University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Elija Godwin
May 26, 2021 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Elija Godwin didn't set out to be a sprinter. The Georgia track and field junior got into track because he thought it would help him in football. Godwin didn't set out to be a 400-meter man, either, but over time he realized that was his perfect distance.
Godwin and the Bulldogs are in Jacksonville, Fla., for the NCAA East Prelims, and Godwin will compete in the first round of the 400 qualifying Wednesday night. Godwin, from Covington, Ga., comes into the event running better than ever, having smashed the school record in the 400, running 44.61, at the SEC Outdoor Championships. He also was part of the 4x100 relay team that set a new school record.
During a Quick Chat on Tuesday, Godwin talked about his start in track, finding the event that best suited him, his favorite food, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: How did you get started in track? Did you play a bunch of different sports growing up?
Godwin: I only played two sports growing up. I played football for as long as I can remember, and track really started as a way to do conditioning for football. Football was my primary sport in the beginning and track turned into a summer thing to do to stay in shape for the football season.
How track actually became important to me started in summer track. One of my good friends who's like a brother to me now, his dad had a track club called Elite Speed, and I told him the same thing at the very beginning, that I can't run track all the time because I've got football.
I don't really know what happened but it turned out good because I gave it a chance. ... We used to travel everywhere and I just thought that was fun — track just brought a new experience that I had never done before so I stuck with it. I liked doing it and the more I did it the better I got, and the opportunities got bigger and bigger.
Frierson: When did you know you were good? Was there a turning point or specific moment?
Godwin: [Laughs] What's funny about that is, I really don't know exactly what race it was that I ran where I was like, OK, I can be good at this. ... I remember the first time I looked up rankings (on MileSplit.com) to see who was the fastest in Georgia right now, and it was me [laughs]. That's when I found out that I was probably pretty good. That was it.
I was late to finding out about MileSplit and I really don't know which race it was from, but I remember wondering who the fastest (high school) person was in Georgia and it was me. That moment right there I was like, OK, I need to take this a little more seriously.
Frierson: How do you go about figuring out that the 400 is probably your best event? Did you also do the 100, 200 and the 800?
Godwin: I never did the 800, ever [laughs]. That's a little bit out of my comfort zone.
What happened with me, coming from football to track, it was easy to get right into the 100 and 200. It felt like, because you're fast that's what you should be best at. Those were the races that I prioritized but I also ran relays every meet. When I got to high school, my high school coach, Coach (Kevin) Barnes, he was the first technical coach I had in track, someone that actually knew what they were talking about.
He was clocking the splits in our 4x400 and I think he recognized that I was splitting really fast. But at the same time, the 400 was also the worst race of the weekend every time I had to race. I kind of dreaded it but I always did it. He looked at my splits and was like, "You probably need to see what you can do in the open 400."
I'm somebody who's very coachable and even though that was a painful race, I was like, "I trust what you say, and if you think that's what I should do, let's go with it." The first time I ran the 400 for my high school coach, I ran 47.40. He told me that was fast and I was like, OK, let's keep going with it.
After that, I switched from a 100 and 200 runner to a 200 and 400 runner, and it took off from there.
Frierson: What's the best thing about running the 400?
Godwin: I felt more comfortable with the 400 because I felt like I was more in control of that race. The 200, for me, I felt like if I was to mess up in the blocks or had a bad start, it would dictate the rest of the race and it would be really hard to catch up. With the 400, it wasn't so costly, and I was able to control stuff. If I messed up one thing, I could do the second thing 10 times better to keep myself up with the pack.
Coming to college, I was learning and picking up how to race the 400 better than any other event.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Godwin: Spaghetti — spaghetti and meatballs, I could eat that every day.
Frierson: Do you make it yourself? Is it something you have every time you go home?
Godwin: If I want it, I can make spaghetti. The lady down the street can make it, my mom can make it — it's spaghetti, you can't mess it up. I'm all for it.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Godwin: A lot of stuff came to my head. I have a lot of hobbies outside of track that I feel like I'm a little bit talented in, and I feel like I would want to know what it feels like to be a famous rapper. To have a really big concert, I would want to know how that feels.
Frierson: Do you do some of that on your own?
