The Millrose Games holds a special place in the heart of many an athlete, and not least for Devynne Charlton, who set a new world record for the 60m hurdles on the “Fastest Track in the World” last year. But far from being content with her history making performances in 2024, in this exclusive interview with M&F, Charlton says that there’s still more time she can shave off her performance. Here’s how the heroic hurdler is working hard to achieve that goal.
“I think if I’m being quite honest, I think I left a couple of hundredths of a second on the table last year,” shares Charlton. It’s a revelation, illustrating that despite a stellar 2024, there’s still plenty of passion left in her tank. At last year’s Millrose Games, Charlton was crowned 60m hurdles champion, while setting a new world record of 7.67 seconds. Then, she broke her own record in Glasgow, Scotland, at the World Indoor Championships, winning gold and completing in 7.65 seconds. With the 117th Millrose Games just days away on February 8, held in New York at the Nike Track & Field Center, there’s everything to train for, and fortunately Charlton is always motivated to train.
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Devynne Charlton Loves to Lift Weights
As we chat, the 29-year-old has just completed a hurdles practice, followed by an intense session on the weights, grabbing a banana for some quick carbs and sipping on a whey isolate shake for fast protein absorption. Charlton explains that she mainly aims to get her nutrients from whole foods, but when you are burning close to 3,000 calories per day, it’s not always possible to eat that many meals while also satisfying her fitness goals. “Some athletes, they don’t like to do (weights) but they know they have to do it begrudgingly, but I just love the weight room,” says the Bahamian. “I love seeing the way that my physique (reacts), I love seeing what It does for me on the track and this is something I look forward to.”
Some of those lifts that Charlton looks forward to include traditional Olympic lifts, but this athlete also jumps while holding the barbell aloft, performing jump squats. Benefits of jump squats include improved strength in the lower body and advances in her all-important explosive power.
Devynne Charlton Utilizes Plyometric Training
In hurdling, explosiveness out of the gate is essential and there’s no deceleration here, so box jumps and working with resistance bands is a great way to lengthen those muscles with potential energy for blasting off into the distance. “We emphasize quick ground contact,” she explains. “You don’t want to be spending a whole lot of time on the ground, you want to get to that next movement as fast as possible.” Charlton shares that it’s her core that is actually worked the most during a race, because this athlete concentrates on keeping it “super tight, just so I don’t have that extra movement.” The track star also studies her posture on film. “One of my downfalls was, I would get twisted off,” explains Charlton. “So, the idea was to really strengthen the core to make sure I was in control of that movement.”
Devynne Charlton is Only Interested in Competing With Herself
After engaging the services of a Sports Psychologist, Charlton believes that her mind made just as much of a contribution to her record smashing efforts in 2024 as her body did and is hoping to take that synergy further forward this season. “So, I think one of the things that we worked on last year and even beginning this year was controlling the things that you can,” says the trailblazer. “Not many people talk about it, but you really can’t control whether or not you win a race because it’s like, if I put out the best race I possibly could and someone was just better on that day, then in theory there was nothing I could do. All I’m focused on is executing a good race because I know that once I execute, the performance will be there and then you just kind of have to let whatever happens… happen. Let the chips fall. I’m not concerned about what’s going on in the lane next to me.”
Devynne Charlton is Helping the Next Generation to Catch Up to Her Level
Through her Devynne Charlton Barrier Breakers Foundation, this inspirational athlete has been supporting underserved communities with the chance of gaining an athletic scholarship. Charlton also regularly visits St Augustine’s College, where she started out with her own dreams of becoming a champion, and feels that helping others is an achievement that is even greater than the medals she competes for. “One of the things I’m so grateful for, now that I’m competing better and I’m reaching this point in sports, where I’m benefiting financially, is that I can go back home and support the up-and coming-athletes. They are really close to my heart, just making sure that I’m kind of paving the way for others to come in and do what I’ve done.” Still, those up-and-comers will have a long way to go in order to beat Devynne Charlston, who is seriously fired up about returning to The Millrose Games in February and defending her indoor World Championship in China this coming March.
To track Devynne Charlton’s progress follow her on Instagram by clicking here, and for more information on tickets for the 117th Millrose Games click here
