Emergency services attended to him and ground off part of the javelin before he was taken to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Centre, where the rest of it was removed by surgeons.

[4] On May 15, 2021, he ran a personal best 44.61 at the Cushing stadium in Texas at the SEC Outdoor Championships to meet the Olympic qualifying standard.

[9][10] Indoors, Godwin finished 7th in his heat of the 400m at the SEC Championships and did not make the final, but returned to anchor the University of Georgia's 4x400m team with a winning 44.95 leg.

[13] At the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Godwin placed 3rd in a personal-best 44.50 behind Allison (44.41) and defending champion Randolph Ross (44.13) of North Carolina A&T.

[15] His mother, Ginger Luby, was working her job as an administrator in a doctor's office when she received the call that Elija had been injured by the javelin in 2019.