Elijah Hall-Thompson (born August 22, 1994) is an American track and field sprinter and American record holder in the indoor

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. At the NCAA Division I Championships he helped the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

win and set the collegiate record in the meters relay in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, and won both the

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

and the 200 meters at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in

. His winning time of 20.02 seconds in the 200 meters is the second fastest time ever achieved over the distance indoors. Hall qualified to represent the United States for the 2017 World Championships in the 200 m, but withdrew due to an injury.

Early life

Elijah Hall grew up in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and attended

Morton Ranch High School Morton Ranch High School is a secondary school in the Katy Independent School District. It opened in 2004, and is located in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. It is part of a multi-school complex, including Morton Ranch Ele ...

, where he played

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

. Due to his football speed, he would run track after the football season ended. After his junior season, Hall tore his ACL; after recovering, he broke his arm during football the following year. However, he clocked an impressive 20.60 seconds over the 200m at the Texas UIL 6A State Championships. He began to take more interest in track, and joined a club during the summer where he trained with his track rival from

Ridge Point High School Ridge Point High School (RPHS) is a public high school located in Sienna (formerly Sienna Plantation), an unincorporated area and planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. Opened in 2010, the school serves more than 3000 students in grades 9 ...

Cameron Burrell Cameron Malik Burrell (September 11, 1994 – August 9, 2021) was an American sprinter. He was the NCAA Division I champion over 100 meters in 2018, and anchored the Houston Cougars to victory in the meters relay in 2017 and 2018. He ra ...

, son of former world record holder

Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School ...

. Hall decided to leave football behind in order to be a healthier athlete, and focus on track.

Collegiate career

2015-2016: Community College

Hall attended

Garden City Community College Garden City Community College (Garden City CC or GCCC) is a public community college in Garden City, Kansas. It was established in 1919 to provide a means for post-secondary education for area residents. The school initially shared facilities i ...

for a semester, then transferred to

Butler County Community College Butler County Community College (BC3) is a public community college in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. It also offers courses in Cranberry Township, as well as in Lawrence, Mercer, and Jefferson counties. Over 100,000 students have attended ...

. He won the NJCAA indoor title in the 200m, and finished 8th in the 60m. Injuries continued to plague him from time-to-time, and he was just able to help his team finish 2nd in the 4x100m. In 2016, he defended his indoor 200m title and finished 7th in the 60m. Outdoors, he won the 100m in 10.16 and finished 2nd in the 200m. He then competed at the

Olympic Trials Olympic trials are competitions held in certain sports to select teams' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. History Before 1908, members of United States Olympic teams were selected without trials. The 1908 and 1912 teams were s ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, finishing 6th in his 100m heat; and he was disqualified in his 200m heat.

2017: Joining the Houston Cougars

Hall returned to

and transferred to the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, to join Burrell and to be coached by his father Leroy and track & field legend

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

. His injury returned as he pulled up in the 200m at the Fayetteville Tyson Invitational. Two months later, he appeared to be doing well outdoors, winning both the 100m and the 200m at the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

Championships, the latter in a wind-aided 19.96. His injury returned at the NCAA West Preliminary round, and he was forced to miss the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

. Hall finally got his measure at the US Championships, where he finished 3rd in the 200m with 20.21 seconds and qualified for the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

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, England. However, his injury returned yet again and he was forced to miss out.

2018: National Record Holder

Finally feeling healthy, Hall began to break through in the 2018 season. Leading up to the championships, he had only been defeated once between the 60m and the 200m. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Hall stumbled in the 60m but was able to make an unbelievable late charge and win the title in a personal best of 6.52 seconds. Then, in the 200m, he set a collegiate, American and NACAC record of 20.02 seconds, the second-fastest time in history over the indoor 200m. He then helped Houston's 4x400m team to 4th place. Despite his incredible 200m performance, Leroy Burrell and Carl Lewis decided for Hall to focus on the 100m for the outdoor season. Though his first few races were rough, he made it through to the final at the

with 2 other Cougars: Cameron and junior

Mario Burke Mario Omar Burke (born 18 March 1997) is a Barbadian sprinter. He currently attends the University of Houston. Burke won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at 2016 World Junior Championships in Athletics. On June 24, 2017, Burke won the 100 metre ...

. Having put 3 athletes in the 100m final, Houston won the 4x100m with ease, defending their title and setting a collegiate record of 38.17 seconds in the rain. Then, in a surprise finish, Hall finished 2nd in the 100m behind Cameron, both defeating the favorite from

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Andre Ewers Andre Ewers (born 7 June 1995) is a Jamaican athlete. He competed in the men's 200 metres event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global sp ...

. Burke finished in 8th, meaning Houston scored 19 points in the final, contributing to their 2nd place team finish. In October, Hall and Cameron turned professional and signed with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

and

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Statistics

*All information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal Bests

National championship results

* = did not finish * = disqualified * = personal best * = national (American) record * = collegiate record *

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

Seasonal bests

Notes

References

External links

* * * (Track & Field Results Reporting System) * (Track & Field Results Reporting System)
Video of Elijah Hall's indoor 200 m American and collegiate record
at the

via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Elijah 1994 births Living people African-American track and field athletes American male sprinters Track and field athletes from Houston Houston Cougars men's track and field athletes Butler Community College alumni United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) 21st-century African-American sportsmen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportsmen