Team USA Diaries -- IAAF World Youth Championships

Destiny Collins of Great Oak (Temecula, Calif.)

CALI, COLOMBIA -- Sunday was a really really fun day! Every single part of it was lots of fun. We sleep in and go to the track meet early since it was only from 3-5 p.m.

Since today is the last day we can trade gear! I traded 2 shirts that I had doubles of and a draw string bag from different countries and in return I received a China jacket, a Bahamas jacket, and Jamaica tights! I'm so happy about the gear I traded because it looks so good especially the Bahamas jacket!

We cheered so loud and it was amazing watching the races and jumps. So many golds, amazing performances, and exciting races especially the 4x400. I still don't have my voice but I found a way to cheer loud for them and they did amazing!

Then we went back to the hotel and got ready and went to the athletes party! At first it was kind of lame and boring because the music wasn't American and all the other athletes were just jumping up and down. In fact, where the dance was at first, it was on a boarded ground over wood chips or something and we broke a hole in the floor! Then we moved the dance to where the chairs were and continued the dance.

But anyways I still wasn't having fun and enjoying the music, but I forced myself to enjoy my night and so I just went along with the flow and I ended up having a lot of fun! The music got better and they even played a few American songs and oh my, the team got so so excited and we started getting turnt (pumped and excited) when the few songs we actually knew came on. We even taught the others how to dance and that was fun. Phillip Rocha taught me how to salsa and now I can say I'm a pro!! You can even ask him, haha. Then it ended and we were all sad because we had a lot of fun but overall it was a good day!

I was really tired Saturday because I stayed up late talking to some friends! Then we went to lunch and now I'm homesick. I miss American food, and my friends, and everything about California. Especially Chick Fil A and In-N-Out!!! I didn't eat much but oh well.

Saturday was the pool party and that was fun swimming around. The water was cold but we had fun. Then I took a long long long nap and then last team meeting of the night and then packing! It actually didn't take long and now we have to leave for the airport at 3 a.m. so the team is not sleeping and pulling an all nighter.

July 17 and 18

Friday and Saturday were basically the same days, full of lots of cheering and excitement about how good the team is doing.

Friday was exciting watching the 100H for girls and 110H for boys.

The 110H for boys was so close, I've never seen a race so close. After they all crossed the line everyone was just staring at the board waiting for the results. We went crazy once we saw Isaiah Lucas' name in the board for 3rd!

Watching the 400 boys and girls were also very exciting. I had so much fun cheering on my teammates but sadly I lost my voice after that day.

Saturday races were also very exciting to watch and cheer for but it was hard since again I lost my voice! It was great watching the 400H with us sweeping because of Sydney McLaughlin and Norman Grimes.

The other races were fun to watch like the 1,500 with Julia Heymach and even though we didn't have anyone in the boys 800 that was exciting to watch. We were all trying to guess what they were going to run and I think I was the closest because I guessed 1:45.20 and they ran 1:45.58, so I guess you could say I'm a good guesser, haha.

July 16

Thursday was my first day of rest. It was a very relaxing and exciting day.

I slept in and ate breakfast like I always do. Did I mention Colombia has the best pineapples? I think it should be a fact. Everyone on the team LOVES them! They are always so sweet. Matter of fact, they brought out a tray of fruit and then the U.S. team ate it all. And it was only 5 of us or so that ate it all, so I thought that was funny.

I relaxed and then I went to the track for the evening session. It was so much fun watching the races. It was amazing seeing Alexis Duncan for 100H and Candace Hill for the 100 get the meet records, and it was nice seeing Sophia Rivera, Brittley Humphrey, and Jayla Kirkland, as well as Candace medal. Our team is killing it and I can't wait to watch the 400s on Friday! The boys and girls will be so so good. The best part is when we chant. It's fun letting everyone know we are the U.S. besides by the clothes we are wearing. Overall it was a great day and I can't wait to watch more races!

July 15

So yesterday I went to the warm up track early to warm up.

I warmed up a little early because I was excited, but anyways we had to do all the warm up there because we wouldn't be able to do anything once they drive us over to the real track! So I warm up and then they drive us over to the real track and then we had to wait 20-30 minutes to race which threw me off a little bit, but I tried not to think about that long period of time waiting.

