IAAF World U20 Champs Journal: Aaliyah Miller Travels to Poland


July 20: Semi- Finals 

Since my race wasn't until 6:50, I got to sleep in a lot later than usual! I woke up around 12 and went to the fitness room to stretch and loosen up my legs. After I just chilled in my room and got my mind ready for this race.

Coming into the race I was really nervous, it was crazy how fast these days have gone by. I wanted to do better than the previous race, so I was focused on executing my race perfectly. Once I got to the warm up track I stretched a lot and made sure everything was feeling good. I did a couple of strides with my spikes on in the indoor, and once I did, I was getting hype. My legs felt so ready to just let it all out and go! Walking out of the tunnel I felt a lot more confident, especially walking by all of the USA athletes, they definitely got me pumped before my race! Going up to the line the nerves came back, and I was wondering why they kept zooming in on my face!! Once the gun went off I just stayed relaxed, and moved my way up to the front one by one. I didn't realize how far the Ethiopian was in front of the rest of the pack. But I didn't want to panic, so I just stayed calm and slowly made my way up! Once we got to the 550 mark I started to make my move up to the front, and then once I hit 650 I just went for it. I felt strong coming down the final stretch, especially with the crowd of my teammates cheering me on! It was such a relief to have everything come into place in the semi, it was nice to feel "poppin" again!! 

After I stayed on the track to cheer on Alison and Sammy! I was super proud of both of them, especially for Sammy for winning her heat like me!!! I think watching each other do so well is such a confidence booster. I feel like I'm never alone and it's nice having someone push me to do better!! We're both excited for the final, hopefully we can go 1 & 2 and represent USA well!! It's crazy to say that this will be my last race as a high schooler, time does go by super fast! I just want to end my high school career on a good note and make everyone proud. Thank you everyone for all of the support, I know I'm ready, now it's just time to race!! LETS GET IT #TEAMUSA