Axel"s Personal Best

The impact of making the Paris Olympics as part of Team USA's squad still resonates with Allie Wilson.She punched her ticket as part of a chaotic women's 800m final in Eugene last year as part of a whirlwind season where she also signed a contract with Nike — part of a sign that things were changing and the pauses in life would soon become rarer.But in a fast sport, the time away from the track feels even faster and 2025's long season on the track has wrapped and road races now dominate calendar

T'Mars McCallum is accustomed to running in a tough collegiate conference — the SEC — and boldly proud of being one of the leaders of Tennessee's track and field squad.But his world shifted a bit last weekend at the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis when he ran the world lead in the 200m in 19.73. The eyes of the sport suddenly looked his way and he was far from a face in a crowd of sprinters. And in a few weeks he could be among those competing for a world title in Tokyo.In this episode, McCallum talks

During in the beginning of a pandemic era that rattled the world in 2020, Isabella Whittaker saw her own beginnings as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. But it was after those days at Penn — after enrolling at Arkansas in 2024 as a graduate student — that Whittaker kickstarted the current state of her place in the track landscape.Her times in the 400m fell and fell again with her 50.48 performance at the 2024 U.S. Olympics trials propelling her to the women's final. And while she finished

The pivot from the classroom to lining up with the top pro runners in the world was an adjustment Graham Blanks had to quickly figure out after announcing last December that the signed with New Balance. His remaining time at Harvard was still a priority, but Blanks knew a portion of the bigger stage was reserved for him.Blanks spent his collegiate years stacking up the kinds of accolades that shifted the spotlight to his conference, becoming the first Ivy League runner to win the NCAA Division I

Humble beginnings and major childhood challenges kept Alison dos Santos well aware that guarantees were not easy to come by in his native São Joaquim da Barra, Brazil.Still, he found his way, navigated toward track and field, and a bronze at the 2018 World U20 Championships proved to be a breakout moment. The next year, he followed it up with efforts at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha that shifted attention his way as he battled to the 400m hurdles final.By 2024 dos Santos's wins at

Emily Sisson has navigated the track, the road and found her way to the Olympic stage.After making a statement in last year's marathon trials in Orlando and punching her ticket to Paris with a second place finish (2:22:42), Sisson is poised to ride a running wave in 2025 that is loaded. Outdoor track season has the calendar stuffed, while the addition of Sydney to the marathon majors means we'll get a glimpse of Sisson on the road before the year is done.When I connected with Emily in New York last

In the first episode of Axel's Personal Best, we chat with Olympic 800-meter silver medalist Marco Arop — who has a 1:41.2 PB and Canadian national record — about blazing the track in Grand Slam Track's inaugural season, the state middle distance running and the nuances of training for the 1,500 meter.