Donavan Brazier Unlikely To Race This Season
By Alex GeulaDonavan Brazier has been plagued with injury over the last couple years, undergoing three surgeries in a span of 20 months from June 2021 to February 2023. On Saturday, LetsRun.com bumped into Brazier at the USATF NYC Grand Prix, and while he politely declined an interview request, Brazier said his chances of racing this season were not looking good.
LetsRun.com followed up this conversation with Brazier’s coach, Pete Julian, who confirmed that “racing is unlikely this summer as Donavan won’t race until he’s back to 100% health.”
As the 2019 world champion and the 800m American record holder, Julian displayed the utmost confidence in Brazier commenting that “we know how good [Donavan] is, and our target in on Paris [Olympics 2024].”
Julian added that Brazier has the full support of his team, the Union Athletics Club, and his main sponsor, Nike, on the decision to focus on getting 100% healthy first and prioritizing the 2024 Olympic Games.
In an extended interview with LetsRun.com in March, Brazier said that after undergoing surgery to correct a Haglund’s deformity in his heel in July 2022, he endured a setback in his recovery and was forced to undergo a follow-up surgery in February.
The US championships will be held next week in Eugene. Brazier’s last race was 11 months ago at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene where he finished 6th in his first-round heat.
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Are you an 800 fan? THen we figure you might want to know we’ve typed up highlights of our podcast with Will Sumner from a few weeks ago: Meet Will Sumner, The 2023 NCAA 800m Champ.