800m Race Comes Down To A Dive At The Line At AAU Junior Olympics 2023!

400m specialist Jonathan Simms bumped up to the 800m at the AAU Junior Olympics -- and he put on a show.

Simms, a rising junior at Allen (TX), was one of the country's top high school talents at the 400m the spring, clocking a season best of 45.90 outdoors in 2023 to rank among the top 10 boys quarter-milers.

But Simms is no stranger to the longer 800m distance. He has a long-standing history in the 800m at the AAU Junior Olympics, holding the 9-year-old and 10-year-old age group national records in the event.

After a one-year hiatus from contesting the event at the Junior Olympics, Simms returned to the event he dominated as a young athlete -- and he yet again came away with a win.

Simms took home the win in the 15-16-year-old 800m 1:51.69, and it came down to a final homestretch battle with Pennsylvania high school Stefon Dodoo. Dodoo would dive at the line, but Simms would earn the title by less than a tenth of a second.