EUGENE, Ore. — A Central Georgia native is off to compete for a chance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jones County High School alumni Shareez Hamm is off to the 2024 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon to compete in the 400 meter hurdles.
He's the most recent Central Georgia native to run in the Olympic Trials since former UNLV, Warner Robins and Northside runner Cassondra Hall ran in 2022.
Hamm is a collegiate nine time All-American, a one time national champion, nine time conference champion and broke several school records during his five-year collegiate career.
He most recently competed in the Division II national championships in Emporia, Kansas for the Academy of Art, which is located in San Francisco. He was named national champion of the 400 meter hurdles and was the only athlete from ART U to win a national championship.
He broke his personal best with a 49.97 second time, which is the second fastest time in the Academy of Art’s history. He was the 23rd athlete to ever run under 50 seconds in the event.
Hamm was a member of the 4x400 meter relay team, which placed fourth with the Academy of Art’s second-best time in the event in history. He also competed with the 4x100 meter relay team and finished with a top-11 result. The 4x400 team had the best time in the PacWest and were named champions.
These performances earned him his ninth All-American honor.
Through the 2024 season, Hamm received multiple awards. He was named a West Region Indoor earlier this year and was named Outdoor Athlete of the Year, the PacWest Athlete of the Year and earned a spot at the Olympic Trials following the season. This was the second season in a row that he was named Outdoor Athlete of the Year.
Hamm earned three All-Region honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and two PacWest Track Athlete of the Week honors in the same season.
Hamm, a 2016 graduate, was a four-year varsity letter winner in track and field at Jones County. In 2017, he initially walked-on at Highland Community College for football, despite only playing for a season in high school. After a year, he was cut from the team and walked-on the school's track team in the fall of 2018.
Despite not running track since 2016, he eventually earned a scholarship with the program. He began competing in 2019, and, during his time at Highland, set the schools 400 meter hurdle record.
He transferred to ART U in the fall of 2019 after graduating with his associates. After arriving, he set another school’s 400 meter hurdle record in the 2022 season. He played with the team for five years.
Hamm will first compete on Thursday, June 27 in the first round of the qualifiers. If he finishes in the top 29, he'll advance to the next round. The top nine will then be selected for the finals and the best three sent to France for the 2024 Olympics. He, alongside several others, will compete in the first round of the 400 hurdles at 6:20 p.m. pacific time, which is 9:20 p.m. eastern time.
Texas Tech’s Caleb Dean recently ran a 47.23 to win the NCAA Division I national championship on the same track the Olympic trials will be held.
Hamm may have some ground to gain, but he’ll have an opportunity to do so on June 30 and he's ready for the challenge.