It takes confidence to be a track and field athlete. Even then, few athletes are confident enough to call it their year. Even fewer can go and prove it to be their year by breaking two collegiate records, setting two world-leading relay times, and winning an NCAA title. Sanu Jallow-Lochart did all that and more, and has now capped her historic ‘Year of Sanu’ season by joining Ja’Kobe Tharp and turning professional.

The 23-year-old was added to Brooks Beats and will make her professional debut at the upcoming Prefontaine Classic in July. The former Razorback star joins world record holder Tharp, who will also make his professional debut at Hayward Field in the 110m hurdles. It does mark a remarkable turn of events for Jallow-Lockhart, one completely in line with her “Year of Sanu” prediction.

The Olympian made the statement after winning the 2026 NCAA Championship title in the 800m, setting a collegiate record in the final. Jallow-Lockhart clocked 1:56.85 to lift the title and shatter Athing Mu’s 2021 A&M time of 1:57.73. Mu was even one of the Gambian’s idols, hosting her during a recruiting trip when the now 23-year-old was in high school.

It’s largely why she signed for A&M out of high school before transferring to Arkansas. Yet, for the 23-year-old, life wasn’t going according to plan after poor results in 2025. She finished runners-up in the 800m in the SEC Championships but failed to qualify for the NCAA indoors. Something similar happened in the outdoor season, though she did well in her conference meets.

In fact, Sanu Jallow-Lochart even finished second but, once again, failed to qualify for the final after being disqualified in the semis.

“The challenges kind of started last year and just seeped in over the summer,” Jallow-Lockhart told WholeHogSports.com. “When you have those self-doubts, like, ‘Do I want to keep doing this? Am I meant for this? Am I doing enough? Whatever I’m doing, is it paying off?’

“It just had gotten to the point where it’s just like, ‘I don’t feel motivated anymore, and I don’t want to do this.’”

It took family, friends, and ice cream to help change her mindset, along with finding balance in her life, both on and off the track. That, combined with a big leap of faith, transformed her 2026 season into a historic one. It kicked off by breaking the 600m indoor collegiate record, then her own 800m indoor school record, before she even entered the outdoor season.

The rest is history. Sanu Jallow-Lockhart ended the 2026 outdoor season as the 800m and 4x400m NCAA champion, with collegiate records in the 800m and two world-leading relay times. In fact, after she broke Mu’s record on June 13th, only Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson remains faster in the 800m. Now, Jallow-Lockhart will be lining up against the British star alongside Audrey Werro and a stacked 800m lineup at Prefontaine.

Turning professional is one milestone. Backing it up in a Diamond League debut is another altogether. Jallow-Lockhart won’t have long to settle into life as a pro, with one of the deepest 800m fields of the season waiting for her at Hayward Field.

Sanu Jallow-Lockhart up against a tough field on her debut

This season, almost every outdoor 800m race has become a potential world-record attempt. In fact, Keely Hodgkinson even admitted that her target is Jarmila Kratochvílová’s 1983 time of 1:53.28. And the British distance runner opened her season with a personal best of 1:54.33. The only problem was that Audrey Werro stunned the world by registering 1:53.80, milliseconds off the record.

Since then, the two have locked horns, with Femke Broeders-Bol entering the mix with a time of 1:55.60 in Paris. Georgia Hunter Bell (1:55.93) and Anais Bourgoin (1:55.65) have joined in on the attempt at making history. In fact, all but one of the ten women lining up for the 800m at Hayward are inside the top 30 fastest times for 2026.

It makes Sanu Jallow-Lockhart’s job that much harder because professional debuts don’t come much tougher than this. And yet, the 23-year-old’s focus is mainly on having fun, being free, and simply putting her best foot forward.

“For so long I felt like I was always kind of falling into, ‘I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to follow certain rules, I have to be a certain way,’ instead of just going out there and being free and running into my own wilderness,” Jallow-Lockhart said according to WholeHogSports.

“I feel like I’m super, super happy this year, and I’ve just been having a lot of fun. Next up, it’s Sanu against the world.”

Sanu Jallow-Lockhart’s collegiate career has set the tone, but her professional journey begins against the world’s very best. If 2026 really is the “Year of Sanu,” Hayward Field is where she’ll get the first chance to prove it.