April 21, 1895 marked the first running of the now-illustrious Penn Relay Carnival, in which high school and college student-athletes convened at the then-new Franklin Field to compete in one race: the 4x440-yard relay, the equivalent of today’s 4x400-meter relay. Since their inception, sprint relays have been the heartbeat of the event.
Legendary sprinters such as Allyson Felix, Usain Bolt, and Jesse Owens — to name a few — have taken home titles at the event over the years.
Short sprints, as a discipline, require unmatched focus: Runners compete for less than a minute, their seasons made or broken by a few milliseconds — an indescribably thin margin for error. To most, this pursuit of perfection is incredibly daunting.
But for a select few, this is the beauty of racing.
One and a half centuries after that first meet, junior sprinter Fore Abinusawa is carrying the baton to further the legacy of sprint relays at Penn. She’s a prime example of a sprinter’s hard-driving mindset, and her exceptional performances that have piled up over the last three years are a testament to just how suited she is for speed.
The Horsham, Pa. native already sits prominently in the record books, as the individual runner with the third-most wins in program history at Ivy League Indoor Heptagonals with four titles, three in the 60m dash and one in the 200m dash.
She’s no less prolific on the outdoor track, having won the outdoor 100m dash twice at Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonals. Individually, she holds program records in the outdoor 100m dash (11.28), the indoor 60m dash (7.25), and the indoor 200m dash (23.53).
Behind all this marquee success, Abinusawa points to day-to-day discipline as her main motivator in the sport.
“One of the greatest things about track is how important the details are, and how those details — no matter how small — allow you to grow so much throughout the sport,” she said. “For sprinting, the gains that you see are really incremental, but there’s so many things that you can do to get those gains — whether it’s in the weight room, or adjusting your technique — [that] can really help achieve those small but really meaningful steps.”
This dedication to detail has made her an integral part of the fastest 4x100m relay team in the history of Penn women’s indoor track and field. Beyond the NCAA, Abinusawa made her international debut as part of a Nigerian 4x100m relay team that won the 2024 African Games — and she is not set to slow down.
“Her contribution from an athletic standpoint is going to be pretty amazing by the time she gets done with her career at Penn,” coach Chené Townsend said.
Beyond her athletic prowess, Abinusawa’s humility, reflected in her grounded approach to meticulous hard work, is what truly shines through.
Compared to the archetypical brash sprinter showmanship — think Usain Bolt’s trademarked victory pose or Sha’Carri Richardson’s spectacular hairstyle theatrics — she follows more closely in the footsteps of the ever-graceful Harvard graduate and five-time Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas, with whom she shares the Ivy League record for the 60m dash.
Abinusawa, who described herself as “reserved, mellow, and soft-spoken,” aims to lead by example and let her work speak for themselves.
As an underclassman, she looked up to a fellow sprinter who did just that. She now seeks to emulate 2024 College graduate Aliya Garozzo, a 2024 United States Track and Field Olympic Trials semifinalist in the women’s 400m hurdles who stood out to her as a leader.
“You could see the amount of dedication and work [Garozzo] was putting into the sport, but also the care and compassion that she had for her teammates,” Abinusawa said. “I feel like that’s someone that I truly cherish and look up to, not just as a teammate, but also as a friend.”
Now, as an upperclassman herself, Abinusawa notes how important it is to carry that legacy forward.
“I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to be able to provide that same mentorship, guidance and friendship that was shown to me,” Abinusawa explained. “It’s felt like a natural evolution, with where I am and how far I’ve come … to be able to give that same support and guidance to everyone that’s coming up under me.”
“She has put herself in a place where she could really help our freshmen by show[ing] them an example of what they can be,” Townsend said. “Hopefully they can see themselves in her based on her work ethic, how she shows up every day, which allows them to aspire to try to get to be there at some point in their careers here … at Penn.”
Curating that team culture requires a balance between competitiveness and mutual support, especially in the individual discipline of track, where teammates inevitably end up racing one another.
“As much as it is about competition, it’s also about that relationship [and wanting] your teammates as a whole to be their best selves,” Abinusawa said. “That really comes from being able to compete with each other in practice in a friendly way … which makes [it] a great space for growth and learning.”
This passion for community on the team comes out in the relay races: Abinusawa’s favorite race is the 4x100m.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into making sure that your handoffs between your teammates are right, and a lot of it allows for you to build a sense of compatibility and connection,” she explains. “It’s a great bonding experience between teammates. It’s one of those events where I never feel stressed to run it, because … you get to run it with your team, which makes it really special.”
With regards to Penn Relays, the emphasis on collective accomplishment is part of what excites Abinusawa.
“Penn Relays, just like the 4x100[m], is probably one of my favorite events of the year. … It’s so much fun, being in the center of that energy,” she said. “For me, it gives me another level of tunnel vision to get the job done, because I want to do the best for everyone that’s there supporting Penn. So it’s really special.”
Penn Relays will occur in the midst of the 2025 outdoor track and field season, which Abinusawa enjoys for the competition against different teams, increased travel, and differing outdoor weather conditions.
This year, she is looking to qualify for NCAA Division I Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the relay events, as well as individually.
Last season, she was two spots away from qualifying in the individual 100m dash with an incredible performance at NCAA East Regionals — a race she described as “the best-executed race that I’ve run probably in my life.”
“[The experience] was bittersweet because you know you’re so close, but at the same time, I am still really proud of myself,” Abinusawa said.
Now, her focus is on “trying to take moments like that as learning lessons and opportunities for growth, [which] has really helped to ground myself and understand that, while it’s okay to be disappointed, it’s also okay to be proud of yourself and know that there’s still room for improvement within that as well. That’s really what has kept me going.”
In particular, Abinusawa seeks to bring the improvement she’s seen in her drive and acceleration phase — the beginning spurt of power in a short sprint race, which is highly emphasized in the indoor season’s shorter 60m dash — to the longer 100m race in outdoor track.
“I know that consistency and continued improvement will allow me to be able to excel and execute other parts of my race even better,” she said. “I’m excited to work on sort of that latter half of the race, like the last 50 meters, because I feel like there’s a lot of room for growth.”
With her eyes on the NCAAs in mid-June, the Penn Relays will serve as a crucial stepping stone for the sprinting star to ascend further.
There’s no doubt that Abinusawa’s composure, understated self-assurance, and admirable dedication to the details will propel her progress throughout the season, so now the question remains: Just how fast will Fore go?
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