Out of the Blocks with Jasmine Todd And Katelyn Hutchison

"I really wanted to get a national team title. Of course, I wanted to win as an individual but a true measure of an athlete is how great you can be with others. I really wanted to have an opportunity to do that. That’s why I decided to go to Florida. During my freshman year, we had a strong team but we were just missing a couple of pieces. Then we got Jasmine Moore, Anna Hall and we had some dogs on our team. The next year, I believed we have the most complete team and we were going to win. And then we did."

For this episode of Out of The Blocks with Jasmine Todd, we are joined by Florida sophomore Talitha Diggs. She won the NCAA 400m title in March and just added the outdoor title with a clutch 49.99 personal best in the final. Only four other women in NCAA history have run faster. In this episode, she talks about the team culture with the Gators, growing up as the daughter of a four-time Olympian, how she approaches the 400m and much more. She will also be competing at the upcoming U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Fun questions include:

– What's your favorite story about coach Mike Holloway + the angriest she's ever seen him

– If you can combine forces with another athlete on your team to create a super athlete, who would it be? And it can't be Anna Hall. 

– What's the most disgusting thing you'd eat to get a world championship medal?

+ More

Plus, we introduce you to our new co-host Katelyn Hutchison – a fellow member of The Magic Boost Class of 2022. Katelyn is a sprinter at Ithaca and will be running at the University of Kentucky next year.

▶ Follow Jasmine Todd: Twitter | Instagram

▶ Follow Katelyn Hutchison: Twitter | Instagram

▶ Follow Talitha Diggs: Twitter | Instagram

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"In 2016, I was fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials. In the fall of that year, I was just like, 'That can't happen again.' I had this motivation. I didn't let the Olympic Trials tear me down. I went into that (2017) season hard – going hard every day..."

Out the Blocks with Jasmine Todd with special guest Adidas long jumper and world championship finalist Sha'Keela Saunders! In this conversation, we touch on her versatility outside of the jumps with experience in the sprints, hurdles and relays; helping Kentucky's program rise; her experience representing the U.S. at Worlds and NACACs (2018 gold medalist); being one of the fellow veterans of the long jump and much more. 

Sha'Keela finished third in the 2017 and 2018 Diamond League and represented the United States at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. She finished 9th in the long jump final at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. 

▶ Follow Jasmine: Twitter | Instagram

▶ Follow Sha'Keela: Twitter | Instagram

You can support the podcast by subscribing on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you enjoyed this conversation, leave a rating and review or share it with your friends.

"Out of college, I was working at Family Dollar, Dick Sporting Goods and just trying to keep some money in my pocket while I trained. I just knew I shouldn't be too worried because I knew what I had coming. It's definitely stressful if you don't have a contract in this sport, especially as a field eventer. We get no love."

Donald Scott takes us through his progression as an athlete who dipped his toes in different events before truly mastering the triple jump at Eastern Michigan University. He is now a professional jumper for Adidas, a 2021 U.S. Olympian (7th at the Tokyo Olympics), six-time U.S. Champion and 2022 World Indoor Championship bronze medalist. His personal best of 17.43m puts him at No. 16 on the all-time list.

In this conversation with Jasmine Todd, he opens up about balancing being a professional athlete and a father. He also shares his experience with the U.S. foster care system that he experienced as a kid.

Notable quotes

"My sisters and I were adopted by my aunt and uncle. We weren't in the shelter for too long before they came and got us. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It's hard down there with poverty and all that hard stuff. I was caught up in all this is type of stuff. To be moved from that to almost-middle-class, it was a big adjustment. Where I'm from, it's basically African-Americans. My aunt and uncle are Caucasian. We had to battle that a little bit because we weren't comfortable around Caucasians. We were always told this, this and yada, yada, yada. That was an adjustment but overall it was good for me and my sisters to finally be shown love and what it's like to be in a stable household. Although my uncle moved out after a couple of years and it was just my aunt, it felt like home. It felt good. I started becoming active in sports, getting good grades and turning my life around. Blessed enough, that's how I earned my scholarship to Eastern Michigan. If I never would've got adopted, I don't know what I would be doing – probably locked up or something. My life has been a journey, a blessing and I just want to inspire people to set a goal and just chase it. Especially the people who come from where I come from. Most people get stuck down there. Most people don't ever leave Florida. For me to be able to do that, family and people I grew up with being able to see all this stuff is good."

▶ Follow Jasmine: Twitter | Instagram

▶ Follow Donald: Twitter | Instagram

You can support the podcast by subscribing on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you enjoyed this conversation, leave a rating and review or share it with your friends. 

"Life is going to have ebbs and flows. When we start to get doubtful, we start to make rash decisions. If you can see the path clearly, stick to it. If you can't, figure out the unclear parts. Chances are if you're a developmental athlete, you're pretty low on your developmental path. It takes a lot work to be far along on that path. So if you are low, there's a lot of things you can pick at to get better. If you just think that it's going to take care of itself or you're falling back on the place that you're at, it's kind of being lazy. If you want to be as good as these other people, you can't assume it was handed to them. You're better off assuming they trusted the process, they were analytical – that's how they got to that place. Their path could've started years earlier than you but it's better to assume everybody is working hard and you need to be working hard too. Trust in that hard work."

Two-time Olympic triple jumper and training partner Chris Benard kicks back to share a bit about his career path from Riverside City College to Arizona State to two Olympic Games. Benard also dives into the mindfulness practice that has helped him stay focused in some of the biggest national and global stages. 

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▶ Follow Chris: Twitter | Instagram

"It was honestly a great experience. This is my first year not being sponsored so I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder this whole season just trying to prove that I am deserving of something...It was nice to see all of my hard work paying off and do something I've never done before and something that hasn't been done in the U.S. in a couple of years."

One of the best stories to come out of the 2022 World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Belgrade, Serbia was Team USA's Mikiah Brisco coming away with a silver medal in the women's 60m in 6.99 seconds. That is the fastest time by an American woman since Gail Devers in 1999.

Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji won gold in 6.96 to move into No. 4 on the all-time list. Brisco's Team USA teammate Marybeth Sant-Price took bronze in 7.04.

In the first "Out of The Blocks" conversation with Jasmine Todd, Mikiah sat down to talk about her time in Serbia and how she's looking to keep the momentum going into the outdoor season ahead of the U.S. Championships and World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon this summer.

▶ Follow Jasmine: Twitter | Instagram 

▶ Follow Mikiah: Twitter | Instagram