The Olympics run in Talitha Diggs' family, but she's charting her own path: 'I want to achieve great things, too'
While her mother and two aunts are multi-time Olympians, the American sprinter knows nothing is being handed to her as she makes her way from collegiate to professional athletics.
Athletics
Talitha Diggs tells the story with a laugh: It wasn’t until last season, when she won the American 400m title and qualified for her first World Athletics Championships, that her extended family really started to take notice of her burgeoning career.
“It was like, 'Oh wow... Talitha is like good',” she says with a grin during an exclusive interview with Olympics.com in June, before adding: “And, ’So we're going to start talking about track more'.”
You can excuse the greater Diggs crew for setting such a high bar: Her aunt, Jearl Miles Clark, is a two-time Olympic champion, while another aunt, Hazel Clark, and Talitha’s mother, Joetta Clark Diggs, are multi-time Olympians.
“To have a personal relationship with my aunts is pretty special, to me they’re just Auntie Jearl and Auntie Peachy (Hazel) to me,” Diggs said. “It’s a mixture, they were these amazing, accomplished athletes.
“My mom, to be a four-time Olympian, I know she had to work really hard. I'm immersed in the process right now," Diggs added. “To see that she has achieved so much, I know that she has sacrificed so much. That helps me want to sacrifice because I'm like, 'Hey, look my mom achieved all of these great things. I want to achieve great things too.' It's going to take sacrifice.”
And the next year-plus will see if she can continue the family tradition in track and field by qualifying the Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.
Talitha Diggs: Passing the baton with Allyson Felix
Not only did Diggs qualify for Worlds last year in Eugene, Oregon, she was also a part of the gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team for the U.S. squad, joining Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Abby Steiner, and Britton Wilson atop the podium.
But perhaps the most special moment came in the prelims, when Diggs handed off the baton to Allyson Felix, who has won more Olympic medals than any other American athletics star, in what was the final race of Felix’s storied career.
“It was honestly something that I had dreamed of when I was younger,” said Diggs, who is now 20. “[I remember] watching Allyson Felix run at the Olympics in the 4x100, the 4x400, seeing her versatility... to emulate that level of versatility is something that I’ve always wanted to do. [And] to pass the baton to her on her last race was really just phenomenal.”
The 400m has been a strong suit for American women over the last 15 years: A Team USA runner has landed on the podium at every Games since – and including – Beijing 2008, while Sanya Richards-Ross’ London 2012 triumph was the first for the country in nearly 30 years.
From her mother to her aunts to the generation before her, Diggs has looked up to them all.
“To come from even the pedigree of that lineage, you have so many people who are from America and who went through the college system,” said Diggs. “And I'm doing the same thing now.”
Talitha the role model
Diggs can clearly remember watching those who came before her, and said one of her driving forces is to achieve success on the international and Olympic stages because “you don’t know how you’re going to impact so many different people that are watching,” she said.
“To give Black girls like me watching, like, 'Wow, that person looks like me and that person is running fast. I can do that.' That's powerful,” she said. “Now I'm in that position. There's someone who is likely looking at me and one day is going to be in my position too, and I think that's great.”
The global competition is fierce in the 400m, but the American scene is as crowded as ever: New collegiate record holder Britton Wilson has the second fastest international time this year (49.13), while McLaughlin-Levrone has grown in strength after switching from the 400m hurdles, clocking a personal best 49.51.
Gabrielle Thomas, Rosey Effiong, and Jan’Taijah Jones are all also strong in the event. But Diggs said she loves the biggest stages the most, and is confident she’ll step up when she needs to.
“It's the big stage – the World Championships, the Olympics – when I truly become and compete like the competitor that I am,” Diggs admitted. “I always perform when the big lights are on. I think that's something I'm going to continue.”
Talitha on: Joetta Clark Diggs – mum
What is it like to be the child of not only an Olympian, but a four-time Olympian whose career spanned some three decades and has five U.S. outdoor titles to her name?
“My mother is... the best way I can describe it is just love,” Diggs explained. “She's just loved me in so many different ways and she's never missed a track meet in my entire career.
“She's hard, she's tough on me, she pushes me for sure, but she does it all from love,” she added. “I'm grateful to have her as a mother, a mentor, a friend even, really, she's my best friend. To have her play those many roles for me has been really helpful for me in my career, but also in my growth as a person.”
Diggs called the 2022 season the one where she realised “I belong here” as she swept to both the indoor and outdoor NCAA collegiate titles before winning the U.S. Championships ahead of Worlds in Eugene.
She was third indoors and fifth out in 2023 at NCAAs, but said she continues to draw from her experiences and those around her. When she fell short of qualifying for the 400m final at Worlds 2022, Diggs took it as a learning moment.
“Those moments [are] where you find your true grit as an athlete is,” she explained. “And really decide, ‘Do I want to do this? How great do I want to be? How much do I want to push myself? What am I willing to do?’
“It was in that moment, where I was like, 'Yes, this is what I want to do,’” she added. “After that I went back to work and just started learning. ... Learning everything about the sport on a deeper level. Learning where I can improve obviously on the track but also off the track."
Talitha Diggs of Team United States hands off to Allyson Felix of Team United States in the Women's 4x400m Relay heats on day nine of the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Watch out for that ‘Talethal kick’
Diggs has earned the nickname “Talethal” over her time at the University of Florida. Both for her big-meet performances but also her lethal ability to turn on the burners when she hits the final straightaway.
“In terms of competition, it's fine, call me ‘Talethal’ or ‘Talethal kick,’” she said, breaking out into a laugh again. “But in terms of my friends, [they] obviously don't call me that.
“I think it's a great nickname. I think it definitely adds a little bit of pizzazz. It's something that I embrace because it's part of my race [strategy], honestly.”
The next year could be life-changing for her, she knows, with Paris 2024 looming. While the Games are “of course on my mind,” she said, she’s playing the long game: For Diggs it’s about the process, as a person and as an athlete.
“I'm starting to learn more about myself as an athlete,” she said. “I'm still only 20. I still have a lot to learn. I'm hungry in this journey because I want to be great.”
But when she shuts her eyes tight, what does she see in Paris?
“I think of opportunity, I think of the big stage,” she admitted. “I think of all my dreams when I was young... as a Black female in America to go out there and represent all the Black girls watching me on TV like I used to watch Allyson and Sanya, saying, ‘Wow, I want to be on that stage.’”
“The fact that I get to potentially be that for someone else is really humbling,” she said. “It's something that I'm really grateful for and excited for too.”