Christopher Robinson, Garrett Kaalund, and Vincent Ciattei chatted with Markos Papadatos following their wins at the 2026 USA Track and Field Championships at Randall’s Island Park, New York.
Christopher Robinson
Christopher Robinson won the 400 meter hurdles race with a personal best time of 47.61 seconds.
“The win felt pretty good,” he exclaimed. “In the future, I would just like to improve the first part of my race… just getting off the blocks a little bit better. I feel liked I closed pretty well, but just getting out and controlling the race is an area I would like to improve upon.”
For young and aspiring athletes, Robinson said, “I know it’s kind of corny, but never give up, man. When you feel like you’ve got a goal in mind, give it your all, try to achieve it, and it’ll pay off.”
On his definition of success, Robinson said, “Success means coming out here every day, leaving healthy, giving it my all, and not giving up.”
Robinson concluded by expressing his gratitude for his fans, “Thank you! I look forward to seeing you soon.”
Garrett Kaalund
Garrett Kaalund was the winner in the men’s 200 meter race.
On his 200 meter win, he remarked, “It felt pretty good. It was shocking, to say the least, but it happens. You can’t really control it. So, the biggest thing was staying focused and not letting it affect my own race. The biggest thing I want to improve upon is my start. Even though I feel as if that was a great start. I feel like it could always be better.”
“I understand I’m not going to be blasting out the box ahead of everyone, but I still just want to be right there with everybody. I’ve noticed that Max pulled away from me a little bit. If I can stop that and kind of just negate any type of separation he can get on me, then that’s progress. That’s progress, allowing me to now run a faster time,” he elaborated.
For young and aspiring track and field athletes, he said, “You’ve got to keep training, keep going with it, and you need to stay focused. I’ve already been doing track for 19 years.”
“I’m in my sophomore year of college, and it doesn’t really matter where you are at or what stage, as long as you keep going, you are going to have success,” he noted.
Regarding his definition of success, Kaalund said, “Success, to me, personally means winning! In the sport of track and field, while times are great, you are only going to remember the winners. I mean, some people are going to be able to have both the time and the win, but if you’re going to take that world championship, I would rather take that championship and run a trash time than to get beat and run something crazy.”
“I mean, I want that gold,” he admitted. “Can you take that away? No. So I’m always going to have it, whereas, at times, there’s always a chance I could go even faster. So just give me the medal, and that’s probably what success is to me.”
For his fans and supporters, he expressed, “Thank you very much for the support. For a long time, I didn’t really have fans. Sometimes, I’ll just look myself up on the internet, and I’m like, ‘Damn. All I see is the stuff my mom posts.’ It takes a village. Now, I see people talking about me every once in a while. So, I’ll take that!”
Vincent Ciattei
Vincent Ciattei was the winner in the men’s 5,000 meter race.
On his win, he remarked, “It felt awesome! This is my first U.S. title in track. I have always been a miler! I never thought it would be in the 5k that I would win. This may be unexpected in the grand scheme of things, but today, I knew I could be competitive for it, and it just feels awesome!”
When asked what area he would like to improve upon, he responded, “I think confidence after today. I almost was a little more confident without the expectations of it being a 1,500. So, I think I take that away from today and bring it back to the 1,500 meter (mile) the rest of the season.”
For young and aspiring track and field athletes, he said, “I would say be patient. I think everyone’s on their own timeline.”
“You know, if you don’t run the fastest in high school or if you don’t run D1 in college or whatever, everyone is on their own timeline and if you’re patient, you will improve,” he noted.
Regarding his definition of the word success, he said, “Success means giving my best in the race. It doesn’t necessarily mean winning. I think it just means knowing, crossing the line and feeling like, ‘hey, I executed and I gave my best and I was happy to feel that way today’.”
For his fans, he stated, “I would say ‘thank you’ for the support! Thank you for dealing with me getting fourth and third and second many times times before, and hopefully we can enjoy more wins together.”
