Beavercreek (OH) High School rising senior Taylor Ewert accomplished a huge goal on Sunday at the USA Track and Field U20 Race Walk Championships, hitting the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials standard in the 20K race walk with a winning time of 1 hour, 38 minutes, 55 seconds.
In her debut at the distance, Ewert's hopes were tied to the American qualifying standard of 1:48, which earned her a spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to the meet, Ewert said her intention was to race under 1:48.
In doing so, she surpassed the former American U20 record of 1:47.18, held by Meaghan Podlaski.
Ewert, however, will still need to hit the World Standard of 1:31.00 at the 20K distance to guarantee a potential Olympic qualifier down the line.
The race in Owego, New York, was her first at the Olympic 20K distance following a career spent mostly at the shorter distances. Recently, she won her third straight 10K race walk title at the USATF U20 Nationals Championships in Miramar, Florida, on June 22, scoring a meet record of 48:24.61.
But Ewert already owns American Junior records of 45:57.81 in the 10K race walk, 22:38.16 in the 5K race walk and 13:31.79 in the 3K race walk.
Ewert will head to San Jose, Costa Rica, on July 21 to compete at the Pan American U20 Championships in the 10,000m race walk.
