Track & Field Report: Four Aggies medal as Athletics continue in Paris

As the 2024 Paris Games roll on, Fred Kerley '17, Shamier Little '17, Bryce Deadmon '19 and Lindon Victor '18 are the four Aggie track and field athletes to medal so far. Texas A&M coach Pat Henry joined TexAgs Radio to speak on the Aggies in Paris.

Key notes from Pat Henry interview

• Between Fred Kerley, Lindon Victor, Bryce Deadmon and Shamier Little, those are great performances. Anytime you medal at the Olympic Games, you know, it just doesn’t happen often. It’s pretty exceptional.
   
• Fred is going to be in the 4x100-meter race, so he has the opportunity to medal again. Bryce has another opportunity to medal in the 4x400-meter race as well. Shamier can also get into that first women’s group. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next day or two.
   
• I ran Fred a lot in the 400 meters when he was here. He’s running the 100- and 200-meter right now, but I think he’ll eventually come back to the 400. He’s just taken off. He’s done a tremendous job. To run a 9.8 100-meter is outstanding. He was close to winning the thing too. He’s had an outstanding year. People just don't believe that he can run the 100. He’s making a believer out of everybody.
   
• Bryce had two medals at the last Olympic Games, so he’s been there before. Fred and Lindon have been there before, so these are Shamier’s first games.
   
• We still got Tahar Triki in the triple jump. Brandon Miller has an opportunity to qualify in the 800-meter today, so we still have a couple of guys that could get in there. I think Triki has a good chance of medaling in the triple jump. Brandon has a big road in front of him, but if he makes the final, that would be huge for him.
   
• Jacob Wooten jumped 18.4 in the vault, but that won’t get him in there. These are also Maggie Malone-Hardin’s third Olympic Games, but it just wasn’t their day.
   
• Athing Mu is really a tough one. I hope that she makes some changes and does some things a little bit differently because if she doesn’t, I think she can get caught up within herself. You can’t do anything about getting tripped. I think a little different philosophy may pay off for her.
   
• Cross country reports this week, so we are getting ready to get going. We’ll see who’s in good shape coming in. Track and field reports next week, so everything’s starting to get going in the next couple of weeks. It’s hard to believe that the summer is already over.
   
• Watching my former athletes compete like they are is one of the joys of being a coach. Watching your athletes continue to grow and mature, and even become Olympians is a lot of fun.
   
• You do find yourself coaching even when they aren’t running for you anymore. I think their coaches right now are doing a great job with all the athletes. Lindon Victor has a great coach and has allowed him to stay in the sport even, which can be really hard for a decathlete.