William Cheadle, a 68-year-old Track and Field athlete from Louisville, Kentucky is excited to compete in the USA Masters Games this summer. He has competed in the USAMG in the past and is thrilled to be able to come back and compete in hurdles and sprints as well. In June, he will be competing in the long hurdles – 300 meters, 400-meter run, and the 200-meter run in his age division.
The USA Masters Games is set for June 24-27, 2021 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The sports line-up consists of 29 sports for athletes 21 years or older to compete in an Olympic style event. The USA Masters Games will feature Track and Field at East Kentwood High School with a full day of running, jumping and throwing on June 26th starting at 9:45am for running events and 10:00am for field events. This event will be USATF sanctioned as well.
Prior to Mr. Cheadle competing in the USA Masters Games, his track and field journey started very early. Mr. Cheadle started competing in track and field in 1959, when he was entering first grade. He fell in love with the sport and the rest is history! In middle school, Mr. Cheadle got involved with track and field when his middle school coach asked him to try out which led him to run his first hurdle race in 1967. In fact, in high school Mr. Cheadle set the school record for high hurdles; this record will turn 50 years old this year!
Photo Courtesy of William Cheadle
“My favorite thing about track and field is watching track meets and working out to stay in shape.” said Mr. Cheadle. As he prepares for the upcoming USA Masters Games, he continues to train and is a member of the So Cal Track Club. The So Cal Track Club is a local non-profit association track club in California. Established in 1997, it helps brings together athletes of all ages who want to compete. The club currently consists of more than 200 members.
Being a member of the So Cal Track Club has allowed him to excel in his desired events as well as be a part of a team. His training consists of the same periodicity and interval training since high school and college, but much slower, less frequent and longer recovery periods. In his free time, he enjoys watching track and field meets on YouTube. Mr. Cheadle has always been a competitor. Whether it is jumping over physical hurdles or life hurdles, he has been a champion. Mr. Cheadle has since recovered from throat cancer that happened 3 years ago. He is excited to be “getting back into competition again after chemotherapy and radiation for throat cancer 3 years ago!” said Mr. Cheadle. Mr. Cheadle will be ready to hit the blocks in June in Grand Rapids, Michigan after months of training and learning about how to perfect his hurdles and running while stay remaining healthy.
While Mr. Cheadle is hoping to have a successful competition at the 2020 USA Masters Games, he has already won several medals in the National and World Championships. As his main event has been the hurdles, he also runs in the 400 and 200 as well, which in both he has earned achievements. Mr. Cheadle is prepared and counting down the days until competition in the lanes at East Kentwood High School.
The USAMG Track and Field tentative event list at East Kentwood High School consists of:
Field events: Pole Vault, Javelin, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Men’s Shot Put, Men’s Discus, Women’s Shot Put, Women’s Discus, and Hammer Throw.
Running events: 5000m Race walk, 3200m Run, 55m Hurdles, 100m Hurdles, 110m Hurdles, 50m Dash, 4x100m Relay, 800m Run, 200m Dash, 200m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles, 400m Dash, 100m Dash, Mile Run and 4x400m Relay.
The entire schedule for the Track and Field meet with times and age divisions can be found on the website.