in 1977. The next World Athletics Championships will occur in Daegu, South Korea in 2026.
Lee’s Summit has been a vital ingredient in Matt’s success. Matt Hamilton is a 1991 alumni of Lee’s Summit High School, where he led Coach Craddock’s sprinting team. Matt Hamilton trains at Lee’s Summit High School’s track. “Our track is new and fast. Our football field is perfect for hurdle training with fewer injuries,” he says. “Drew Lock still trains on the Lee’s Summit football field. Drew Lock gives our athletes inspiration about what is possible.”
Team USA previously selected Matt Hamilton to compete at the 2022 World Championships in Tampere, Finland. Hamilton placed 12th in the world in long sprinting. Matt Hamilton competes in the Master’s Division, for athletes over thirty-five years old. The Team USA 2022 World Championship 4×400 relay team won gold.
Over 8,000 athletes vied for Team USA World Championship Competition Team selection, yet using Matt Hamilton as a sprinter and thrower was expected. Hamilton competed at the U.S. Track & Field National Championship in Sacramento, California July 18-21. Matt won two national champion gold medals, running the 110 high hurdles and the 800 meters. Matt won four silver medals, sprinting the 100 meters, the 400 meters, the long jump, and throwing the 35-pound weight. He took bronze in the high jump and the 400-meter-high hurdles. Hamilton won more medals than any other athlete.
Hamilton lends perspective about his athletic accomplishments. “Make no mistake. I am not the best athlete. I am not the second, or third best,” he says. “I am very good at many events. Team USA knows this. Our team will use me to manage the many roles it must fulfill.”
When asked about the World Championship sprinting chances, Hamilton says “Team USA will win. We have current world record holders Garth Robinson and Mark Williams. We have returning world champion Ron Atkins. America’s national champions, like Peter Haack perform as good or better than any other nation’s athlete. I am competing, not for individual but for Team USA victory.” The accuracy of Hamilton’s prediction will be revealed at the World Track and Field Championships in Gothenburg Sweden on August 24th.
