The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show

Chris Chavez, Kyle Merber, and Preet Majithia reunite to break down the biggest storylines from the World Indoor Championships in Poland. Preet joins fresh off the ground (and freshly sick) after going solo on three daily pods from the venue.

In this week’s episode:

- Intro: Preet’s field report from Poland (gingerbread review included)

- The Atlanta saga resolved: World Athletics approves a 7-woman U.S. team for World Road Running Championships

- London Marathon’s plan to go to 100,000 finishers — bold move or marathon chaos?

- Biggest winner: Keely Hodgkinson’s Super Sunday — 800m gold + historic 4x400 split

- Is Keely the face of track and field right now?

- Audrey Werro: the most underrated performance of the weekend

- Zaynab Dosso & Georgia Hunter-Bell: two more big winners on the women’s side

- Men’s 800m: Cooper Lutkenhaus goes undefeated and earns the world’s attention

- Men’s 3K: Josh Kerr out-maneuvers Cole Hocker, celebrates accordingly

- The Cole Hocker tactics debate

- Men’s 1500m: Mariano Garcia pulls off the surprise of the championships

- Jordan Anthony wins 60m gold — and why the Anthony vs. Lyles rivalry needs to happen

- Jess Hull appreciation: 13 global championships and counting

+ More

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Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Preet Majithia | ⁠@preet_athletics⁠ + Kyle Merber | @kylemerber

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠

Preet Majithia dives into the final day of action at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.

Some of the biggest moments from day 3 include:

- 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus won his first World medal like a true pro, covering every move just right in the final of the World Indoor 800m to hold the lead and claim gold in 1:44.24. He became the youngest World Indoor champion in history.

- Keely Hodgkinson continued her unstoppable run through the competition to kick off 2026 with her first World Indoor title in the 800m, blasting a wire-to-wire 1:55.30 to blow away the field and set a championship record.

- Mariano García flexed his range and his lethal finishing speed to hold off World outdoor champ Isaac Nader and claim the victory in 3:39.63.

- Georgia Hunter Bell didn’t let a hot early pace faze her, as she turned her rival into a de facto rabbit and smoothly reeled her in to claim World Indoor 1500m gold in a speedy 3:58.53.

- Devynne Charlton showed she’s truly the master of the 60m hurdles, winning her third straight World Indoor title and equaling her own world record of 7.65.

+ More

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Host: Preet Majithia | ⁠⁠⁠@preet_athletics⁠⁠⁠

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

Preet Majithia breaks down the biggest moments and surprises from day two at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.

A couple of today's highlights include:

- After getting beaten by Cole Hocker in his first race of the season at the Millrose Games two mile, Josh Kerr has the last laugh by outkicking Hocker and the field to win his third global title and second in the 3000m, running 7:35.56 ahead of Hocker’s 7:35.70.

- Nadia Battocletti finally got her golden moment in the 3000m, as the Italian used a 28.54 final lap to outkick Jessica Hull with Battocletti claiming her fourth global medal in 8:57.64.

- Khaleb McRae led for about 390 meters of the 400m final, but it wasn’t quite enough to hold off the late charge of Christopher Morales Williams, who closed best to win in a championship-record of 44.76.

- Lurdes Gloria Manuel had only won one 400m so far in 2026 heading into this weekend, but she clocked three straight indoor PBs in the three rounds of racing and won her first global title in 50.76.

+ More

____________

Host: Preet Majithia | ⁠⁠@preet_athletics⁠⁠

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠

XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

Preet Majithia unpacks the first day of action at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships live from Poland, where we saw fireworks in the men’s 60m, a tactical affair in both the men’s and women’s 1500m, and an exciting first round of the 800m early this morning.

Some of today’s highlights include: 

- Jordan Anthony’s Team USA debut is a smashing success, as the 21-year-old defeats a stacked field to win the 60m final in a world-leading 6.41, also equal to #4 all-time.

- Eloisa Coiro leads all qualifiers to tomorrow’s semi-final in the women’s 800m with 1:59.87. World record holder Keely Hodgkinson auto qualifies easily with a 2:00.32.

- On the men’s side, Eliott Crestan leads all qualifiers to tomorrow’s 800m semi-final with 1:45.51.

- Americans Gracie Morris and Nikki Hiltz both qualify to the 1500m final, running 4:12.57 and 4:16.32 respectively.

- As for the men, Mariano García leads all qualifiers to the final with 3:38.19 and American Nathan Green auto qualifies with 3:40.97.

+ More

____________

Host: Preet Majithia | ⁠@preet_athletics⁠

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠

XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

“No one's going to hustle or care as much as you do, and no one's going to understand you as well as you do. Being able to present the best picture in front of a brand and understand what they value has been really rewarding."

My guest for today's episode is a good friend of CITIUS MAG and one of the most thoughtful, transparent, and compelling figures in American marathoning. I'm talking about Clayton Young. He joins us with some major news ahead of the spring marathon season. After seven years with ASICS, Clayton is officially entering a new chapter as a Brooks athlete heading into the 2026 Boston Marathon.

This wasn't some quick, easy switch; this was months of conversations, lab testing, contract negotiations, and one of the biggest decisions of his professional career. He did it all while representing himself while coming back from a serious ankle injury and trying to get ready for Boston on a compressed build.

If you've listened to his previous appearances on this show, you know that Clayton is absolutely no stranger to betting on himself in every possible way as an athlete, as his own agent, as a creator, and as someone still chasing the biggest goals of his career.

He talks about why Brooks felt right, what he learned through the self-representation process, and how performance remains the center of every decision that he makes. We also get into the injury that derailed nearly five months of training, the breakthrough that got him running pain-free again, and how he's approaching Boston with a mix of curiosity, realism, and the same competitive fire that made him one of the top American marathoners in the world. He's still pushing forward even when things aren't necessarily going according to plan.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez

Guest: Clayton Young | @_clayton_young_

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠

XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.