KENT, Ohio — Ayden Bath has loved track and field for a very long time. He began competing at a young age in his hometown of Vermilion and has now advanced to the college level at Kent State University. But soon he'll be competing on an international scale after being selected to the 2026 FISU America Games.
Bath said his passion for track and field stems from the early friendships he developed as he began trying out different events in the sport and the deeper bonds he built with his brother, Ashton.
"I was able to run with friends and be in a very social aspect of the sport that I really liked and kind of grew from there. I fell in love with the sport, with the coaches, with the hard work and I grew from there," Bath said. "I was able to compete with my brother, which was a huge thing, him being a little older kind of just gave me something to challenge myself and that brother rivalry began to build. And then I just stuck with it. I fell in love. I became obsessed with it."
While Bath grew in the sport, it wasn't until the end of his high school career that he discovered what has made him a standout.
"Funny enough, I didn't even know what the decathlon was until I started training for it," he said. "It was something new that jumped out when talking to college coaches, getting recruited out of high school."
Still, Bath was a decathlon standout, placing first in the event at the 2024 MAC Outdoor Championships with a score of 7,125 — which also marked the seventh-best outdoor decathlon in Kent State program history.
This year, however, Bath's competition will be a little more expansive.
"A very incredible opportunity came across the table where I get to be able to represent the USA at the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru," Bath said. "I actually got a call from my coach after my season had wrapped up and he was just kind of feeling out how I was feeling and what I wanted to do and kind of just asked me, 'Hey, there's an opportunity for you to compete.'"
The 2026 FISU America Games run from July 23 to Aug. 1, with athletes from 18 countries across North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean competing in a number of sports and events.
Bath will be taking part in the decathlon on July 31 and Aug. 1. He knows it will be a grueling challenge.
"Decathlon is 10 events over two days. So you start with the 100m, you long jump, you throw shot, you high jump, and then you end Day 1 with the 400m," Bath said. "You come back Day 2, probably a little bit sore, a little bit tired, but still excited, and then you start with the 110 hurdles. You throw disc, you pole vault and then you end it off with the lovely 1500."
Bath hopes the opportunity results in a medal, but no matter what, he's excited to represent Northeast Ohio — and the country — in the sport he deeply loves.
"The experiences of growing up in Vermilion and coming to Kent, now competing for the USA at the international level, it's just a dream come true. Something that young me would be super proud of, and I do feel the love from back home, so it's great to represent everybody," he said.
