Introducing Sydney Horn Higher at High Point Ayden Owens By Jose R. San Miguel AUTHOR’S NOTE: Ayden Owens Delmere is the 2022 NCAA Decathlon Champion, and NCAA Decathlon record holder. He attends the University of Arkansas, where he is pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship. Ayden is representing my home country of Puerto Rico at the IAAF World Championships being held in Eugene, Oregon. In Puerto Rico we call track and field pisticampo. Having someone represent the island at the highest level is a source of tremendous pride for every puertorriqueno. Ayden is a medal contender as a 22-year- old in an event where athletes reach their peak in their late twenties.
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TAKEOFF: Ayden, how did you get started in the decathlon?
sider representing Puerto Rico, and he helped facilitate that.
Ayden: I’ve been doing the multi events since I was 12 years old. I started running track in Pittsburgh at a city track club called Nadia. My coach’s name was Oronde Sharif. He noticed that I was versatile, had a short attention span, and participating in only one event bored me.
TAKEOFF: You started running track in Pennsylvania. Did you ever live in Puerto Rico?
After my second year in the club, he said I was old enough to do the pentathlon. I ended up excelling. I think that first year that I did it, I was second in the nation in the pentathlon. I kept improving and re-committing myself to the multi event discipline and look where we are today.
Ayden showed up to our Zoom interview in a Puerto Rico singlet and with happiness emanating through the screen. Grounded in his faith and a strong family upbringing, Ayden accepts the challenge ahead, and the responsibility associated with representing the island. Along with millions of Puerto Ricans and track fans around the world, I will be rooting for him.
TAKEOFF: Didn’t you train with Jose Rivera as well?
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At the time, I was getting really good at track and I wanted to compete on an international level. And he was like, hey, I think that you should con-
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Ayden: I did. Coach Jose was another coach in the area. I worked first with Orande, and then as I got to high school, I worked more with Coach Jose. He helped facilitate the Puerto Rico route that I ended up taking because at the time I wasn’t representing the U.S. or Puerto Rico.
Ayden: No, I never lived in Puerto Rico. I have family on the island, mostly in San Juan, Cupey, and Carolina. My grandparents live there, but my mom moved to the U.S. like a lot of Puerto Ricans did. Every summer, I had to go to Puerto Rico to visit family, connect with our roots, and attend family reunions. TAKEOFF: Looking back, who has been the most influential person in your athletic development? Ayden: It took a lot to get me to where I am today. Every single person who’s influenced me has had an impact so it’s hard to pinpoint one specific person. I learned so much from each coach, each mentor who’s helped create me as an athlete and a person. Coach Sharif is still to this day my closest mentor. He’s probably been the most influential person developing me into an athlete. Beyond that I would say Coach Jose and now it’s been my coach here at Arkansas, Travis Geopfert.
