Cheickna Traore galloped around Penn State's IM fields last fall, racing to beat a fading clock during a tempo workout that continuously got tougher. Traore was in the middle of the hardest workout of his life and watched as his Nittany Lion teammates pulled away from him. What he quickly realized was that this moment set the stage for a record-breaking indoor campaign and a confidence that's blossomed into Olympic aspirations.
Traore's journey to becoming a record-breaking Division III sprinter at Ramapo College and three-time Big Ten champion and Division I silver medalist in the 200-meters at Penn State didn't happen overnight. It happened through each transformative learning moment, like that day at the IM fields, that allowed Traore to prove to himself that he had the heart of a champion.
"Towards the end [of the workout], I was getting destroyed by the whole team," Traore said. "Everyone was just going crazy and I'm just in the back just fighting for my life. I'm like 'this is crazy.' I stuck with the process, though, and I kept doing what [coach Brandon Rizzo] told me to do, and just kept trying to hit the times, and eventually, things started to click. I started seeing that I'm actually able to hang with the guys now and eventually, I'm starting to just go a lot faster than pace just because I feel good and I can do it."
Traore came into the 2023-24 indoor track and field season hoping to surpass 20.60 in the 200-meters. He had a conversation with sprints and hurdles coach Brandon Rizzo and expressed how this was his benchmark. Traore went 20.42 in his 200-meter season-opener on Jan. 20 in Michigan and his goal-oriented mindset took on a new life.
Traore shared how the end of every track season ignites a fresh fire and a new set of goals meant to push the Linden, New Jersey, product past what he thought he could do. Traore said that his goals change based on how his body feels and how his training has progressed. There's one commonality with those goals in the phrase "let's go attack this."
"Every single goal I've set, I've gotten to it," Traore said. "Now I want to win a title, obviously, that's the goal. But after that, I want to make an Olympic final and once I do that in my career, I want to become an Olympic champion. It's things like that you have to work towards. And when I say something like becoming an Olympic champion, it sounds crazy, but that's what has to motivate you and if you don't have a reason to be going every day, then you're just doing a sport for nothing."
Traore changed his goals as the indoor season progressed when he realized that winning the 200-meters was a reality. Traore said he maintained his signature "pride in consistency" and exploded with euphoric joy, like a kid waking up on Christmas, after securing a meet record 20.44 time and a Big Ten 200-meter title following his earlier 60-meter conference crown.
Traore emulated his celebration after Michael Jordan's shoulder shrug and Stephen Curry counting on his fingers to signify the number of championships he had won that day. That's who he aspires to be, "the best in the world."
Traore got to put on a show in front of one of the greatest sprinters on planet earth with world champion Noah Lyles looking on at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston. Traore took silver in the 200-meters with an Ivory Coast national record time of 20.30, and with his mantra of "sprinting is an art," he constantly evaluates every second and intricate detail while asking himself, "what did I do to not run that 0.06 faster?"
"I've just been a student of the game because it's just an effect of how much love I have for the sport itself," Traore said. "I want to be one of the best in the world, not just in the NCAA. That's my goal. I want to be the best to ever do it, so I need to realize that I need to critique myself. So every critique that I get from coach—from whoever—I just think about it and it's up to me to make those changes. Because if I don't make those changes, no one else is going to because no one's no one else is running for me."
Traore's first cross country practice in high school included a race with all the freshmen. He finished dead last, as it was the first time he had ever run competitively, and the now-talented sprinter wondered if giving running a shot was worth it. After getting "adjusted to running and learning from my body" Traore is proud of his journey from being last in high school cross country to an Olympic hopeful sprinter.
Hailing from the Ivory Coast, which is sandwiched between Ghana and Liberia on the southern coast of Africa, Traore's biggest goal is to represent his home country in the 2024 Paris Olympics and to race against stars of the sport like Lyles to see where he stacks up against the best in the world.
"It would mean the world," Traore said. "Just being out there on the greatest stage ever in track and field and just going out there and representing my country, it'd mean the world to me. That's something I've never thought about until just last year, so for that to become a reality to me now is crazy."
