Track Trials Time

This has the potential to be one of the strongest U.S. Olympic track & field teams in history.  Whether it rivals that legendary 1968 squad only time will tell, but the group headed to Paris will definitely be right up there.  Not only will it be made up of Grade A stars who are among the biggest names in the sport, they'll go to the Olympics with something to prove.  Especially the men, who only won two gold medals in Tokyo (and none individually on the track).

Noah Lyles and Grant Holloway both attributed their performance in Tokyo to the lack of fans.  They weren't making excuses.  They simply point blank said it affected them, and I actually appreciate their candor about how they weren't at their best during the COVID Olympics and why.  They're both showmen (Lyles especially) who feed off the crowd.  It's hard to do that when the stadium's empty!  They've both won everything since, and you know they want to put on a show for the sellout crowds at the Stade de France.

Last year at Worlds, Lyles ran the 100 with thoughts on potentially doubling in Paris.  He won gold!  Now, his goal is four gold medals in Paris.  In addition to the 100 and 200, he could get picked for both relays (Lyles ran the 4x400 at World Relays and posted a solid time, so selecting him for that event would be justified based on performance).  Of course, the only way he can win four gold medals in Paris is by making the team first, which he has the chance to do starting this weekend.

Olympic Trials return to their quasi-permanent home of Hayward Field at the University of Oregon, which has hosted every Trials since 2008, as well as this year's NCAA Championships, the 2022 World Championships, and pretty much every major meet held in the United States.  With the 2028 Olympics taking place in LA, you'd have to figure the next Olympic Trials will be held at the LA Coliseum as a test event.  But, come 2032, chances are Trials will be back at Hayward.

Going back to Hayward Field repeatedly has its positives and its negatives, and the arguments for and against continuing to return to the same place instead of moving major meets around the country both have their merits.  But, one thing is for sure.  Eugene knows how to put on a track meet!  And when that meet is the U.S. Olympic Trials, where just making the team will be harder than the Olympics themselves in some events, it needs to be first-rate.  Which Eugene is.

Lyles and Holloway will be the headliners, but they're far from the only stars who'll be fighting for Olympic berths.  Rai Benjamin won silver in Tokyo behind Karsten Warholm in one of the greatest 400-meter hurdle races in history.  Ryan Crouser, who grew up in Oregon, is the greatest shot putter in history.  He'll look for his third straight Olympic title in Paris, but he always throws well in Eugene, so don't be surprised if he does something spectacular.

On the women's side, the American depth is incredible.  The U.S. women have legit medal aspirations in all four event groups (sprints, distance, jumps, throws), as well as the heptathlon.  And it's on the women's side where some potential Olympic medalists could end up getting left home.  The U.S. team will be that hard to make in certain events!

Women in the 400 were probably relieved to learn Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone only plans on running the 400 hurdles at Trials.  Because she could medal in Paris in the 400 (and will likely be on the U.S. 4x400 relay regardless).  A double at the Olympics was theoretically possible, but she decided against it and will instead focus on defending her gold medal in the 400 hurdles (I can't wait for that showdown with Femke Bol!).

Another big name on the women's side heading into Trials is Sha'Carri Richardson.  It may seem hard to believe, but Richardson has never been an Olympian.  She won the 100 at Trials three years ago, but that whole fiasco involving her failed drug test for marijuana ensued immediately after.  A lot has happened since then, though, including Richardson winning gold in the 100 at Worlds last year.  She's not a lock to make the team in both the 100 and 200, but very well could.

Anna Hall has never made an Olympic team, either, but that will certainly change by the end of Trials.  The University of Florida graduate is the next big thing in the heptathlon.  She won bronze at the 2022 Worlds and silver at Worlds last year.  In Paris, does Hall become the first American heptathlon gold medalist since the legendary Jackie Joyner-Kersee 32 years ago?

And I can't go without mentioning my pole vault queens--Katie Moon and Sandi Morris.  Katie has won the outdoor global championship three years in a row (Tokyo Olympics, 2022 & 2023 Worlds).  Sandi has won a lot of silver, including at the Rio Olympics, but nothing since the 2022 Worlds.  They should both make the team no problem, but who joins them? 

Meanwhile, in the women's throws, multiple Americans are capable of winning Olympic gold, but only three can make the team in each.  Four different American women medaled at the last two Worlds in the hammer throw.  Chase (Ealey) Jackson didn't make the team for Tokyo, then won back-to-back World titles in the shot put.  Valarie Allman won Olympic gold in Tokyo, but was second behind another American (Laulauga Tausaga) at the World Championships last year. 

As usual, I'm also expecting to see some surprises and some breakthroughs.  The NCAA Championships were just two weeks ago, and there were plenty of stellar performances there.  Parker Valby capped her outstanding collegiate career with two individual NCAA titles (in the 5000 & 10,000), as well as a team title for Florida.  Can she make the Olympic team in either or both events?  What other collegians will ride the momentum of their efforts at NCAAs into Olympic berths?

That's just a sampling of some of the athletes and events to look out for in Eugene.  As you can see, that wasn't hyperbole.  This team has a chance to be loaded!  Whoever goes to Paris will have earned it.  They'll have made the hardest team in the world to make, and they'll head to an Olympics where the U.S. has a chance to do something really special.