Long story short, I raced the 3,000 and it was the worst race of my season. I don't know exactly why I didn't feel like myself during the race and why my legs couldn't go any faster and why my arms felt like I had weights on them but I just assume it was a long season and I've had many weeks in a row racing all out and with this being a long season in all I think I just didn't have anything left.

The race went off and it was really aggressive and everyone was throwing elbows and getting tripped and I was on the inside of lane 1 which was a huge mistake because I couldn't go anywhere. After the first lap and half someone ran into my feet and I almost fell but I caught myself barely and stopped and then started running and after that I kind of gave up mentally a little.

I wish I could have ran better but I have to put it behind me now and just use this race as a learning experience. I'm so honored and blessed to be given the opportunity to run for my country, it was an amazing experience and it was so cool to race against all the amazing girls from all over the world!

Now I get the chance to cheer on all my great teammates. After my race I had the chance to watch the Boys 100 and everyone was excited to watch that race! It was a fun race to watch and overall not a bad Wednesday.

Pre-meet

This trip to Cali, Colombia has been so amazing so far and such a blessing. I've been able to bond with my team and they are from all over the United States and I've had the chance to meet other athletes from different countries too. It's such an awesome experience because not everyone speaks the same language so trying to have conversations can be difficult yet fun and all the different accents are cool to hear!

I'm so excited to race the 3000m in Cali on the first day of the 5-day stretch of competition. Since I race the first day now I don't have to be nervous and excited for the whole week, I get the chance to watch all the races after I'm done, and I start my track break sooner than if I raced at the end of the competition! I'm so happy I took this opportunity to run in Cali, Colombia, because it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a huge stepping stone for the future if I ever do get to run on a Senior Championship team or the Olympics or anything close to that! I hope to run my best race possible and make myself, my family and coaches, my friends and teammates, and my country proud. I'd love to have my last race going out with a bang and running the best race I could and leaving it all out there on the track. Who knows, maybe I will have the chance to add to the huge medal count Coach Morgan talks about. No matter what though, I can't believe I get to say I had the honor of wearing the white USA on my chest and I'm so happy I got to meet amazing people along the way.

Thursday (July 9): Travel Day
We woke up super early and traveled the whole day. We didn't arrive to Colombia till late so nothing really happened this day.

Friday (July 10): Rest Day
With coming to Colombia so late and having a long day of travel, this day served as a rest day. I was supposed to workout but Coach Morgan insisted we rest so that's what we did. We didn't even set an alarm for the morning, we just let our bodies wake up naturally and then went to breakfast which was really good. We hung out in the lounge and might I add the lounge has an amazing view! We played card games and conversated and it was a very relaxing day.

Saturday (July 11):
We finally got to go to the practice track to workout. This practice track is also the warm-up track they will use for the meet. I had two workouts this day so I worked out in the morning and afternoon and of course relaxed and took a nap in between. Oh and PS, A COACH GOT ME DONUTS!!!



Sunday (July 12):
We did our normal routine of working out and all but today was the first day we could wear our USA gear! We all wore our white USA T-shirts and at this moment I really felt like I was on the team! It's so nice wearing the USA on our chest because we have the chance to represent our country and do what we love to do. The people of Colombia and the other countries love us might I add. They all want pictures with us and it's an unexplainable feeling and experience seeing the happiness on the random peoples' faces when we take a picture with them or when they take a picture of us. After we did our workouts, that night we had the chance to do a tiny bit of exploring! That night we went down the street and walked along this park that had a bunch of cat statues and the cats were all different. Some patterns, some plain, some 3D with needles, it was a cool sight to see. Then we went to a restaurant and had dinner outside since there was 50+ of us but the weather was just fine!

Monday (July 13):
One workout today because we had the chance to explore in the afternoon. The bus drove us up this mountain and at the top there was a Jesus statue overlooking the city in honor of this war that lasted 1000 days. The statue is the second largest behind the one in Rio! After that we went and saw the oldest church in Cali that was built 1740 and then went to this shop where we could buy goodies!

Tuesday (July 14):
We had the chance to go to the track we will race on. It was breathtaking walking into the stadium because it was so huge and I can't believe I'm going to race in that stadium on Wednesday! It was a little hectic being on the track since there was so many people doing there own thing but I got what I needed to get done. Once I did my pre-meet warmup and strides, I talked and took pictures with athletes from different countries which was fun.