---
title: ‘Records Are Meant to Be Broken’
date: 2024-07-31T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/records-are-meant-to-be-broken"
section: Articles
---
# ‘Records Are Meant to Be Broken’

*July 31, 2024* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> Terps Track and Field Coach Reflects on Winning Two Olympic Gold Medals and His Predictions for 2024 Games

*Getty Images 51603982 1920x1080 — UMD track and field Head Coach Andrew Valmon, second from left, still holds the world record for the 4x400 relay that he and teammates Butch Reynolds, Quincy Watts and Michael Johnson set at the Athletics World Championships in 1993. The two-time Olympic gold medalist is eager to cheer on the Terps competing in Paris this year—and see if his record falls.*

Paris has been good to Team USA. Five days into the Summer Olympics, Simone Biles has vaulted women’s gymnastics back to the top of the podium, social media breakout star Ilona Maher has led women’s rugby to its first medal, and American swimmers have nabbed more than a dozen pieces of hardware.

Now, it’s time to trade goggles and swim caps for singlets and sneakers as the track and field athletes get ready to step up to the starting block.

“Coming in behind some of these sports, you have no choice but to step up,” says longtime [University of Maryland track and field](https://umterps.com/sports/track-and-field) Head Coach Andrew Valmon. “They’ve set the tone.”


*Andrew Valmon with a UMD student athlete*





**Topics:** [Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/tags/athletics)


**Tags:** [Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/athletics-tag)


**Units:** [Department of Intercollegiate Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/department-intercollegiate-athletics)