Godwin: I do. My brother and his friend, they got into it well before I started. I just watched them do it and I was inspired by them doing it. I just started doing a little bit of rapping when they started going into the studio making songs, and I got a lot of enjoyment out of that.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Elija Godwin didn't set out to be a sprinter. The Georgia track and field junior got into track because he thought it would help him in football. Godwin didn't set out to be a 400-meter man, either, but over time he realized that was his perfect distance.
Godwin and the Bulldogs are in Jacksonville, Fla., for the NCAA East Prelims, and Godwin will compete in the first round of the 400 qualifying Wednesday night. Godwin, from Covington, Ga., comes into the event running better than ever, having smashed the school record in the 400, running 44.61, at the SEC Outdoor Championships. He also was part of the 4x100 relay team that set a new school record.
During a Quick Chat on Tuesday, Godwin talked about his start in track, finding the event that best suited him, his favorite food, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: How did you get started in track? Did you play a bunch of different sports growing up?
Godwin: I only played two sports growing up. I played football for as long as I can remember, and track really started as a way to do conditioning for football. Football was my primary sport in the beginning and track turned into a summer thing to do to stay in shape for the football season.
How track actually became important to me started in summer track. One of my good friends who's like a brother to me now, his dad had a track club called Elite Speed, and I told him the same thing at the very beginning, that I can't run track all the time because I've got football.
I don't really know what happened but it turned out good because I gave it a chance. ... We used to travel everywhere and I just thought that was fun — track just brought a new experience that I had never done before so I stuck with it. I liked doing it and the more I did it the better I got, and the opportunities got bigger and bigger.
Frierson: When did you know you were good? Was there a turning point or specific moment?
Godwin: [Laughs] What's funny about that is, I really don't know exactly what race it was that I ran where I was like, OK, I can be good at this. ... I remember the first time I looked up rankings (on MileSplit.com) to see who was the fastest in Georgia right now, and it was me [laughs]. That's when I found out that I was probably pretty good. That was it.
I was late to finding out about MileSplit and I really don't know which race it was from, but I remember wondering who the fastest (high school) person was in Georgia and it was me. That moment right there I was like, OK, I need to take this a little more seriously.
Frierson: How do you go about figuring out that the 400 is probably your best event? Did you also do the 100, 200 and the 800?
Godwin: I never did the 800, ever [laughs]. That's a little bit out of my comfort zone.
What happened with me, coming from football to track, it was easy to get right into the 100 and 200. It felt like, because you're fast that's what you should be best at. Those were the races that I prioritized but I also ran relays every meet. When I got to high school, my high school coach, Coach (Kevin) Barnes, he was the first technical coach I had in track, someone that actually knew what they were talking about.
He was clocking the splits in our 4x400 and I think he recognized that I was splitting really fast. But at the same time, the 400 was also the worst race of the weekend every time I had to race. I kind of dreaded it but I always did it. He looked at my splits and was like, "You probably need to see what you can do in the open 400."
I'm somebody who's very coachable and even though that was a painful race, I was like, "I trust what you say, and if you think that's what I should do, let's go with it." The first time I ran the 400 for my high school coach, I ran 47.40. He told me that was fast and I was like, OK, let's keep going with it.
After that, I switched from a 100 and 200 runner to a 200 and 400 runner, and it took off from there.
Frierson: What's the best thing about running the 400?
Godwin: I felt more comfortable with the 400 because I felt like I was more in control of that race. The 200, for me, I felt like if I was to mess up in the blocks or had a bad start, it would dictate the rest of the race and it would be really hard to catch up. With the 400, it wasn't so costly, and I was able to control stuff. If I messed up one thing, I could do the second thing 10 times better to keep myself up with the pack.
Coming to college, I was learning and picking up how to race the 400 better than any other event.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Godwin: Spaghetti — spaghetti and meatballs, I could eat that every day.
Frierson: Do you make it yourself? Is it something you have every time you go home?
Godwin: If I want it, I can make spaghetti. The lady down the street can make it, my mom can make it — it's spaghetti, you can't mess it up. I'm all for it.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Godwin: A lot of stuff came to my head. I have a lot of hobbies outside of track that I feel like I'm a little bit talented in, and I feel like I would want to know what it feels like to be a famous rapper. To have a really big concert, I would want to know how that feels.
Frierson: Do you do some of that on your own?
Godwin: I do. My brother and his friend, they got into it well before I started. I just watched them do it and I was inspired by them doing it. I just started doing a little bit of rapping when they started going into the studio making songs, and I got a lot of enjoyment out of that.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
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