Chari Hawkins at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (© Chloe Montague)
When she missed out on a home team place for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, Chari Hawkins remembers thinking: “everything happens for a reason”. Instead of that setback marking the end of her Oregon journey, it turned out to be just the start.
Hawkins is multi-talented. She is an international heptathlete and the 2022 US indoor pentathlon champion, after all. But the 31-year-old is also a social media star and has a passion for teaching, and she was able to bring all of those skills together as host of the World Athletics Club.
During the 10 days of the World Championships in Oregon, Hawkins took fans behind the scenes and shared insight, interviews and more in a series of shows dedicated to the sport’s global showpiece. History was made at Hayward Field and there was so much for each episode to cover – from daily competition highlights and reaction to chats with some of the sport’s legends, current stars and those who helped to make the event happen.
“I am constantly having my eyes opened about so much that happens (in the sport). It is so exciting for me and so I think: ‘this is going to be exciting for other people’,” explains Hawkins, whose undergraduate and master's degrees are both in education.
“When you are teaching about something that made you excited, it comes across way more genuine. Everything that I explain and everything that I show on the World Athletics Club were very big ‘aha’ moments for me, as well, so it just fit really naturally. I learn something new and then I’m like wait, this is perfect – I need to share this!”
Her enthusiasm means Hawkins has developed an ever-expanding appreciation for athletes and their crafts.
For example, one segment of the show was filmed down on the track, next to the steeplechase water jump. “I thought it would be fun (to try the water jump), because I knew I wouldn’t do a very good job, but it would still be really cool. Then I looked at it and I was like, excuse me?!” Hawkins laughs.
“I learned that the pit is 3.66m or 12ft in distance. It is such a high barrier, but then to also jump across a water pit 12ft and then land on a hard track... there is a 0% chance I would even attempt it! And the amount of running they have to do while they are doing this incredible jump is just overwhelming to me, I couldn’t believe it.
“I think that as human beings we see other people doing incredible things so often, especially in the track and field world, that we kind of let ourselves be desensitised to it and we just assume yeah, that’s just what people are able to do," she adds. "But then we realise how incredible what they are doing actually is. It’s amazing to see how incredible these athletes truly are.”
Chari Hawkins next to the steeplechase water pit at Hayward Field (© Chloe Montague)
Hawkins herself has been an athlete for 15 years and so relished the opportunity the World Athletics Club gave her to share her own experience in sport.
“It’s amazing that World Athletics is giving athletes the chance to do things like this,” she says. “Like on the World Athletics Club, Raven (Saunders, Olympic shot put silver medallist) and I talked about how there are ups and there are downs all the time. That’s what track and field is – it’s the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Sometimes athletes are not going to make the World Championships.
“It’s cool to know that all of the knowledge that is in my head can be used for more than just being on the track, because my body is not going to last forever in this sport. To be able to use this knowledge in a way that makes me feel like I didn’t waste 15 years of mastering a craft, that’s really special.
"Whether you are a professional athlete who has been doing this for 15 years or you loved it throughout high school and you want to share all of the experience that you have, there are so many other ways to get involved with athletics.”
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
