Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Which athlete with ties to the University of Kentucky had a better Olympics?

Lee Kiefer, a UK College of Medicine third-year student, won her second straight gold medal in foil fencing in Paris and was also part of the first U.S. team to win the gold medal. She is now the most decorated foil fencer in American history and was the first American foil fencer to win an individual Olympic gold medal. She has also competed in four Olympics.

“When you become the only or the first to do anything, you start looking at that person and wonder why that has not been done before and how special that makes them. She is special,” said former UK all-SEC defensive back Van Hiles, who is an avid track fan.

Hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone competed one year at Kentucky where she broke the collegiate record in the 400-meter hurdles and also set the world junior 400-meter dash record. Even before she got to UK she was named the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year in 2015–16 and 2016–17, the first time any athlete had won that honor in consecutive years. At age of 17, she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated

She qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil and then won gold in the 400 hurdles in Japan in 2021 in a world record time of 51.46 seconds. In Paris, she won again in dominant fashion with a world record time of 50.37 seconds.

ESPN personality Myron Medcalf tried to put what McLaughlin-Levrone did in perspective.

“Let’s be clear. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is even better than you might know. In May, she decided to run the 200m  (meter dash) for fun at a meet in LA. She recorded a top-10 time in the world. In June, she entered the 400m. She ran the No. 2 time in the world. And now another 400m hurdles WR (world record in the Olympics),” Medcalf posted on social media.

He also explained that three women who competed in the Olympic semifinals in Paris in the 400-meter dash did not beat McLaughlin-Levrone’s time in the 400 hurdles.

Robert Griffin, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at Baylor, posted that McLaughlin-Levrone was the “greatest female track and field athlete of all time” after she broke the world record for the sixth time at age 25.

Olympic gold medalist alpine skier and seven-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin posted on social media about the former UK hurdler who has not lost a 400 hurdle race since 2019. She had a hometown track in New Jersey named for her, signed a lucrative deal with New Balance Running and was voted World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year.

McLaughlin-Levrone ran a dominating leg on USA’s 4×400 gold-medal relay team that finished in 3”15:27, the second-fastest time ever and fastest since 1988. McLaughlin-Levrone ran her leg in 47.71 seconds.

“She is just a  unicorn and just dominant in the history of her event,” Hiles said.

Kiefer was featured in Vogue magazine and on NBC-TV’s Today Show after her gold-medal performances. She doesn’t have the social media presence of McLaughlin-Levrone and fencing does not draw the national audience. However, she received congratulation messages from numerous UK personalities, including men’s basketball coach Mark Pope.

 

Walker continues to push himself

Finishing 7-6 last year and losing to Clemson in the Gator Bowl is still on All-American defensive lineman Deone Walker’s mind going into this season.

“It was really more so just having a bad taste in my — our mouths, leaving our seniors off with an L (loss) last year. Now we’re just worried about week one. We’re worried about getting everything squared away and keep the main thing the main thing,” said Walker.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops wants his 6-6, 345-pound star to just be himself and continue to improve his overall game and Stoops believes he has progressed.

“He has worked really hard physically on his body. He’s working hard to continue to be a strong leader for us and make a difference on and off the field,” Stoops said.“He’s very disruptive obviously with the length that he has, the way he plays.

“He’s a unique individual. There’s not too many guys playing that look like him and that have that kind of size, speed, and the mobility that he has. He’s a very explosive guy for his size.”

Walker has started 25 of the 26 games since he’s been at Kentucky and has 95 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 8.5 quarterback sacks in two seasons. He had 55 tackles with 12.5 tackles for loss last season.

 

Smith twins ready to validate high school hype

Two of Kentucky’s top recruits last season were Corbin twins Jerod Smith (6-4, 273 pounds) and his twin brother Jacob Smith (6-4, 240 pounds). Both were one-time Michigan commits before flipping to UK early last season after both UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow and defensive coordinator Brad White had watched Corbin beat Frederick Douglass.

“’It’s good to see them out there full strength and getting better,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “Jerod is a guy that put on some weight.  He is getting very explosive for a young guy so we will see where that takes him.   

“Jacob, he didn’t get a chance (in spring practice).  I think you heard me talk briefly post‑ spring about seeing them out there and seeing him on his feet. He had a shoulder injury so he wasn’t able to do too much in the spring.  But right now, he looks good.   

“They are good players and we will give them a chance to grow up and get in the system for a while, but good players.”

Jacob plays outside linebacker and Jerod is a defensive lineman who has added about 25 pounds since arriving on campus in January to prepare for SEC football.

“I found out I could not hold my own in the running game at the playing weight I got here with. I was getting tossed around in spring practice. I knew I needed more weight and the coaches knew it, so we worked hard on that,” Jerod said.

Even with the added weight, he says he is faster and more explosive than when he got to UK.