UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field team will be represented by five individuals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The Nittany Lions will have three current/former athletes and two members of their current coaching staff at the event that will take place from August 19-27.
CURRENT NITTANY LIONS
Penn State's current 800-meter star, Handal Roban, is representing St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the 800 at the World Championships after winning his event at both the Central American and Caribbean Games and the NACAC U23 Championships during his outstanding 2023 summer. Roban enters the championships as the 35th-ranked 800-meter runner in the world (1:45.93 SB).
Joining Roban is newly-minted Associate Head Coach Ryan Foster. Foster will serve as Roban's coach on the St. Vincent & the Grenadines national team as he guides the Nittany Lion middle-distance phenom into his first World Championship appearance.
Penn State's throws coach Nathan Ott will head to Budapest as the mentor of four professional hammer throwers, representing four different countries. Ott returns to the World Championships where he guided Brooke Anderson to the hammer throw title last year. All four members of Ott's contingent trained with him at Penn State's facilities and have served as volunteer assistant coaches of Penn State's throws group.
- Brooke Andersen – Team U.S.A., No. 1 world ranking
- Reigning hammer throw World Champion (2022)
- 2023 U.S.A. National Champion
- 80.17m SB, No. 3 mark all-time
- Nayoka Clunis – Team Jamaica, No. 27 world ranking
- 2023 Jamaica National Champion
- 71.18m SB
- Beatrice Llano – Team Norway, No. 39 world ranking
- 2023 Norway National Champion
- 70.35m SB
- Stamatia Scarvelis – Team Greece, No. 40 world ranking
- 2023 Greece National Champion
- 69.79m SB
PENN STATE ALUMNI
Nittany Lion shot put record holder Joe Kovacs returns to the world stage, representing Team U.S.A., as a two-time World Champion and two-time World Championships silver medalist. Kovacs currently ranks No. 2 in the world in the shot put, heading into the championship meet with a 22.69m season-best mark.
Isaiah Harris rounds out the Penn State contingent heading to Budapest as he joins Kovacs on Team U.S.A. Harris ranks as the No. 17 800-meter runner in the world (1:44.85 SB) as he makes his second Outdoor World Championships appearance in the event.
TUNE IN
The World Athletics Championships will be televised on NBC, CNBC, and USA Network on select dates and times, with additional coverage of events available on Peacock.
Live Stats | Peacock Live Stream Schedule
Men's Shot Put - Kovacs
- Qualification: Saturday, August 19, 4:30 a.m. EST
- Final: Saturday, August 19, 2:37 p.m. EST
Men's 800 – Roban, Coach Foster, Harris
- Heats: Tuesday, August 22, 1:20 p.m. EST
- Semi-Final: Thursday, August 23, 2:50 p.m. EST
- Final: Saturday, August 26, 2:30 p.m. EST
Women's Hammer Throw – Coach Ott
- Qualification – Group A: Wednesday, August 23, 1 p.m. EST
- Qualification – Group B: Wednesday, August 23, 2:35 p.m. EST
- Final: Thursday, August 24, 2:26 p.m. EST
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateTFXC) and X/Instagram (@pennstatetfxc).